Other Magazines

John Paul Stevens, Conservative

The New York Times Magazine’s must-read profile on the Supreme Court justice you think you know.

Today, Other Magazines debuts a new format that will help you sort through magazines and find out what’s worth your time—and what’s not. Today, we’re reviewing Time, Radar, Wired, the New Republic, New York, and the New York Times Magazine.

Must-Read of the Week
The Sept. 23 cover story of the New York Times Magazine profiles Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Though he’s known as the most liberal of the justices, Stevens reveals that he considers himself a political and judicial conservative. Elsewhere in the engaging piece, he explains why the Roe v. Wade opinion—a decision he joined—”doesn’t make sense,” and insists that he won’t retire any time soon.—D.S.

Sharpest Political Analysis
In Time,Slate founder Michael Kinsley dismantles the “wonderful world of umbrage” that arose in the wake of the MoveOn.org ad calling Gen. David Petraeus “General Betray-us.”  He argues that the “choreography” of the right is nothing more than that fatal sin of the left: political correctness.—J.M.

Weirdest Stunt
Radar’s Fresh Intelligence department sent $5 donations to the campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney in the name of notable racists, pedophiles, and perverts. “All four candidates accepted our dirty money without a second thought.”—G.H.

Most Alarming Statistic
The New Republic’s piece on the dangers of human-caused mass extinctions notes, “Of the roughly 250,000 plant species on Earth, fewer than 5 percent have been screened for pharmaceutical properties.”—J.M.

Business Piece of the Week
The Economist’s cover storycurtails any hopes that Bernanke’s big interest-rate cut will save global money markets.—M.S.

Technology Piece of the Week
Wired serves up a terse  blow-by-blow recap of last spring’s cyber-assualt on Estonian servers and heads to Moscow for a rendezvous with a 21-year-old hacker who claims involvement. Unsurprisingly, he’s now offering his services to the highest bidder.—B.F.

Sports Piece of the Week
An excellent piece in Time examines the moral flexibility of sports fans. Example: “According to a 1999 study by psychologists at Murray State, a significant minority of fans—if guaranteed anonymity—would even support injuring an opposing player or coach.”—J.M.

Oddest Approval-Matrix Placement
As usual, the good people of New York have some suspicious judgment calls: Jon Stewart as Oscar host is highbrow?—J.L.

Best Animal-Related Cocktail Chatter
New York reports that PETA, emboldened, perhaps, by the Michael Vick case, has set its sights on “a new target: Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn who swing live chickens in the air to symbolically transfer their sins to the birds.”—J.L.

Best Cocktail-Related Cocktail Chatter
Radar notes chef Anthony Bourdain’s disgust with some of dining’s hottest trends, like the rise of the chocolate martini. “Both chocolate and liquor are good in bars, but ordering them together announces that you don’t like or appreciate either.”—G.H.