New
Republic , March 24
(posted
Friday, March 7)
"The Great Equivocator" bashes CIA Director-nominee Anthony Lake
as too wishy-washy to head the agency: He was soft toward the Soviets during
the Cold War, he's soft toward the Chinese now, and he's scared of using force
to achieve foreign-policy goals. The editorial asserts that welfare reform is already a success, since
AFDC (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) caseloads are falling
everywhere. (For Slate's take, see "The Best
Policy.") Also, the fund-raising scandal: A parody makes fun of the White
House as a "DNC Luxury Hotel."
Economist , March 8
(posted
Friday, March 7)
The
cover story and editorial on "The Future of Warfare" predict that satellites,
unmanned planes, and computers will replace soldiers. The Economist says
that the United States will dominate the high-tech arms industry, but that its
rivals will counter with biological weapons and terrorism. A long feature frets
about China's weakness : It's plagued by poverty, inequality, pollution,
etc. Also, a gloomy article on the welfare bill: Training AFDC recipients to work
will be extraordinarily expensive and, in many cases, futile. (For another
view, see the New Republic , above, and Slate's "The Best
Policy.")
New
York
Times
Magazine , March 9
(posted
Thursday, March 6)
"The Age
Boom" package celebrates life after 65. The lead article gloats that senior
citizens live longer, more vigorously, and more comfortably today than ever
before. An economist argues that we shouldn't worry about rising medical costs,
since the money buys good health and happiness. An advertising executive
predicts that Madison Avenue will finally start pitching products to seniors.
New York City is touted as a wonderful retirement community: You can walk
everywhere, there's plenty of culture, and the hospitals are excellent. Also,
eight elderly celebs talk about how great it is to get old.
Rolling Stone , March 20, and The New Yorker , March 10
(posted
Wednesday, March 5)
Both magazines profile
Howard Stern, whose biopic, Private Parts , opens this month. Rolling
Stone 's cover story traces Stern's history from mediocre rock DJ to king of
shock jocks. The New Yorker puzzles over Stern's psyche: His program is
pure id--vile, cruel, crude--yet he remains a faithful husband and devoted
father.
Also in The New
Yorker , an admiring profile of business-news tycoon Michael Bloomberg
suggests that he has the brains and financial muscle to cripple Dow Jones. A
long piece on China describes one family's struggle to survive the Mao and Deng
eras, while the opening "Comment" says that Chinese involvement in the
campaign-finance scandal could sour Sino-American relations.
Also in
Rolling Stone : global warming. A piece argues that rising carbon-dioxide
levels are almost certainly causing the weird weather of the 1990s, and that
they will cause unimaginable devastation if the world does not slash
fossil-fuel consumption soon.
Time , March 10, and Newsweek , March 10
(posted
Tuesday, March 4)
Time's and Newsweek 's cover stories describe the
cloning process, predicting that the technology will be used on humans in
seven years ( Time ) or in one to 10 years
( Newsweek ). Neither is terribly keen on the idea, but both agree that
human clones would be normal. On the business side, Time is bearish on
biotech stocks, while Newsweek is bullish. Time 's cloning package
also includes a short story and a cartoon.
Both Time and Newsweek jump on the Lincoln Bedroom
story, emphasizing the president's intimate involvement in fund raising. A
Newsweek column by former Clinton adviser George Stephanopoulos calls
the White House fund raising "unpleasant but necessary": The president needed
money to prevent a Democratic primary challenge and to overcome the GOP's
traditional fund-raising advantage.
Time's profile of Trent Lott reaches the same conclusion
as numerous earlier profiles of the Senate majority leader: Like Clinton, Lott
is a compromiser.
Also in
Newsweek , an article about David Helfgott, subject of the movie
Shine : It says he is a wretched pianist.
U.S.
News & World Report , March 10
(posted
Tuesday, March 4)
U.S.
News ranks graduate schools. There are few surprises. Yale is tops
for law, Harvard for medicine, Stanford for business, MIT for engineering,
Columbia for education, NYU for film. The requisite campaign-finance article
notes that Clinton, who has been an avid fund-raiser since his days as
governor, loves consorting with rich people. Former Clinton adviser David
Gergen turns on his old boss, writing that his "calculated exploitation of
the nation's highest office" displays a "stunning crassness." A Q&A about Dolly concludes that a cloned human would
have its own soul. Also, a piece investigates how Asian logging companies are
despoiling rainforests in Central and South America.
Weekly Standard , March 10
(posted
Tuesday, March 4)
Editor
William Kristol recycles the advice he dispensed to the Republicans in a cover
piece just two months ago. The "cowering," "brain dead" party must revive
itself by opposing partial-birth abortions, fighting affirmative action,
blocking Clinton's appointment of liberal judges, and getting tough on China.
An article on the fund-raising scandal suggests that the White House is
terrified at the prospect of more Ickes documents, more China revelations, and
the possible cooperation of key players like John Huang. Also, a piece condemns
American history textbooks, which "read like one long lawyer's brief in the
case of Oppressed People v. White Males ."
The
Nation , March 17
(posted
Tuesday, March 4)
The
six-story cover package, titled "The Crushing Power of Big Publishing," follows
the theme of last year's "National Entertainment State" special issue. The
lead story bemoans the
rise of gigantic publishing houses, the demise of independent bookstores, the
unholy marriage of publishing and television, and the abysmal quality of
contemporary books: "Today's worst ... is much worse than the trash of
yesteryear." A fold-out chart depicts how a few conglomerates (News Corp.,
Hearst, Viacom, Advance, etc.) control the publishing industry. A piece
argues that sentences in books are getting shorter, indicating a "dumbing-down"
of readers. (It's true. I'm sure.) Also, an article claims that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, who serves
on the ABA Journal 's board of editors, gave the legal magazine
suggestions about how to cover Whitewater.
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.
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of Slate .
