Syracuse Post-Standard, Jan. 12, 2003

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Magazine Keeps on Giving
By Laura T. Ryan, Staff Writer

After college days, many alums go through learning withdrawal. They miss the daily information infusion that an academic setting provides, those blessed bits of wisdom that spice up bland conversation.

In short, they long to feel smart again.

This possible future worried Mangesh Hattikudur and Will Pearson, even while the two were still students at Duke University.

"Basically, they were sitting around in their dorm room and wondered, 'How are we going to continue to learn once we leave Duke? Wouldn't it be great if there was a magazine that kept you smart?'" said Melanie Maloney, an Auburn native who helped the students found such a magazine: mental_floss.

Launched last year, the bi-monthly magazine now has a 50,000 circulation and a growing legion of fans. In its Dec. 23 issue Newsweek said the magazine makes learning fun, "like that professor of yours who peppered his tests with raunchy jokes."

The magazine came along just when Maloney and her husband, Toby, were looking for a business to invest in. Mesmerized by the concept, the Ohio couple agreed to provide financial backing to the magazine right away.

"In February, we were approached by a friend who knew of these young people who had started this magazine and were looking for angel investors," Maloney, 48, said.

Angel investors?

"Folks who would put up some money on incredibly risky ventures and do not expect enormous (returns)," explains Maloney, who grew up in Auburn and attended SUNY Oswego before embarking on a corporate career.

Not only did the Maloneys cough up some cash, they quit their corporate jobs and assumed positions on the magazine staff. Melanie works as vice president for planning and operations, and Toby is vice president for business development. They work in Cleveland, Ohio, while the editorial staff works in Birmingham, Ala.

"We were just incredibly impressed with what these young people had done," Maloney said. "We fell in love with the concept of the magazine ..."

She describes the publication as a "liberal arts education in installments."

"It's geared for busy people who want to feel smart, but who don't have time to take classes and read textbooks," she said.

Each issue revolves around a theme. The January/February edition, for example, serves up fascinating trivia about U.S. presidents, in bite-sized chunks.

Did you know:

• No U.S. president was an only child?
  
• Dancing was banned in the White House during James K. Polk's administration?
  
• The height of Capitol Hill is 88 feet?
  
• Sixty-three percent of U.S. presidents belonged to a fraternity in college?

Each edition also includes a left-brain section of math and science information, and a right-brain section, with analysis of a classic book ("one you should have read, or did but can't remember," Maloney said).

The current issue takes a look at the novel Lolita, which Vladimir Nabokov completed while living in Ithaca and teaching at Cornell University.

Another feature is Spinning the Globe, which provides basic facts and figures about one part of the world (the current issue explores Japan).

Although originally intended for recent college graduates, mental_floss appeals to readers between 20 and 50.

"It has really wide appeal," Maloney said. "Anybody who has intellectual curiosity, who wants to keep learning and has an appreciation for learning."

Maloney includes herself in that crowd.

"In addition to feeling smart again, I felt young again," Maloney said. "It is the enthusiasm of these young people. It's infectious."

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