Posted Sunday, April 20, 1997, at 3:30 AM ET
Economist, April 19
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The cover editorial welcomes the idea of a tobacco settlement because it would protect children and compensate victims without crippling a legitimate business. Anti-smoking advocates are much chastised for their zealotry. A related article contends that a $300 billion settlement could improve tobacco companies' finances by cutting legal fees and eliminating future liability. A piece notes the growth of the private police industry: Security guards and rent-a-cops now outnumber police officers 3-to-1. A review of seven books about Hong Kong suggests that its best days may be ahead.
New Republic, May 5
(posted Friday, April 18)
An article denounces the recent TV-spectrum giveaway. The federal government could have raised $70 billion from auctioning the frequencies, but the TV broadcasters lobbied their way to a freebie. The massive cover book review praises Justice Antonin Scalia for changing the course of American jurisprudence from "common-law constitutionalism" to "originalism," then blasts him for betraying his own principles: Scalia has abandoned neutrality and now decides cases based on his own political views. Also, a piece discusses the aging of America's prison population. Geriatric cons cost three times as much as young prisoners (extra medical expenses, mostly), and their recidivism rates are incredibly low. Even so, prison officials rarely parole the older inmates.
New York Times Magazine, April 20
(posted Thursday, April 17)
The cover story argues that work has become like home and home has become like work. Thanks largely to total quality management, employees now feel appreciated and relaxed at the office. They find home (that is, child care) exhausting. The upshot: Workers don't care much about parental leave and flex time. "Everybody Else's College Education" challenges the prevailing notion that higher education is expensive and elitist: In fact, 80 percent of students attend public colleges, and their tuition averages less than $3,000 per year. Also, a photo essay by Sebastiao Salgado depicts Brazil's landless peasants.
Time and Newsweek, April 21
(posted Tuesday, April 15)
Time publishes its second annual roster of America's 25 "most influential people." Newsweek--what a coincidence!--lists "100 Americans for the Next Century." Time's culture-heavy lineup includes Tiger Woods, Rosie O'Donnell, "Babyface" Edmonds, Don Imus, Trent Reznor, and Dilbert (of the comic strip). Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, and Robert Rubin also make it, and the most inspired pick is National Enquirer editor Steve Coz. Newsweek's list, which is not the cover story, offers bite-sized profiles of young and middle-aged comers, from dancer Savion Glover to former Justice Department honcho Jamie Gorelick to AOL chief Steve Case to the editor of Slate. The Time and Newsweek lists overlap: Woods, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Web entrepreneur Kim Polese, and X-Files creator Chris Carter rate a mention on both.
Newsweek's cover story on fat argues that being fit is more important than being thin. Fat people who exercise regularly are healthier than thin people who don't. Not all fat is equal: A paunch is more dangerous than chubby hips and thighs. A positive profile of presidential son/Texas Gov. George Bush says that he is a likely contender for the presidency in 2000, but only if he succeeds in reforming Texas' taxes.
Also in Time, "The Joy of Text" claims that more Americans are reading books, thanks to book clubs, books on tape, and Oprah Winfrey. But publishers' profits are falling. And an article describes the peculiar National Liberation Army, which seeks to overthrow the fundamentalist government of Iran. Based in Iraq, the 30,000 member army includes 10,000 women soldiers; 70 percent of the officers and the commander are women, too.
U.S. News & World Report, April 21
(posted Tuesday, April 15)
The cover story, "Born Bad?," argues against genetic determinism. Genes are important, but a child's environment largely determines how those genes are expressed: Nature and nurture can't be separated. The article warns that belief in genetic determinism could lead to a revived, dangerous eugenics movement. U.S. News notes the surging popularity of anti-government militias: Watchdogs identify 858 groups (380 of them armed) and estimate membership at 50,000. Militia tactics include clogging courts with liens, refusing to pay taxes, and "seceding" from the United States. Also, a piece charts the decline of California's Homestead High School, the alma mater of computer whizzes Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak: Thanks largely to California's education cuts, the state's once-magnificent public schools are slipping.
The New Yorker, April 21
(posted Tuesday, April 15)
The New Yorker excerpts former Labor Secretary Robert Reich's insider memoir, Locked in the Cabinet. Reich recalls the minimum-wage fight, bemoans the influence of Wall Street on the federal budget, and fantasizes a conversation with Alan Greenspan that ends with the Fed chairman calling him a "Bolshevik dwarf." Wang Shuo, China's most popular novelist, is profiled: The satirist just relocated to the United States because the Chinese government banned his works. A funny essay on sex books finds them too cheerful, too open-minded, and too popular.
Weekly Standard, April 21
(posted Tuesday, April 15)
The editorial advises Congress not to renew China's MFN status. Clintonian conciliation does not impress the Chinese, but economic punishment will. The cover story tars Democratic superlawyer Richard Ben-Veniste for alleged misbehavior during the Whitewater investigation. It claims that in early 1996, Ben-Veniste, then Democratic counsel to the Whitewater Committee, blocked inquiries about Webster Hubbell's hiring by the Lippo Group. The problem? Ben-Veniste now represents Truman Arnold, a businessman who also hired Hubbell. Also, an essay criticizes libertarians for their unwillingness to censure bad behavior such as drug use.
Esquire, May 1997
(posted Tuesday, April 15)
The anti-anti-divorce backlash continues. Two weeks after the New Republic's pro-divorce cover story, Esquire offers "Divorce Is Good for You." The author, a man on the verge of divorce, describes how separation has rescued him from a loveless, oppressive marriage and supplied him with freedom. Divorce is "not the right thing, perhaps, but the necessary thing." His "Ex-Wife-to-Be" contributes an opposing view: She writes that she's lonelier and more regretful than she ever imagined she could be. Also, a writer joins a blackjack ring that wins millions of dollars in Vegas casinos. He reveals some of their card-counting and team-betting tricks. And a lovey-dovey profile of conservative media diva Arianna Huffington.
Vanity Fair, May 1997
(posted Friday, April 11)
This month's billionaire profile is Sir James Goldsmith, the corporate raider turned politician. Violently opposed to the European Union, Goldsmith is spending $30 million to underwrite his anti-EU Referendum Party in the upcoming British election. Much is made of his peculiar family: He keeps a wife, an ex-wife, and a mistress. An article on crime novelist Patricia Cornwell finds her obsessive, vengeful, and paranoid, and confirms that she had a lesbian affair with an FBI agent (who was nearly murdered by her husband). An appreciation of art critic Robert Hughes says he observes America better than anyone since de Tocqueville. Also, Vanity Fair hypes its own: A long excerpt from a biography of Claire Booth Luce focuses on her stint as VF's managing editor. (The magazine was "Condé Nast's prize gift to the haut monde.")
--Compiled by David Plotz and the editors of Slate.
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