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Beau Coup

By David Plotz and Eve Gerber
Updated Friday, Oct. 15, 1999, at 9:30 PM ET

Economist

Economist, Oct. 16

An article says the Pakistani coup wasn't so bad. Deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was corrupt, using his power to punish political enemies and undermine independent government institutions. But "Pakistan's beaten-up constitution has been molested yet again," and the army takeover could inflame tensions with India. ... An article calls the defeat of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty "a disaster for America's foreign-policymaking process." In an attempt to humiliate President Clinton, the GOP exposed its "creeping isolationism" and reckless willingness to hinder global security for partisan pleasure.

New Republic

NewRepublic, Nov. 1

The cover story depicts retired Rep. Bill Paxon as the "shadow speaker." When he was a congressman, the New York Republican invited lobbyists to dictate legislative provisions. Now that he is a high-paid "adviser" at a lobbying law firm, Paxon serves as consigliere to Speaker Dennis Hastert and as one of George W. Bush's pipelines to Capitol Hill. Paxon is persuading GOP leaders to let Dubya dictate their agenda. (Read Slate's {{account#2305}} of Paxon's resignation.) ... The campaign journal sees signs of life in the Gore campaign. Pollster Mark Penn deserved dismissal for disloyalty and bad advice. Gore's feistiness on the stump signals a reinvigorated campaign. (Read Slate's {{analysis#36546}} of the new Al.)

Wired

Wired, November 1999

The cover story marvels at iSmell, a computer device that manufactures scents using a software program linked to oil odor wells. The manufacturer, DigiScents, envisions that every PC will be hooked up to "reekers" so that the operator can enjoy odor-enabled Web sites. The technology could also add the smell of gunpowder to action films or burnt flesh to computer games.

New York Times Magazine

New YorkTimes Magazine, Oct. 17

The fifth of six millennium issues centers on self-centeredness. An article claims we are exiting the "Me Millennium." Over the past thousand years, humanism, science, and the advance of capitalism have conspired to displace the worship of God with self-veneration. (In the words of Whitney Houston, "learning to love yourself" has become "the Greatest Love of All.") ... An essay explores the rule-free zone between college and marriage. "Most prevalent in high-income urban ZIP codes," the period of career cultivation and serial monogamy is unique in its absence of commitments. This uncharted period of freedom teaches "loopy, chattering disconnected I's" about the emptiness of an unmoored existence. ... The magazine publishes an "album of archetypal personalities." Faust is the prototypical transgressor. Lassie is the model for a stalwart friend.

Time

Time, Oct. 18

An interview with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski finds him good-humored and sincere. He savages his brother David for turning him in, claiming David was seeking revenge for the attention Ted got from their parents. The author postulates that Ted hates David because David got married while Ted remained alone. Weird details: Ted receives The New Yorker, New York Review of Books, and Los Angeles Times in prison and spends his rare recreation time with fellow bombers Timothy McVeigh and Ramzi Yousef. ... The cover story lionizes Steve Jobs for his wizardry at Apple and Pixar. The article raves about Apple's new iMac and Pixar's Toy Story 2. Jobs is the same "brilliant man-child" he's always been. ... A piece describes the Learning Channel's new women-targeted reality TV shows: A Wedding Story, A Baby Story, and A Dating Story, featuring real-life marriages, babies, and dates.

Newsweek

Newsweek, Oct. 18

The newsweeklies' Gen Y obsession continues with a cover story on "Tweens," the 27 million 8-to-14-year-olds in the United States. Banal conclusions: They love the Backstreet Boys, Dawson's Creek, and wrestler Steve Austin, and their "superficial sophistication" hides insecurity. ... A piece warns that Russia's nuclear power plants are shabby and decaying. An accident 40 times worse than Chernobyl is possible. Neither Russia nor the rest of the world will pay to keep the plants safe or to close them. ... Fertilizer runoff from the Mississippi River has killed sea life over an area the size of New Jersey in the Gulf of Mexico, says an article. Farmers are resisting calls to curtail fertilizer use.

