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

Bailout BluesThe New Yorker, New York, and Harper's on the Wall Street rescue plan.

By Kara HadgePosted Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008, at 11:30 AM ET

The New Yorker, Sept. 29
A feature chronicles a Marine's struggle with PTSD, which led to his suicide and the death of his brother. After completing one tour of duty in Afghanistan and four in Iraq, Travis Twiggs set out for the Grand Canyon with his brother Willard, who faced problems of his own with drugs and alcohol. In "a landscape suited to an apocalyptic frame of mind," they tried—unsuccessfully—to drive into the canyon. A police chase two days later culminated in the deaths of both brothers. … Another piece delves into the details of Leona Helmsley's will and takes up broader questions about the moral implications of bequeathing billions of dollars to animals. Helmsley's wish to leave $12 million to her Maltese, Trouble, and the vast majority of her estate to establishing a trust intended to aid other dogs "reflects contempt for humanity as much as love of dogs."

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New York, Sept. 29
The cover story views the financial crisis vis-à-vis It's a Wonderful Life, casting Ron Hermance, "the CEO of the homegrown Hudson City Bancorp," in the role of George Bailey and Richard Fuld of Lehman Bros. as "the vicious, scheming Mr. Potter." It pushes the analogy to explain how "some dinky local savings and loan is now the darling of high finance, and the old, storied banks are falling by the wayside." … A profile spotlights Alexis Stewart, Martha's daughter, who "has opinions about pretty much everyone and everything, almost uniformly negative," and shares them each morning during her Sirius radio talk show, Whatever With Alexis and Jennifer. Now Alexis and co-host Jennifer Koppel Hutt are hitting the small screen with Whatever, Martha!, in which the pair "watch old episodes of Martha Stewart Living … and make merciless fun of" Alexis' mom, who is "both executive producer and creator" of the radio show.

Newsweek, Sept. 29
Fareed Zakaria praises last week's government intervention in the economic crisis. After taking over AIG, the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve made recovery possible by first aiming "to bolster confidence." The point of government intervention, Zakaria argues, is to balance "good regulations that allow markets to work well" and the risks inherent in a market-driven economy. … Another article argues that in the upcoming presidential debates, "what matters when it comes to foreign affairs is not so much knowledge … as judgment." Because international crises usually occur without advance warning—as in the case of this summer's conflict in Georgia—a competent president need not know the details of every tension in the international community. Instead, his overall foreign-policy "philosophy" should be suited to dealing with problems as they unfold.

The Weekly Standard, Sept. 29
The cover story wonders whether we're headed for a depression and determines that "this is hardship, not the privations of the 1930s." The original rules of the board game Monopoly, invented during the Great Depression, put our contemporary attitudes into perspective after the boom times of the 1990s. … Another article examines the shifting position of Catholic politicians on abortion over the last four years. While John Kerry attempted to align his views on abortion "with the liberalism" of the post-Vatican II Church, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi have adopted "the notion that Catholic officials must resist Catholic teaching, since opposition to abortion is inherently religious—a matter solely of narrow sectarian definition, like not eating meat on Fridays." Democrats risk alienating Catholic voters in an election year in which "the Catholic position [on abortion] is firmer in the public's mind."

New Republic, Oct. 8
The cover story explains why the McCain "campaign's strategy of persistent dishonesty" could help him win the election. Although stretching the truth is a campaign mainstay, "McCain's untruths … defy any modern historical precedent." While McCain's sense of honor has long been his most notable strength, his campaign against a candidate whose "two principal political weaknesses [are] his race and his lack of experience" has left him with no choice but to attack "a pretend Obama." McCain might be onto something—studies show that untruths leave more of an impact on voters than lies that have been corrected. … An article debunks "the idea that we are a nation of small towns." Despite Sarah Palin's appeals to a collective sense of "nostalgia" for small-town America, it is the metropolitan area that forms the basis of the U.S. economy and has "increasingly come to symbolize connectedness."

Harper's, October 2008
In the cover story, the author accompanies his father to help "trash out" abandoned foreclosed homes by cleaning them up and ridding them of the "gadgets and notes and utility bills and photographs" left behind. In doing so, he "can't help but read a narrative in what has been discarded" by trying to piece together clues from the previous tenants' lives. The author says he came to "understand the depth of this crisis in a way that business pages failed to convey." … In another article, a white actor heads to Bombay, India, to break into the Bollywood film industry, where he has been told studios are clamoring for Westerners. It turns out his pale skin is not an automatic golden ticket to stardom, but he eventually lands a bit part in a noir film.