- By David Plotz - Slate Magazine

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other magazines: Summaries of what's in Time, Newsweek, etc.

By David Plotz
Posted Sunday, Aug. 10, 1997, at 3:30 AM ET

Economist, Aug. 9

(posted Saturday, Aug. 9)

The cover editorial takes a dim view of America's giddy stock market. In order to justify today's stratospheric share prices, profits and productivity must grow at improbably high rates for an impossibly long time. (For Slate's similarly pessimistic take, see Michael Kinsley's "The Stock Market Chicken-Counting Orgy.") A related article notes that the skyrocketing stock market is a worldwide phenomenon: Equity markets are booming in Europe and Asia, too, thanks to low interest rates. The Economist celebrates the 100^th birthday of aspirin, the world's first synthetic drug and still one of the best. Latest bit of good news: Aspirin now seems to prevent bowel cancer, in addition to relieving pain, quelling inflammation, and preventing strokes and heart attacks.

New Republic, Aug. 25

(posted Friday, Aug. 8)

The cover story deplores the overdiagnosis of learning disabilities: LD advocates say that as many as 50 million Americans are learning-disabled; critics say that students claim impairment to extract special treatment from schools (extra tutoring, extra time on tests, etc.). The disabilities include such dubious afflictions as "dysgraphia"--that is, bad handwriting. A piece argues that black Americans espouse paranoid myths (that the CIA sells crack in the inner cities, for example) because it's easier for them to believe that white America is trying to destroy them than to believe that white America doesn't care about them. The "TRB" column suggests that William Weld could revive the Republican Party and position himself as a 2000 presidential contender by fighting Jesse Helms over Weld's nomination as ambassador to Mexico. (For Slate's less flattering view of Weld, see Franklin Foer's "Assessment." Also check out the "Frame Game" on Weld vs. Helms.)

Vanity Fair, September 1997

(posted Friday, Aug. 8)

VF traces Andrew Cunanan's bloody trail from San Diego to Minneapolis to Chicago to Miami. He favored hard-core S&M, belonged to a fraternity of rich, mostly closeted gay men called Gamma Mu, dealt drugs to support his lavish lifestyle, and lied to everyone about everything. A Harold Ickes profile says the ex-Clinton staffer is cruel, bullying, and smart. Clinton may have tossed him aside, but Ickes is retaliating by cooperating with campaign-finance investigators. Also, a pair of articles on celebrity marriage. One piece mocks Larry King for marrying too often, depicting him as needy, lonely, and desperate for attention. The other claims that the marriage of Rudy Giuliani and actress/TV journalist Donna Hanover is a façade: The New York mayor has been conducting an affair with his communications director for the past three years, and Hanover will separate from him after this fall's election. The story chastises New York media for ignoring the story, saying they fear alienating the vindictive Giuliani.

New York Times Magazine, Aug. 10

(posted Thursday, Aug. 7)

The cover story reports on Robert McNamara's visit with his old North Vietnamese counterparts. McNamara accepts some blame for the war; the Vietnamese don't. A story recounts how a long-shunned medical researcher is finally winning acceptance for his unconventional theories on heart disease, and suggests that new ideas in medicine are often slighted when they don't stand to make money for drug companies. A piece profiles Manhattan's real-estate barons. They're being challenged by a new, faceless breed of property investors, but they're not worried.

Newsweek and Time, Aug. 11

(posted Tuesday, Aug. 5)

Newsweek hypes as "exclusive" a new bimbo eruption. A former aide to White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum tells the magazine that, in 1993, another White House employee, Kathleen E. Willey, told her that she had been groped and kissed by the president. Paula Jones' lawyers have subpoenaed Willey to establish Clinton's "pattern of behavior."

Newsweek offers its eighth medical cover story of the year. "The Hidden Causes of Heart Attacks" identifies a new villain, the amino acid homocysteine, which damages "arterial walls if it reaches high concentrations in the blood stream." Newsweek advises a prevention regimen of multivitamins, especially vitamins B-6 and B-12. (Time published a piece on homocysteine last week.) Other risk factors for heart disease include low birth weight and infections like gingivitis.

Forget about saving the whales: Time reports that the overfishing of sharks for fins (an Asian delicacy) and cartilage (mistakenly thought to prevent cancer) has brought several species to low population levels.

Both magazines analyze the budget deal. A Newsweek columnist notes that the budget would have balanced itself quicker if Congress had done nothing new.

U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 11

(posted Tuesday, Aug. 5)

The cover story offers a News You Can Use analysis of the budget deal's tax cuts: You benefit if you are middle class and have kids, or are rich and own stock. A report details how a new coal-mining technique, which decapitates mountains, has scarred West Virginia's scenery, destroyed property, and created floods. An earnest analysis of women in the military advocates that the Pentagon use the techniques that helped integrate blacks into the services.

Weekly Standard, Aug. 11

(posted Tuesday, Aug. 5)

The cover story lauds Jesse Helms as (next to Reagan) "the most important conservative of the last 25 years." Helms is "misunderstood," "an able and resourceful executive," "the easiest boss in Congress," and "a kindly, courtly gentleman who loves kids." "Helms's gutsiest decision has been to confront the homosexual movement." (For Slate's take, see "The Old Carolinians.") An editorial criticizes the Clinton administration for threatening to withhold federal aid from the University of Texas and the University of California, both of which have enacted race-blind admissions policies. And an article opposes the use of statistical sampling for the next census, arguing that the samplers will favor Democrats.

The New Yorker, Aug. 11

(posted Tuesday, Aug. 5)

A long profile of Soviet refusenik-turned-Israeli Cabinet member Natan Sharansky examines the struggle of moving from sainthood to practical politics. An editorial argues that the balanced-budget compromise is not a compromise, since both sides granted each other all the spending and tax cuts they wanted, and hence will not balance the budget. An article profiles John Doerr, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist in search of the next big technological revolution.