U.S. News & World Report

U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 18

A special report looks back at the Cold War, 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The workers' revolution that Karl Marx envisioned occurred in 1989 when Eastern Europeans overturned authoritarian rule. Ultimately, the threat of nuclear combat eased the risk of hot war, and quarrels among Communists prevented Soviet dominance worldwide. ... An article says the enclosed mall is declining. Shoppers are moving from suburbs to urban centers and buying online or from big discount chains. A sure sign that the mall is outmoded: They just tore down the shopping center that was the setting for Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The New Yorker

The New Yorker, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25

The annual "Next" issue. An article describes how McKinsey & Co. markets itself to recruits as a halfway house for the best of the brightest. The consulting-firm-cum-finishing-school allows risk-averse overachievers to learn more about business by acting as analysts for hire. ... A profile of Jason McCabe Calacanis portrays the founder of the Silicon Alley Reporter as the Walter Winchell of the Internet age. The working-class Brooklyn native created publications and business conferences for and about the Web world. His annual Silicon Alley 100 list defines who has made it in cyberbusiness. ... In a "Talk of the Town" item, Ron Reagan Jr. praises Dutch. "For all its fictive excursions," Edmund Morris' biography captures "the contradictory man" he calls dad. Disclaimer: Junior admits a friendship with the author.

Weekly Standard

Weekly Standard, Oct. 18

An article accuses Vice President Al Gore of flip-flopping on abortion. Gore staunchly opposed abortion and federal funding for it when he was a House member in the '70s and early '80s but reversed himself once he entered the Senate. Now he tries to pretend he was never pro-life. ... A funny profile of Reform Party Chairman-elect Jack Gargan finds him refreshingly honest, though only slightly less nutty than the rest of his party. (He's been a chicken farmer, horse-racing announcer, and handwriting analyst.) He can't control the Reformers and doesn't know which of their wackos (Ventura, Trump, Buchanan, Perot, Fulani ...) is going to come out on top.

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair, November 1999

An article mocks the travails of shahtoosh addicts. Shahtooshes are $3,000 shawls made from the wool of endangered Tibetan antelopes. Socialites cling to their shawls, even though it is illegal to sell or import them. A Newark federal court ordered more than 100 ladies, including Christie Brinkley and Nan Kempner, to turn in their shahtooshes. ... The cover profile claims Jim Carrey is more than the sum of his puerile jokes. "The Michael Jordan of physical comedy" is an intelligent, introspective lone wolf and a thinking man's comedian. His virtuoso portrayal of Andy Kaufman in the forthcoming Man on the Moon proves that Carrey is more than just a "turbocharged vaudevillian."

Business Week

Business Week, Oct. 18

A special report applauds the rising incomes of the poor. After losing ground for decades, the working poor have enjoyed a 10 percent increase in inflation-adjusted income over the past two years. The pay hike is being driven by taut labor markets and the revival of inner-city industry. ... An article examines Newt Gingrich's life after Congress. At $50,000 a speech, Gingrich is expected to make $3 million just from blabbing. He has started a corporate consulting firm to advise clients on high-tech and health issues. His two political action committees pulled in $1.2 million in six months.

The Nation

The Nation, Oct. 25

The cover story denounces welfare reform. Welfare-leavers are arbitrarily denied food stamps, child care, and transitional Medicaid. Rather than easing the transition from welfare to work, states hoard block grants and dodge their obligations to the poor. ... An article attacks an Immigration and Naturalization Service program to root out illegal immigrant labor. Operation Vanguard subpoenas personnel records and uses the information to target workers for deportation. The piece argues that the operation is deviously designed to lower wages.

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David Plotz is Slate's editor. He is the author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank. You can e-mail him at . Eve Gerber is a Slate editorial assistant.
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