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

By Jodi Kantor and Eve Gerber
Updated Sunday, March 28, 1999, at 3:30 AM ET
Economist

Economist, March 27

(posted Saturday, March 27)

The cover editorial calls NATO's bombing of Serbia one of the West's "riskiest ventures." The action sets a dangerous precedent by attacking a sovereign state for suppressing an ethnic minority with secessionist aspirations. Its strategy is faulty: Member countries are reluctant, Serbia is strong militarily, and NATO has forsworn the use of ground troops. And it's unrealistic to think that NATO can halt ethnic cleansing without destabilizing the region. ... An article says President Clinton waited too long to prepare the American public for military action in Kosovo. He procrastinated because there were reservations within his own party and administration about the wisdom of humanitarian intervention. ... A survey of Brazil reports that President Fernando Cardoso's order to let the real float, which was issued from a bathroom at Rio's international airport, deepened the recession and worsened inflation. Now that fiscal austerity and higher interest rates have been imposed a more prosperous country could emerge so long as Brazilians stay committed to reform.

Ms.

Ms., April/May 1999

(posted Saturday, May 27, 1999)

The feminist magazine relaunches with articles on subjects predictable (female candidates for president, abortion clinic violence) and less so (adultery, the benefits of eating soy). ... A patient narrates her face lift. At first, she feels like "female goods in a dick-driven market," but a few weeks later finds her smoother, younger face a source of pleasure and confidence. ... A photo essay, "In Praise of Women," features shots of impoverished or oppressed women in Afghanistan, Africa, and Haiti, with lushly worded captions. ("Though worlds apart geographically, we are all sisters in our souls.")

New Republic

New Republic, April 12

(posted Friday, March 26, 1999)

A cover book review warns that America is not prepared for the surge in its elderly population. Policies and social custom encourage early retirement, subsidized by government programs. As the percentage of seniors increases, these programs will dominate the federal budget. Increasing savings and reinventing retirement as a mix of leisure and work could alleviate the looming crisis. ... An article argues that feminists and conservatives share the same misguided view of gender relations: that women are pervasively victimized by society and need special protection. In fact, American society is more flexible than feminists and traditionalists recognize: Most women manage to have a "workable balance of job and home responsibilities."

New York Times Magazine

New York Times Magazine, March 28

(posted Thursday, March 25, 1999)

The cover story by Times columnist Thomas Friedman argues that the United States must designate itself as enforcer-at-large of global stability. This role is mandated by history (it's a natural extension of the melting-pot tradition), economics (America stands to gain most from globalization), and necessity (no one else can). ... A lawyer asserts that "spermination"--the increasingly common practice of impregnating women with sperm retrieved from comatose or dead partners--should be banned. (One bioethicist "has coined a term for this new kind of father: the sperminator.") Like rape and forced abortion for women, spermination invades bodily privacy and denies reproductive choice.

The Nation

The Nation, April 5

(posted Thursday, March 25, 1999)

The special showbiz issue on "the relation between Hollywood and Washington" features stars ruminating on politics and politically minded writers commenting on film. Oliver Stone says that both making movies and running for office are too expensive. Alec Baldwin blames Clinton's impeachment on "the deep, deep shame that Republicans since [Watergate] have pretty much been synonymous with." Writers name their mostly predictable favorite flicks: John Edgar Wideman goes with Hoop Dreams and Larry Flynt picks The People vs. Larry Flynt ("I was very moved by it"). But Edward Said chooses Five Easy Pieces. ... An editorial warns feminists excited about Elizabeth Dole's presidential run to remember "the Margaret Thatcher rule: A tough broad can lead a developed nation and do nothing to improve the status of women or children."

New York

New York, March 29

(posted Thursday, March 25, 1999)

The cover story exposes homophobia on Wall Street. Though some of Wall Street's leading lights are gay, the industry is still "a testosterone-drenched frat house complete with ritual hazing." Closeted bankers and brokers lie about their extracurricular lives; out (and outed) peers suffer insults, wage discrimination, and demotions. Few gay Wall Streeters are willing to risk their positions to challenge the status quo. An exception: A top securities executive who was fired when he requested health benefits for his partner is now suing his old firm for $75 million.

Time and Newsweek

Timeand Newsweek, March 29

(posted Tuesday, March 23, 1999)

The newsweeklies offer history lessons. Time profiles "the greatest scientists and thinkers" of the past 100 years, the latest installment in its yearlong celebration of 20th century heroes. Among the chosen are Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, and Jonas Salk. In his assessment of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Bill Gates says they made the airplane "the World Wide Web" of their era. Robert Reich opines that John Maynard Keynes' theory of government spending "saved capitalism." The inventors of the television, the computer, and plastics make the list, as do more provocative choices: Ludwig Wittgenstein and Jean Piaget. Newsweek's cover chronicles "2000 Years of Jesus." Belief in Jesus, "the dominant figure of Western culture," has redefined the relationships between living and dead, individual and society, and men and women. In a sidebar, a conservative pundit urges the religious right to withdraw from partisan politics, comparing today's Christian politicians to the religious teetotalers who passed Prohibition in a misguided attempt to regulate morality. "The vision of worldly power is a distraction," he warns.

Time reports that George W. Bush is renovating his father's kitchen Cabinet for himself, enlisting the youngest, most libertarian, and most idealistic of President Bush's former White House advisers. "The revenge of the deputies," an older aide calls it. ... Newsweek berates Madeleine Albright as "a cold warrior caught in the wrong decade." Her absolutist policy style, formerly lauded, is now deemed reactive, inconsistent, and ill-timed. See The New Yorker below for more Albright bashing.

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report, March 29

(posted Tuesday, March 23, 1999)

The cover story, "America's Best Graduate Schools," suggests which graduate schools readers should attend, but then asks if they should enroll at all. The expansive job market makes young people increasingly hesitant to trade their robust starting salaries for tuition debt and library toil. There are few surprises on the lists: Harvard is top medical school, Yale is top law school, Stanford is top business school. ... Vice President Gore's aides blame their boss' sorry poll numbers on the same strain of "vice-presidentitis" that afflicted the early days of George Bush's 1988 run. The good news: Gore's fidelity to Tipper has never been questioned. Gore wants his campaign team to resemble a Web site, where "each person links to many different areas." ... The magazine reports on the bawdy race to conceive the first baby of the year 2000. Events for the all-important first week of April: A radio station in New Zealand erected tents for a 20-couple "togetherness" session, an Auckland station is shelling out for hotel rooms for fecund contenders, and European cable is broadcasting programs on the mating rituals of lions and chimps.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, March 29

(posted Tuesday, March 23, 1999)

An unflattering profile of Madeleine Albright asserts that the State Department's influence has waned under her watch and also suggests that she intentionally withheld information about her Jewish heritage. Twice prior to her 1997 public revelations, Albright had contact with people and documents telling of family members' religion and deaths at Auschwitz. ... A piece calls academia's recent embrace of pornography a cheap thrill. From college courses to journal articles, the newly respectable field of porn studies evinces the ivory tower's desperate need to seem cutting edge. ... An article describes the bitter war between the superposh Inn at Little Washington and the residents of the bucolic Virginia town where it is located. The townspeople find the proprietors invasive and insufferably haughty; the owners, in turn, call the locals homophobes and rubes.

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Jodi Kantor is Slate's New York editor. Eve Gerber is a Slate editorial assistant.
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