Time, Sept. 3 The cover story examines 66 years of Mother Teresa’s correspondence with her confessors and superiors, much of which is only now being made public. As it turns out, the renowned missionary felt “no presence of God whatsoever” for the last decades of her life. It’s fascinating to see how atheists and religious figures respond to the news. God Is Not Great author and Slate contributor Christopher Hitchens (who once called the iconic nun “a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud“) suggests Teresa finally “woke up” to the simple truth that God doesn’t exist. Yet the Rev. Brian Kolodiejchuk thinks Teresa’s “dark period” is further proof of her religious fortitude—her ability to do God’s work without Christ’s direct attendance. … An article examines Philadelphia’s innovative anti-graffiti measure. Instead of waging “war on the spray-painting vandals,” the city encourages mural-making. Apparently the initiative helps pacify tough neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t trot out any hard evidence to prove his point—he just shares a sappy anecdote about a community coming together to paint “The Peace Wall.”— J.L.
Washington Monthly, September 2007 A special issue presents Washington Monthly’s annual college rankings, which the magazine developed to address the perceived flaws in the influential U.S. News and World Report ranking system. A note from the editors somewhat self-righteously declares that the Washington Monthly rankings are a “guide not just to what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country.”Washington Monthly claims its methodology places a heavier emphasis on the social mobility and fostering of civilian or military service than does that of U.S. News. That explains why its results differ wildly from the Ivy-league dominated U.S. News rankings: The highest Ivy school on the list is Cornell, which comes in at seventh place. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, U.S. News’top three, measure in at 27th, 38th, and 78th. The editors also cattily single out Rice University with a “dishonorable mention,” noting the rapid ascent of the “best little university in Texas” to 17 in the U.S. News rankings, but its 103rd place in their rankings because of low social mobility and service scores.— M.S.
Economist, Aug. 25 The cover story gives a fairly comprehensive lowdown on the siloviki—former KGB operatives—who control the Kremlin. “Capitalising on a widespread sense that Russia has been humiliated,” the siloviki want to reassert the state’s influence. In some ways, they’ve been successful: GDP growth averages about 7 percent a year, and the foreign reserves have risen exponentially. Nevertheless, the siloviki are making some serious gaffes that could impede Russia’s return to power: They’re putting spies without sufficient business experience in charge of big firms and have done nothing to quell secessionism in the north Caucasus. … An article describes yet another Chinese health scare—and this time, it’s hurting local agriculture. For months, international health officers have been hearing “anecdotal reports” that “massive numbers of pigs” have been infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome. On Aug. 20, China’s chief veterinary officer announced that PRRS is under “preliminary control,” but the government has yet to share tissue samples with international organizations. All told, the government’s handling of the situation has “been somewhat better than during the 2003 SARS outbreak,” but China has a long way to go before achieving real transparency.— J.L.
New Republic, Aug. 27 The impressive cover story examines the psychological interplay between our fear of death and how we select presidential candidates. The piece uses psychologists’ findings on mortality awareness to explain American xenophobia and President Bush’s electoral success. But that Republican victory could be fleeting: The article suggests that “scare tactics” invoking 9/11 won’t be effective in the upcoming election because 9/11 seems too distant. That means bad news for GOP candidates touting their national security agendas. … A lucid article argues that DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas and other bloggers are a product of a society where “revolutionary rhetoric” is not taken seriously. As a result, the netroots have thrown their support behind mainstream presidential candidates, which may end up backfiring. The piece closes with a thought-provoking hypothetical: What happens if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton gets elected and doesn’t withdraw the troops? How does the blogosphere make an impact if the centrists won’t listen and they’ve alienated more radical politicians?—C.M.
Portfolio, September 2007
A comprehensive piece on the New York Yankees and their owner, George Steinbrenner, reveals the team’s succession plans (or lack thereof) should Steinbrenner pass away. Steinbrenner has not declared who will take over when the time comes, and his sons are passively jockeying for position in the race to control the multibillion-dollar franchise. The highlight is a startling encounter with an addled Steinbrenner in his Florida home, where the owner is unable to answer to some basic questions. … A dull profile of Saad Hariri, the son of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, paints the younger as a reluctant public figure whose home is in business, not politics. Saad, who heads the government’s Sunni bloc, is in position to follow his father’s footsteps and become prime minister, but he’s not eager to become the country’s leader. The article (which is, oddly enough, included in the Web site’s “Career” department) gives just as much ink to Rafik as it does to Saad, which makes it neither timely nor particularly salient.—C.M.
