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New York Times Magazine, Oct. 20
(posted Thursday, Oct. 17)
A double dose of old-fashioned liberalism. The cover story, "Slamming the Door," mourns the federal abandonment of public housing. Author Jason DeParle hammers the Republican Congress and President Clinton for eliminating funds for new building, and warns that the housing gap is widening: Millions of Americans--many of them full-time workers--now spend so much money on shelter that they must cut back on food, clothing, and utilities. "The Un-Candidate" tracks the odd presidential campaign of Ralph Nader, who has hired no staff, raised no money, and given no campaign speeches. There is much praise for Nader's passion, tempered by an acknowledgment that he's losing his war against corporate power. Also, a grim account of the post-Olympic tour by the U.S. women's gymnastics team: America's sweethearts are cold, unhappy, isolated obsessives. And there's yet another article about Bill Moyers' Genesis series.
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Newsweek, Oct. 21
(posted Monday, Oct. 14)
Newsweek borrows its cover story from People. "The Carolyn Style" celebrates the "raunchy yet regal" look of the newest Mrs. Kennedy, and explains her makeover from vaguely disheveled college model to elegant woman. There is much praise for her hair. A feature discusses the Dole camp's internal debate about whether the candidate should go negative; in a bylined sidebar, virtue czar William Bennett argues in the affirmative. Also, this year's "October Surprise": The Lippo Group scandal. Newsweek whacks Clinton and the Democrats for taking donations from foreigners in return for political access. The first anniversary of the Million Man March prompts an interview with Louis Farrakhan (he refers to himself in the third person, and says that world leaders treat him with respect).
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Time, Oct. 21
(posted Monday, Oct. 14)
A navel-gazing cover story wonders if there is too much news. Noting the proliferation of cable news, online news, and talk radio, Time suggests that Americans are tuning out general news because they are overloaded with information. A related story elaborates on the decline of the daily newspaper, and a sidebar frets about Generation X's indifference to news. Also, Time guesses who's out of, and who's in, a second Clinton administration (out: Warren Christopher, Janet Reno; in: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Attorney General Mickey Kantor). An article on the sluggish presidential campaign hints that Bob Dole can't choose between "Death With Dignity" and mudslinging. And Time interviews Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is "very, very, very upset" with Israel.
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The New Yorker, Oct. 21 & 28
(posted Monday, Oct. 14)
The New Yorker's special issue on American politics is light on presidential-campaign politics, heavy on profiles. Those featured include George Stephanopoulos; San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown; and Sens. John McCain and John Kerry. The Kristols are touted as today's most influential conservatives in one article and philosopher Michael Oakeshott earns the designation of the century's most influential conservative in another. A story charts the decline of Georgetown as the social center of politics. In keeping with other New Yorker specials, there are celebrity contributions: Richard Holbrooke delivers a long account of his travels in Bosnia; Arthur Miller tells why he wrote The Crucible (uh, McCarthyism); Allen Ginsberg contributes a political poem. And The New Yorker also publishes "Some Like Poetry," a poem by Polish Nobel Prize winner Wislawa Szymborska. The New Republic prints a different translation of the same poem in its Oct. 28 issue.
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Weekly Standard, Oct. 21
(posted Monday, Oct. 14)
The Standard gives up on the election. "Heads up. The sky is falling. ... This year's presidential campaign is over," states the opening editorial. The magazine contends, as usual, that Dole's loss would not mean the defeat of conservative ideas, which are thriving. A long article on Newt Gingrich suggests that he will be a more cautious, but more effective, speaker if the GOP holds the House. Also, John DiIulio makes the case for shotgun weddings: "Don't settle for biological fathers' support payments; demand their positive, permanent presence where women and children need them." And the Standard wallops AFL-CIO head John Sweeney for foisting his radical liberal agenda on rank-and-file workers.
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U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 21
(posted Monday, Oct. 14)
The cover package plugs a photo book, 24 Hours in Cyberspace. The 20 images printed by U.S. News convey an it's-a-small-world-after-all feel: A Coptic hermit sends e-mail; a Malaysian elephant tramps through jungle wearing a radio collar hooked to the Web; Japanese monks update their Buddhist home page; etc. Also, an article throws a damper on today's growing economy, noting that not all growth (money spent on prisons, divorce lawyers, Prozac, and bottled water) is desirable.
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Vanity Fair, November 1996
(posted Friday, Oct. 11)
Madonna on the cover, her endless diary inside. Hooked to the release of Evita, the diary chronicles filming in Buenos Aires, her pregnancy, her dreams about Sharon Stone, and much, much, much more ("[t]oday I died a thousand deaths. Take after painful take. I was a wreck, even off-camera"). Many tender pictures accompany. Marjorie Williams profiles Dick Morris, taking the (now-standard) line that Morris' amorality enabled Clinton to find his own moral center. A Vanity Fair without O.J.? Impossible. "O.J.'s Ghost" recounts the weird career of Larry Schiller, a photographer/media promoter who has insinuated himself with Jack Ruby, Gary Gilmore, and now Simpson. And in a book excerpt, actress Claire Bloom describes the loathsome behavior of her ex-husband, novelist Philip Roth.
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Economist, Oct. 12
(posted Friday, Oct. 11)
The Economist speculates about post-Mandela South Africa. The cover story, "How Wrong Is It Going?" warns that South Africa's economy is struggling, its crime rate is skyrocketing, and its political system is unsteady. South Africa will probably avoid "stagnant African disappointment," though it won't become the economic tiger it was expected to be. A related editorial, "After He's Gone," argues that the ANC government needs to do a better job accommodating Zulus and whites. Also, an article claiming that China's economy is much smaller, and its poverty rate much higher, than has been reported. And a 32-page special on Mercosur, a small island republic in the Indian Ocean--oops, we mean the South American common market. It's doing very well, thank you.
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New Republic, Oct. 28
(posted Friday, Oct. 11)
Joe Klein dismisses William Julius Wilson's new book, When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor, calling it "tortured" and "unconvincing." Wilson is wrong to blame urban misery on economic stagnation and job loss in the inner cities, writes Klein, who subscribes to the neo-con view that urban poverty persists because the underclass lacks the social skills and discipline to join the labor force. (The poor are not like us. They're worse.) An article untangles the arms-to-Bosnia mess, suggesting that the Clinton administration let Iran ship weapons to Bosnia because it didn't trust the CIA to do it. "TRB" decries the "outrages" hidden in the minimum-wage bill: Favors to big corporations may "more than negate" the benefits to workers from the wage hike. And a story regrets the demise of Minnesota liberalism.
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