Economist, Sept. 24

The cover editorial applauds General Electric CEO Jack Welch and the management trend of "creative destruction" he popularized. Creative destruction creates tauter companies that can quickly respond to market changes. ... In an essay, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges U.N. members to reach a consensus that the United Nations should intervene anywhere human rights are being abused, regardless of territorial boundaries. ... Winemaking is being corrupted by numerical review ratings, according to an article. Vintners are providing unrepresentative samples to rig the system and underproducing good but low-rated wines.

New Republic, Oct. 4

An education cover package. One article argues for vouchers and disputes studies critical of them. Private schools do not skim off the best students from struggling public schools, and voucher students are not suspended at higher rates. ... A piece touts the benefits of charter schools. Studies indicate that the 1,684 charter schools are providing a better education to the 350,000 public school students they serve. Five studies suggest that charter schools also stimulate conventional public schools to innovate and improve. ... Online continuing and executive education programs are a rip-off, according to an article: Brand-name bricks-and-mortar universities receive lots of revenue from them, but the quality of instruction is poor.

New York Times Magazine, Sept. 19

In the fourth of six millennium issues, artists depict the millennium with predictably burlesque results. ... Cockroaches devouring a tomato symbolizes the destruction of the new world by European conquistadors. ... The environmental consequences of the industrial revolution are caricatured by a picture of a bear and a coyote tethered, like cliffhanger heroines, to a pile of logs in the path of an oncoming train. ... A collage of Bill Gates costumed as a Medici together with Michael Eisner outside a fairytale castle represents the way "culture rode the coattails of money" in the Renaissance and in the 1990s.

Time, Sept. 20

The cover story marvels at the Harry Potter phenomenon. The best-selling British book series about an orphan who transcends the tedium of suburban life through his adventures as a wizard-in-training has enchanted both children and adults. In upcoming books, Harry will take an interest in girls, and the villain will kill a favorite character. (Click here for Slate's "Book Club" exchange on the Potter books.) ... An article trails Bill Bradley around his home town. He shows off his basketball trophies and his black friend from Little League.

Newsweek, Sept. 20

A special issue examining "the dawn of e-life" rehashes conventional wisdom on the transformative potential of the Internet: Commerce will be revolutionized by Amazon-like companies and by online auctions that enable individuals to sell oddball items to distant buyers or bid for services from companies with excess inventory. E-mail is making the workplace more egalitarian by enabling minions to send suggestions to higher-ups. Campaigns are using the Internet as an organizational and fund-raising tool.