New York Times Magazine, Aug. 26 Slate contributor Fred Kaplan analyzes the “growing disconnect” within the Army’s hierarchical culture. A gap has always existed, but now younger officers often have more combat experience than their superiors and feel that their concerns are being ignored. The conflict became particularly apparent after a lieutenant colonel wrote an Armed Forces Journal article criticizing generals for failing to “put their foot down” when top military advisers made bad decisions in Iraq. The article sent shockwaves throughout the Army and has begun a discussion about military reform. The question is how long overhauls might take and, Kaplan wonders, “whether the most innovative of those junior officers will still be in the Army by the time the top brass decides reform is necessary.”… A short piece examines the controversies surrounding two new publicly funded schools—one Hebrew, one Arabic—that will each emphasize a particular language, culture, and religion. The Supreme Court’s confusing establishment doctrine fails to recognize that in many cases, it’s difficult to define an institution as strictly religious or secular.— D.S.
New York, Aug. 27 For the fall fashion issue, Slate contributor Amanda Fortini announces the end of the reign of the “ridiculously unflattering” (and shapeless) tent and baby-doll dresses, which pulled off “the bizarre (and, let’s face it, somewhat disturbing) feat of making women appear at once infantile and pregnant.” The fall 2007 runways were populated, instead, with “a return to narrowness,” part of a “sharper, slicker aesthetic.” This year’s more modern, feminine look “may be the surest sign that designers have figured out that adult women want to look like adults.”… A profile follows Canadian indie supergroup creator A.C. Newman to his new home in New York, where he’s preparing to release the New Pornographers’ fourth album, Challengers. Newman appears to be “the guy who seems happy-go-lucky onstage, who founded an acclaimed band, got the girl, moved to his dream city … and still doesn’t believe it’s all for keeps.” To the delight of New York’s indie kids, Newman says he’s “excited about joining the local music scene,” where he feels more at home than he ever did in Vancouver.— D.S.
Radar, September 2007 A piece profiles 71-year-old John Young, the creator of Cryptome.org who causes intelligence officials to lose sleep. Cryptome has been publishing intelligence secrets since 1994 and now nets 50,000 visitors a day. His home has been visited several times by the FBI, and officials have tried to shut the site down. The most engrossing part of the article: a side plot about Young’s assertion that the two Radar writers who interviewed him were British spies working for MI6. … Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death on Aug. 31, the cover story summarizes the far-from-regal lifestyle of Prince Harry. The article flits in and out of nightclubs, the royal palace, and news headlines as it depicts Harry as a populist prince with a love of partying. Compared with his older brother, William, 22-year-old Harry “seems to be permanently teetering on the brink of a public relations catastrophe.” Missing, though, are comments from the prince himself—not to mention a genuine photo shoot.— C.M.
The New Yorker, Aug. 27 An article examines the shifting dynamic between Europe’s next crop of leaders and the United States, focusing on French President (and allegedly pro-American) Nicolas Sarkozy. The new European honchos—Sarkozy, Britain’s Gordon Brown, and Germany’s Angela Merkel—want to “normalize relations with a great power that is no longer the only power” and are reluctant “to be defined by their response to America—either unduly faithful, as with Blair, or unduly hostile, as Chirac became.” The piece cautiously supposes that Sarkozy’s presidency may be ” a marker of the beginning of the post-American era.”… A commentary memorializes Karl Rove, the president’s “fabulist, boundary violator, autodidact, mean boy, schemer.” But, unfortunately for him, Rove’s clutch at unrestrained power for the GOP has “finally landed him on the sidelines, the place he least wanted to be.”— M.S.
Atlantic, September 2007 In the cover story, Joshua Green outlines how Washington mistook Karl Rove for a political genius: “Everyone should have been focusing less on how Rove’s methods were used to win elections and more on why they couldn’t deliver once the elections were over.” Rove learned the wrong lessons during Bush’s post-9/11 period of invincibility and subsequently “sowed interparty division as an electoral strategy.” His failure is ultimately Bush’s failure: granting too much power to imbalanced advisers. … Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully outs his former partner Mike Gerson as a preening media manipulator who falsely presented himself as the sole genius behind Bush’s finer speeches. Gerson personally took credit for the team’s work, gave dishonest interviews, and ducked real speech-drafting sessions to pose for reporters with his “famous” legal pad. He “never understood that a modest round of merited applause is worth far more than a standing ovation undeserved.” (Slate’s Timothy Noah also chimed in on the feud.)— D.S.
