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

Lost on Space

By Julia Turner
Updated Friday, Oct. 17, 2003, at 6:21 PM ET
New Republic

New Republic, Oct. 27
Bob Drogin analyzes David Kay's "inconclusive" interim report on Iraqi WMD. The Bush administration has trumpeted the few ominous pieces of evidence Kay found, Drogin writes, but even these anomalies—a vial of clostridium botulinum okra B here, research on sinister-sounding Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever there—don't check out. For example, there's no evidence that botulinum B was ever weaponized; CCHF is common in Iraq, so there are legitimate public health reasons to conduct research on it. Drogin asks former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix whether he felt "vindicated" by the report. Blix replied, "I don't want to be boastful." … The Democrats are too reactive! yet another piece moans. Michael Crowley slams congressional Democrats for sniping at Bush's policy in Iraq without developing a plausible alternative. … "TRB": Peter Beinart divvies Democratic voters into "yuppies" and "regulars" and says the yuppies are gaining ground.

Economist

Economist, Oct. 16
If China can afford to put a man in space, as it did this week, then it should no longer receive the "$1.8 billion or so" it gets each year, the magazine argues. "Putting a man in orbit remains a rather wasteful sort of publicity stunt." … Also, a report on women in Iran says that with the exception of a few assertive sorts, like Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, women there are facing the usual repression with unusual indifference. 

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, Oct. 19
The Don't-Underestimate-Men-Who-Used-To-Drink-a-Lot issue. … Mim Udovitch profiles Robert Downey Jr. and finds him charming, self-deprecating, a great actor, a loving dad, and apparently quite serious about his recovery. … Peter Maass profiles North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. He's not the unpredictable, hard-drinking playboy he's often said to be. Maass, who interviewed many who've had recent dealings with the Dear Leader, concludes that Kim's decisions about North Korea's weapons capabilities are quite rational: He told one source that he claims to have long-range missiles because "only then will the United States talk to me." Still, it's far from certain that renewed relations with the tyrant would improve life for his people.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, Oct. 20
The "Making Movies" issue exhibits a delightful focus on process. Many good reads explain how stuntmen survive explosions, how the Writers Guild assigns writing credits, how cinematographers light Julianne Moore's face. (Arcana: Old-timers once used brighter bulbs to light a film's star.) … Even the requisite Quentin Tarantino profile—he's not ironic or detached, he's consummately earnest, Larissa MacFarquhar argues—includes descriptions of how the director edited scenes from Kill Bill. … Screenplay guru Robert McKee (yes, the one featured in Adaptation) demanded changes in the movie's finale before agreeing to let the filmmakers portray him on screen, one piece reveals. Apparently, he suggested they eliminate a character called the Swamp Ape. … Rebecca Mead explores the plight of Jaime Pressly, an almost-famous starlet who's cast as a sassy bad girl more often than she'd like: "Everyone assumes I can't be vulnerable," she says. "I can be just as fricking vulnerable as anybody else."

Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report

Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 20
Time's cover serves up rules for "eating smarter": The magazine proposes to resolve recent "contradictory" pieces of nutritional advice with ... more nutritional advice. In brief: Fruits and veggies are good, and processed foods are bad. Exercise is tough, so portion control is crucial. (How to make the transition to smaller meals? Serve them on smaller plates, the magazine actually advises.)

On shy shock jocks: Newsweek's second emotionally stunted cover boy in a row: Rush Limbaugh. (Last week's: Kobe Bryant.) The piece portrays Limbaugh, who admitted he was addicted to prescription painkillers last week, as a socially inept sad sack who only finds confidence in front of a microphone. Jonathan Alter notes that Limbaugh's conservative peers are unlikely to boo him off the air, since Republican candidates will want to reach his 20 million listeners in '04.

On not-so-shy governors-elect: The U.S. News cover asks: Does Arnold Matter? Maybe, says Time's Karen Tumulty, but it's too soon to say how.

On male birth control: Time notes that an Australian study has found a promising formula, which may hit the market in about five years. The only side effect: "a slightly elevated libido."

On Iraqi collaborators in Iraq: The United States successfully employed them, Time reports. At least 13 recruits were trained in intelligence gathering and sabotage, then sent back to Iraq. Once there, they helped scope out Iraqi defenses at Baghdad's airport and worked to verify which Iraqi leaders were killed in U.S. airstrikes.

On Winston Churchill and FDR: Newsweek excerpts a new book chronicling their friendship. Written by an editor at the magazine, Franklin and Winston argues that in the relationship, "Churchill was the suitor, Roosevelt the elusive quarry. The dynamic also reflected political reality: America was on the rise, Britain in decline, and Churchill believed London's future depended on proximity to Washington."

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, Oct. 20
Matt Labash offers a vivid (if slightly late-feeling) report from California's campaign trail. Highlights: quality time with yet another wackjob candidate, phonetic renderings of Arnold's speeches, the antics of the New York Times' Charlie LeDuff, and the comments of Schwarzenegger's campaign aide, who jokingly attributes Arnold's victory to "a confluence of incredible political skills, brilliant strategy, and pedestrian reporting." … Stephen F. Hayes accuses journalists of being insufficiently curious about the possibility that Saddam and al-Qaida were in cahoots. Vice President Dick Cheney was right to tell Tim Russert that "We don't know" whether there was such an alliance, Hayes writes. There's been much conflicting evidence, and the CIA has been selective in leaking only details that suggest there was no link to the press. … The editorial reiterates at length the case for waging Gulf War II (excerpting Bill Clinton at times): Saddam admitted having unconventional weapons and planned to develop more.

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Julia Turner is Slate's deputy editor. You can e-mail her at .
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