swing with vast experimental gardens, houses, and energy projects. Each summer 20,000 people took Mother Earth News seminars on everything from beekeeping to cordwood construction. A radio show shared the magazine's philosophies on hundreds of stations nationwide and alternative fuel vehicles carrying the Mother Earth News logo criss-crossed the country. The magazine flagged somewhat with the declining popularity of the back to the land movement in the early 1980s. Eventually, it was sold to the New American Company in 1986, who redesigned it with a much slicker image and repositioned it as "The Original Country Magazine." A number of employees of Mother Earth News left the magazine at this time to start BackHome Magazine. New American stopped publishing its magazines, and sold them to Sussex Publishers in 1991. The magazine survived, and grew through the late 1990s and the first half-decade of the 21st century. Notable gardener Ira Wallace was the mid-Atlantic correspondent during the 1990s. Sussex Publishers in New York City owned the magazine until 2001, when it was acquired by its current owners, Ogden Publications. In 2010, the magazine celebrated its 40th anniversary. The February–March issue included articles from the magazine's previous 40 years. In 2020, the magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Each magazine issue that year contained content about the 50-year history of the title. Controversy hit the magazine in August, when they received public criticism from authors such as Chris Newman, for their lack of diversity in authors and representation. Ogden initially responded stumblingly, but has since embraced numerous initiatives to diversify its content, audience, and staff. See also Grit Utne Reader Harrowsmith References External links 1970 establishments in Ohio Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Lifestyle magazines published in the United States Activist publications Environmental magazines Magazines established in 1970 Magazines published in Kansas Magazines published in North Carolina Magazines published in Ohio Mass media in Topeka, Kansas Simple living