New Republic , July 20 (posted Friday, July 3, 1998) The cover story reviews a new book calling for more single-child families. The book argues that only children receive closer parental attention and that limiting population will stop environmental decay. In fact, says the review, only children are no better off than children in big families, and overpopulation may be an overhyped myth. Also, women in developing nations start having fewer children as technology and industry improve--conditions generally linked with environmental decline. ... A Fourth of July essay says Americans are too worshipful of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Our nitpicking exegesis of ancient texts limits our ability to innovate. New York Times Magazine , July 5 (posted Thursday, July 2, 1998) A story profiles Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, now under investigation for lying to Congress. Conclusion: Babbitt is a fine, upstanding man caught in an inconsequential transgression. ... The cover piece celebrates St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire's remarkable home run prowess. McGwire is having a season for the ages, compares favorably with the all-time greatest sluggers, and may well crush the record for most homers in a season. His secret: a smooth, concise, brutally powerful swing--not to mention 20-inch biceps. Time and Newsweek , July 6 (posted Tuesday, June 30, 1998) Time 's cover package examines America's gun culture. A photo essay shows ordinary Americans posing with their firearms. An interview with new National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston reveals his extremism: He is quoted on white supremacist David Duke's Web site and has said that "Clinton's cultural shock troops ... claim it's time to place homosexual men in tents with boy scouts." Heston blames violent rap lyrics for America's decline but does not apologize for his many ultraviolent movie roles. (For more on Heston, see David Plotz's "Assessment" in Slate .) A separate article considers a new study arguing that concealed weapons lower crime rates. While scholars debate the accuracy of the study's statistics, gun rights activists embrace its message that an armed society is a safer society. Also, an essay wonders what makes teen-age killers tick. Conclusion: a combination of video games, insecurity, and pure, inexplicable evil. Newsweek 's upbeat cover story profiles Katie Couric, co-host of NBC's morning show Today . Her husband died of colon cancer in January, but the smart, bubbly Couric is as charming as ever. Fans love that she colors her own hair, wears Gap clothes, and flies coach. Inappropriately chipper line: "She's also a morning star still in mourning for her husband." U.S. News & World Report , July 6 (posted Tuesday, June 30, 1998) The big news at U.S. News this week isn't in the magazine: Owner Mort Zuckerman has fired Editor James Fallows. ... The cover story explains the Supreme Court's new rulings on sexual harassment. Central changes: 1) Complainants no longer need to show that their careers suffered as a result of the harassment. 2) Companies cannot plead ignorance as a defense unless they've already instituted a "strong system of dealing with [harassment] problems." An accompanying story covers the case of a pharmaceuticals CEO with a long and slimy history of harassing subordinates. His company decided it made better financial sense to keep the CEO on board and pay off all the complainants. ... An article says Kenneth Starr is playing the race card in the Lewinsky case: Starr wants to indict Lewinsky in Virginia because that state's jury pool is far whiter than the District of Columbia's. "Ninety-one percent of blacks (compared with 60 percent of whites) say they believe investigations into the allegations involving Clinton should 'stop now.' " The New Yorker , July 6 (posted Tuesday, June 30, 1998) First friends Harry Thomason and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason are profiled. Harry lived with the Clintons during the first month of Flytrap, urged the president to fight back at every turn, and helped script his denial of a Lewinsky affair. The Thomasons hate the press and the Washington establishment and encourage the Clintons to do the same. ... A story about AIDS immunity says researchers are pursuing the wrong kind of vaccine. Most researchers hope to control HIV with antibodies that kill the virus. But those people who seem to be immune to HIV have "cellular immunity," in which cells, rather than antibodies, kill HIV-infected cells. Conclusion: Vaccine research should stop focusing so much on antibody-based vaccines and should consider cellular immunity. ... An essay about spin says it doesn't work because its targets (us) are too conscious that they are being spun. The real PR triumph of this century is direct mail: Obviousness and repetition get better results than subtlety. The Nation , July 13 (posted Tuesday, June 30, 1998) The cover story compares Billy Graham and Jesse Jackson, the two White House chaplains of the last 50 years. Graham has been a presidential suck-up since the Eisenhower administration and still makes excuses for Bill Clinton's alleged philandering. But the piece wonders why Jackson has followed Graham's lead. In 1992, Jackson said Clinton was "immune to shame. Move past all the nice posturing and get really down there in him, you find absolutely nothing ... nothing but an appetite." Now Jackson energetically defends Clinton's foibles. Weekly Standard , July 6 and 13 (posted Tuesday, June 30, 1998) The cover story debunks the John McCain myth. Sen. McCain may ooze charm, but he's a regular politician--a squirmy fish (or "squish," as an unnamed Washington conservative calls him) who avoids taking firm stands. And he's not well prepared for the 2000 presidential race, either: He doesn't know the issues. (For Slate 's take on the Arizona Republican, see David Plotz's Assessment.) Economist , June 27 (posted Saturday, June 27, 1998) The cover editorial downplays the importance of President Clinton's China trip. China has nothing to offer in the way of partnership with America, as its economy is fragile and its leadership infirm. The summit is a good way to "talk over" differences, but it will produce little of import. An accompanying essay argues that the Chinese military lacks the strength and training to compete with the American one. In fact, after China's 1996 threats, "most experts believed that Taiwan could have repelled a cross-straits invasion even without the U.S. Navy becoming involved." China continues to focus on economic rather than military growth. --Seth Stevenson