Vanity Fair , November 1997
(posted
Saturday, Oct. 11)
On the
cover and inside: portraits of "the 65 leaders who shape and rule the world
today." Making the list: The Bills (Clinton and Gates), Helmut Kohl, Louis
Farrakhan, Fidel Castro, Alan Greenspan, George Soros, Alberto Fujimori, Colin
Powell, and Nike CEO Phil Knight, among others. An article profiles
cyberprophet Esther Dyson, whose technology newsletter is a must-read in
Silicon Valley. Dyson's extreme eccentricities (despite great wealth, she's
lived in the same one-bedroom walk-up for 25 years--and it doesn't have a
telephone) bolster her reputation as a visionary. Also, Vanity Fair
excerpts a novel about a journalist covering the O.J. case for Vanity
Fair . The author is Dominick Dunne, a journalist who covered the O.J. case
for Vanity Fair . An article details how Kennedy biographer Seymour Hersh
got duped by forgers offering bogus JFK-Marilyn Monroe correspondence.
Economist , Oct. 11
(posted
Saturday, Oct. 11)
A cover
editorial calls for the ouster of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Recent ill-timed blunders (including the failed attempt to assassinate a Hamas
leader) have derailed the peace process. (See Slate's "Gist" on Mossad for more about the
group that botched the assassination.) A report from the Promise Keepers rally
in Washington agrees with everyone else that the group isn't as scary as
previously imagined. (See Slate's "Promise Keepers 1, NOW
0.") An essay says consumer advocate Ralph Nader will have a tough time
battling his newest foe, Microsoft. Nader is a victim of his own success. "[He]
has helped make American government intrusive; and that intrusiveness has made
Americans wary of seeing government limit the freedom of successes like
Microsoft."
New
Republic , Oct. 27
(posted
Friday, Oct. 10)
A cover
story profiles Paul Weyrich, right-wing founder of National Empowerment
Television. A conservative "utopianist," Weyrich demands that fellow
conservatives absolutely obey the party line. This all-or-nothing attitude
cripples the right wing. An article says the pendulum is swinging back in
sexual-harassment cases: It's the accused, not the accusers, who are now
winning million-dollar judgments. Also, a story says the Promise Keepers
exemplify the right's new strategy: Out-emote Bill Clinton.
New
York Times Magazine , Oct. 12
(posted
Thursday, Oct. 9)
A cover
article follows a squad of West Point cadets through the revamped basic
training they receive before their first semester. Tradition-bound alums hate
the program's new softness (more gender equality, less hazing), while the
administration notes that 1997's female cadets can do more push-ups than 1962's
male cadets could. A story studies slavery in Mauritania, which continues
despite official emancipation. After 500 years under Arab masters, many black
Mauritanians think like this woman: "God created me to be a slave ... just as
he created a camel to be a camel." Also, an essay criticizes the double
standard for adultery: "When men cheat, they're pigs. When women do it, they're
striking a blow for sexual freedom."
Time and Newsweek , Oct. 13
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 7)
Time 's trend-spotting
lead is "America's Fascination with Buddhism" (a k a: an
excuse to put Brad Pitt on the cover). Pitt's new film, Seven Years in
Tibet , and droves of Buddhist celebs (Richard Gere, Tina Turner, Beastie
Boy Adam Yauch ...) are bringing hipness to the religion and the Tibetan cause.
Newsweek 's Buddhism angle: It predicts protests by famous Tibetophiles
when Chinese President Jiang Zemin visits the United States this month.
Newsweek 's cover on IRS misdeeds repeats now-familiar accusations about
the agency's unchecked power.
A
Time story says young male elephants are murdering rhinos in
Africa. Why the violence? No male-elephant role models. (No kidding.) Another
Time article says Soul Food 's success might rouse
Hollywood to pay heed to black America's box-office potential. Also in
Newsweek , transcripts of newly released tapes from LBJ's archives.
Complaining to John Connally in 1964: "Every man in my cabinet's a Kennedy man.
... I haven't been able to change 'em, and I don't have the personnel if I
could change 'em. They didn't go to San Marcos Teacher's College
[Johnson's alma mater]. ... It's just agony. ... I don't really know how to
handle it all." (To hear excerpts from the newly released tapes, see Slate's
"LBJ Sounds Off.")
The
New Yorker , Oct. 13
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 7)
The
New Yorker excerpts George Plimpton's forthcoming biography
of Truman Capote to tell the story behind Capote's In Cold Blood , the
"factional" account of a 1959 murder in Kansas, which appeared in the magazine
in 1965. Interesting details: Capote met Kansas cops wearing nothing but a lacy
pink negligee; Capote identified with murderer Perry Smith; female writer
Harper Lee ( To Kill a Mockingbird ) acted as Capote's bodyguard during
his Kansas visits. A column by former Labor Secretary Robert Reich argues that
large campaign contributions corrupt politicians not by influencing them to
change votes, but by immersing them in the world of rich people. An essay
describes how difficult, time-consuming, and sad it is to take care of aging
parents.
U.S.
News & World Report , Oct. 13
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 7)
A
cover
package rates the best American HMOs. On top: Group Health Cooperative of
South Central Wisconsin and New England's Harvard Community Health Plan. An
accompanying piece says consumer awareness is improving HMOs. A story assesses the costly new push for smaller public-school
classes. Smaller classes alone won't improve education, but they work wonders
when led by good teachers. Also, an article examines the booming business of naming corporations.
Pitfalls abound: "Enron" originally chose "Enteron," the medical term for the
excretory canal. (To see Slate's take on the name game, read "You Name
It.")
Weekly Standard , Oct. 13
(posted
Tuesday, Oct. 7)
A cover
story tracks Steve Forbes' self-reinvention. Forbes' new pro-life stand will
draw the Christian right to his 2000 campaign. An article mourns the
deterioration of the Episcopal Church. Increasing moral lassitude (read: gay
rights) alienates the church's base. Also, an editorial calls the IRS hearings
the "biggest Republican victory in 1997," arguing that the GOP must continue to
find hot-button issues.
--Compiled by Seth Stevenson and the editors of Slate .
