Economist , March 1 (posted Saturday, March 1) The cover editorial--headlined, of course, "Hello, Dolly"--rejects alarmist The Boys From Brazil theories about cloning, declaring that "careful application of biotechnology" can be enormously beneficial: "The fact that new technologies feel scary or strange should not be enough to rule them out." A related article praises the utility of genetically engineered animals, and notes that scientists have been using them for almost 20 years. Also, a story concludes that East Asia's economies are in excellent shape, despite recent drops in their growth rates. And the Economist interviews President Clinton about foreign policy: He says the United States "can't afford to isolate China." New Republic , March 17 (posted Friday, Feb. 28) "The Madness of Speaker Newt" chronicles Gingrich's decline: Newt's Republican "revolutionaries" are abandoning him; his advisers are recriminating over who's to blame for his collapse; and potential successors are jockeying for position. Gingrich's own mood swings prompt one anonymous GOP congressman to quip that "a good dose of antidepressants might help, if he isn't on them already." A pair of articles catalog Mexico's drug corruption--especially its crooked drug czar--and scold the Clinton administration for ignoring it. Also, TNR publishes an appreciation of teachers' union chief Albert Shanker, whose advertorials appeared in the magazine for a quarter-century. Harper's , March 1997 (posted Friday, Feb. 28) An article deplores modern libraries for buying too many expensive, hard-to-use computers and too few books: "Unique, anomalous, unconventional knowledge" is being lost. (And the worst part: Libraries aren't even silent anymore!) Another article calls the rebuilding after the 1991 Berkeley Hills fire an "architectural disaster." Grotesque, overdesigned mansions have risen where beautiful, modest houses once stood. Also, a writer spends a sunless winter in Greenland: She drinks a lot. New York Times Magazine , March 2 (posted Thursday, Feb. 27) The cover story tours Africa and finds it a dangerous, but salvageable, mess. On the one hand, anarchy engulfs Sudan, Zaire, and other nations, and this chaos helps spread nasty diseases (malaria, cholera, AIDS, etc.) around the world. On the other hand, leaders who are--by African standards--democratic, uncorrupt, and competent have taken over former military dictatorships such as Uganda. A bit of Western investment could stabilize these promising countries. Also, an English professor writes about getting fired and becoming a carpenter. And the Sophisticated Traveler supplement journeys to Tibet, Memphis, and San Diego, among other locales. Time and Newsweek , March 3 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 25) A "Special Report" tag adorns both newsweeklies' cover stories on Deng Xiaoping. Similar obituaries and "whither China?" pieces paint Deng as a hard-nosed pragmatist and marvel at China's economic growth, but caution that the country is still beset by poverty, corruption, pollution, etc. Newsweek 's bigger package offers a book excerpt from Sinophile Henry Kissinger on the history of U.S.-China relations that lionizes Deng and Mao Tse-tung (and, of course, Kissinger). Hong Kong Gov. Christopher Patten advises the Chinese government that the colony's prosperity stems from its freedom. Newsweek also depicts new Chinese head of state Jiang Zemin as a law-and-order moralist who is much less comfortable with capitalism's excesses than Deng was. Time says that Jiang will probably face a challenge to his authority at next fall's party Congress. Johnny Depp, star of the new movie Donnie Brasco , is much praised by both magazines: He eschews conventional roles, yet still scores at the box office. Also in Time , an article claims that the stock market is not overvalued, because the American economy is in glorious shape. And a 16-page "Global Business Report" profiles a dozen titans of capitalism (Andy Grove, Hans Tietmeyer, Ned Johnson, et al.). U.S. News & World Report , March 3 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 25) "Space Jam" surveys the burgeoning satellite industry. The 1,000-plus communications satellites that Motorola, Hughes, Teledesic (Bill Gates and Craig McCaw), and others are launching will drive down the cost of telecommunications and make television, telephone, and Internet service affordable to billions of people in undeveloped nations. The package of Deng stories echoes the CW that he liberated China's economy while imprisoning democracy. Also, U.S. News notes that 60 percent of U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, then slams doctors for downplaying effective contraceptives such as Depo-Provera, Norplant, and IUDs. Weekly Standard , March 3 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 25) The cover story calls for "A Return to National Greatness." After blaming liberals for destroying the United States' expansive optimism and conservatives for weakening Americans' faith in national government, the article says that the country can revive its spirit with a grand national mission. It's vague on what that mission would be: "It almost doesn't matter what great task government sets for itself, as long as it does some tangible thing with energy and effectiveness." Also, Robert Bork, rehashing an argument from his current book, explains why the Constitution should be amended to restrict judicial power. And an editorial about Kenneth Starr claims that the Clinton White House is "essentially dishonest in a way even Dick Nixon's never was. ... Can anyone doubt that if Bill Clinton had Oval Office tapes, he would expect Bruce Lindsey to burn them?" The Nation , March 10 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 25) The cover story proposes that the AFL-CIO fund (to the tune of $300 million) a national progressive newspaper--a factory-floor counterpart to the Wall Street Journal . The paper would report the real news about economic inequality, farm workers, and health care, zealously investigate corporate executives, and open its editorial pages to the likes of Cornel West, Molly Ivins, and Robert Kuttner. Also, the Robert Rubin backlash. Two weeks ago, the New Republic praised the Treasury secretary for his social liberalism. Now The Nation lambastes Rubin as a conservative who favors bank deregulation that will hurt the poor. National Review , March 10 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 25) An article gloats that the Clinton administration has not returned to its old liberal ways. Clinton's major policy (balancing the budget) and key advisers (Erskine Bowles, Rahm Emanuel) are conservative. His education initiatives are dismissed as "micro-liberal." The cover story rips Sen. Orrin Hatch for his alleged left-wing tendencies and says he's too closely aligned with Ted Kennedy. Hatch, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is berated especially for going easy on Clinton's "activist" judicial nominees. Also, the National Review continues its coverage of the Bob Dornan-Loretta Sanchez election controversy: An article suggests that there is enough evidence of fraud (voting by illegal aliens, double voting) to merit new balloting. The New Yorker , Feb. 24 and March 3 (posted Tuesday, Feb. 18) The special issue on "Crime and Punishment" contains more of the former than the latter. An article on the roots of violence argues that nearly all violent people have brain damage--often caused by childhood abuse--that makes them incapable of controlling their rage, and reprises liberal ideas about crime's environmental causes. An article lionizes Jack Maple, the eccentric cop who devised New York City's crime-tracking program. He is credited with much of the city's crime drop. A story explores a new phenomenon of urban juries: Black women jurors are causing mistrials by refusing to convict black men despite overwhelming evidence of guilt. As for "punishment," a convict in Virginia describes the deterioration of prison conditions. --Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of Slate .