Reich
Writes on Rauch, Rauch Writes on Reich
Jonathan Rauch's article in
last week's Slate ("Robert Reich, Quote Doctor") suggesting that the former
secretary of labor fantasized large chunks of his recent memoir has stirred a
pleasing fuss in Washington. Of course, like all journalists, we at Slate, when
we must make troubling accusations against public figures, do so more in sorrow
than in anger. It truly disappoints us when a man or a woman in public life
fails to meet our standards of morality, literary ethics, or oral hygiene. Like
all journalists, we would like nothing better than to be denied all such
opportunities for indignation. That said, however, we cannot deny a small
frisson of excitement when the opportunity comes along. No doubt we are
the only journalists who suffer from this spiritual flaw.
Robert Reich has asked us to
publish an article by him in reply to Jonathan Rauch. Ordinarily this is tricky
territory for a publication. People are entitled to reply when criticized. But
usually that means a short letter. If you allow everyone who comes under
criticism in your pages to reply at equal or greater length, you won't have any
room left to criticize anyone new--should that become tragically necessary.
In the
vastness of cyberspace, however, these considerations do not apply with the
same force. Therefore, in a special supplement to "E-Mail to the Editors," we
publish Reich's reply
to Rauch. We also publish Rauch's reply to Reich. And if Slate columnist Robert Wright or
Limbaugh (Rush) or Robert Rauschenberg wishes to write about Reich on Rauch or
Rauch on Reich, we'll find room for them too.
Cut to
the Chase
Forget
aesthetic judgments--the key overlooked question about film today is: Why don't
the plots make any sense? To address this critical gap, we inaugurate an
occasional column called "Plot Holes" (to be posted Tuesdays or Wednesdays),
which will analyze movies exclusively from the perspective of narrative logic.
The author, screenwriter Stephen Harrigan, will also try to explain where plot
holes come from. Aesthetic judgments will continue to be rendered by our
regular film critic, David Edelstein. We were only kidding when we said you
should forget them.
Forestry
Byproducts
Two Slate-related authors
have books to push, and we're happy to help. Julie Bick is related to Slate by
marriage: Her husband, Rogers Weed, is our publisher. Julie's new book, from
Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster), is called All I Really Need to Know in
Business I Learned at Microsoft , which is more or less self-explanatory.
Julie spent several years as a manager at the well-known Redmond, Wash.,
software firm, and in this book she shares the management insights she gleaned
there. (Look for a forthcoming companion volume by Slate's Judith Shulevitz,
All I Really Need to Know in Journalism I Learned Somewhere Else . For
more on Bick's book, click here.)
Michael
Lewis' Trail Fever (Knopf) is an expansion of his reportage on the 1996
presidential campaign for the New Republic . Slate readers got a taste of
Michael in his recent "Dispatches" from the British election. His take on Picasso and
The New Yorker will be posted Wednesday, June 11, and he will be writing
regularly for Slate beginning in the fall. Michael is best known for Liar's
Poker , his devastating 1990 memoir of the time he spent working as an
investment banker. Liar's Poker is largely credited with transforming
the investment-banking profession from the collection of arrogant greedheads it
was in the 1980s to the humble and public-spirited group it is today. Such is
the power of well-chosen words. To order Trail Fever directly from the publisher, online or by phone or
fax, click here.
How
Dismal Can You Get?
Under
threat of litigation, we have had to abandon the name "The Dismal Scientist"
for Paul Krugman's
economics column. The rights to that name have been claimed by another Web
site. Krugman's column will henceforth be known as "The Dismal Science," a
phrase too famous to be ownable by anyone, except possibly British essayist
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), who coined it. Carlyle was inspired, if that's the
word, by the writings of Thomas Malthus, who predicted that population growth
would always outpace economic growth, keeping most people in perpetual poverty.
That was more than two centuries ago, and remarkably, it is the last time any
economist made a faulty prediction.
Geoffrey
Chaucer! Live on Slate!
Followers of our weekly poem
may have noticed that Slate poetry editor (and U.S. poet laureate) Robert
Pinsky chose to run something by Ben Jonson last week. It may seem remarkable that
Jonson, who died in 1637, is still submitting poems to magazines. But poetry is
a rough business, requiring eternal optimism about the possibility of
publication, even if gloom is considered the Proper Poetical Stance on most
other issues. In the spirit of equal opportunity, Pinsky has decided to cease
discriminating against poets who suffer the ultimate disability of being
deceased. Preference will be given to poetry of the past that is especially
suitable for reading aloud. RealAudio has not yet perfected sound recordings
from beyond the grave, so poems by dead poets will be read by Pinsky himself
rather than by the author. Living poets will continue to be eligible as well.
The poem posted June 4, for example, is by Joyce Carol Oates, who is
very much alive and reads it herself.
Look for Emily Dickinson's
forthcoming poem, All I Really Need to Know in Poetry I Learned at
Microsoft .
--Michael Kinsley
