Economist , April 26
(posted
Saturday, April 26)
The
European election issue. The Economist endorses the Tories--tepidly--in
next week's British election. The cover editorial, "Labour
Doesn't Deserve It," says that while the party's ideas are "no longer
disastrous," they're not as sensible as the conservatives' free-market
policies. An editorial and article say that next month's French election could determine the
future of European union. The re-election of President Jacques Chirac would
probably guarantee France's participation in currency union. A Socialist
victory would put it in doubt. A story about the new Sino-Russian "strategic
partnership" concludes that it's nothing to worry about. For the moment, China
and Russia are united by their unease about the United States, but Russia will
quickly learn that it has more to fear from Chinese expansionism than from
Western capitalism.
New
Republic , May 12
(posted
Friday, April 25)
A long
article doubts whether online media can attract the loyal "communities" of
readers that newspapers used to have. It compares the Webzine Salon to
legendary San Francisco columnist Herb Caen: The Web can't replicate the
"emphatically local" sense of place that made Caen so popular. The cover book
review pans Norman Mailer's autobiography of Jesus ( The Gospel According to
the Son ) as an unimaginative imitation of the real Gospels. Also, a piece
about Mauritanian slavery, a truly peculiar institution: Slaves in the
northwest African nation are frequently richer than their masters.
New
York Times Magazine , April 27
(posted
Thursday, April 24)
"Learning
Poverty Firsthand" profiles welfare scholar Kathryn Edin, who claims that
all welfare mothers cheat, but only because they have to. Welfare and
food-stamp benefits are not nearly enough to pay for essentials, so welfare
moms need outside income to survive. The other striking fact: Women who work at
menial jobs are poorer than women on welfare. The cover story reprints an
exchange of letters between a desperate German Jew and an American cousin who
tried to save him from the Holocaust. A sportswriter plays a pickup basketball
game with Oscar Robertson, who has lost a step but not his competitive spirit.
Also, a column about "Slaves 'R' Us," a business that recruits submissive men
to clean the apartments of dominant women. (It's even weirder than it
sounds.)
Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report , April 28
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
The cover stories are pegged
to Colin Powell's volunteer summit. Newsweek says the "future of the
country may be riding" on Powell's campaign to save at-risk kids, but doubts
whether the general can persuade corporations to make long-term commitments to
philanthropy. In a short column, George Bush exhorts all Americans to help
needier folks. U.S. News argues that most of America's 93 million
volunteers aren't doing much good. (For example: Singing in a church choir
counts as "volunteering"; so does making cookies for a school bake sale.) Only
a tiny fraction of volunteers assist needy children and seniors, and most
community-service agencies are badly mismanaged. A sidebar proposes transforming AmeriCorps into a vast national
scholarship program like the GI Bill.
Newsweek excerpts a
forthcoming biography of Tiger Woods. The passage recounts Woods' first trip to
the Masters in 1995: He played 18 holes each day, then spent the evening
studying for his Stanford history exam.
In
U.S. News , a puff
piece congratulates GM on its makeover: The troubled car maker is
introducing 14 new models this year, hoping to stop its market-share slide. A
Kentucky Derby article explains why racehorses aren't getting
faster: Unlike humans, horses are such superb athletes that training doesn't
help them.
Time , April 28
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
"What's Wrong at the FBI?" rehashes familiar complaints
about the agency: The crime lab is a mess; Director Louis Freeh is a bully; and
the bureau flubbed the Aldrich Ames, Ruby Ridge, and Richard Jewell cases.
Several weeks after Newsweek , Time presents the government's case
against Timothy McVeigh. The circumstantial evidence and Michael
Fortier's testimony are devastating, but FBI bungling might sabotage the
prosecution. A profile of British Labor Party leader Tony Blair asserts that his politics are Clintonian, but
his forthright, honest manner is not. Also, echoing a recent U.S. News
cover story, Time says that strong opiates such as morphine are a godsend for people in chronic pain.
The
New Yorker , April 28 and May 5
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
April in
Paris! The New Yorker celebrates with an exhausting double issue about
Europe. An article says French cooking has stagnated because French chefs avoid
the multiethnic fusion cuisine that dominates London, New York, and San
Francisco. A story probes the psychology of Switzerland: The Swiss are finally
facing the truth about their World War II misdeeds, and their icy
self-righteousness is slowly melting. Henry Louis Gates Jr. argues that black
pop culture (especially Jungle music) now dominates British pop culture.
British blacks have finally found an English, rather than West Indian,
identity. A writer who used to live in East Germany reads his secret police
file and confronts a "friend" who informed on him: She says she had to do it.
And several articles doubt whether the European Union will ever unify
Europe.
Weekly
Standard , April 28
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
The cover
story condemns the Clinton administration's commercial foreign policy, accusing
the White House of valuing profit above ideology or strategy. The result: We
now happily do business with monstrous regimes in Burma, Sudan, Syria, and
China. The editorial says Colin Powell's volunteer summit is an "incoherent"
event that will only reinforce the (wrong) idea that government should
interfere with every aspect of private life. An article makes fun of Ellen
DeGeneres' TV/real-life coming out: It is a "cynical marketing ploy."
The
Nation , May 5
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
A
five-pack of campaign-finance stories. Two articles make the case for public financing of
elections--candidates could either raise private money or accept public funds.
Ex-Rep. Dan Hamburg describes his campaign fund-raising experiences, revealing
that congressmen solicit contributions from their offices all the time and
frequently do favors for contributors (surely not!). A reporter goes undercover as a PAC lobbyist, and finds that
congressional staffers are incredibly considerate.
National
Review , May 5
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
The
anti-anti-China backlash begins. Countering weeks of editorializing by the
Weekly Standard and the New Republic , "How Not to Handle China"
counsels moderation toward Beijing. "If you insist on treating another country
as an enemy, it is likely to become one." China has no worldwide ambitions, is
not a regional bully, trails the United States by decades militarily, and isn't
so terrible on human rights. A related article advises the United States to maintain its military
strength, improve East Asian alliances, and build a missile defense for Taiwan.
An editorial suggests that Attorney General Janet Reno be impeached for not
appointing an independent counsel to investigate campaign fund raising.
Atlantic
Monthly and Harper's , May 1997
(posted
Tuesday, April 22)
Here's a coincidence: In the
Atlantic , a black writer tells blacks to abandon race consciousness. In
Harper's , a white writer tells blacks to abandon race consciousness. The
Atlantic cover story argues that racial pride is irrational because it
values genes rather than actions. Harper's ' "Toward an End of Blackness"
says that black Americans' struggle for freedom and equality is the great
American story. Race consciousness casts black Americans as outsiders whereas
they are quintessential Americans.
Also in the Atlantic :
An article condemns the devolution of power to state governments, arguing that
it won't save money or improve services. And Cynthia Ozick contributes a short
story.
Also in Harper's : A
group of technoscholars discusses the metaphysical significance of the showdown
between world chess champion Gary Kasparov and a supercomputer.
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of Slate .
