- By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine

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

By Seth StevensonUpdated Sunday, Dec. 6, 1998, at 3:30 AM ET

Economist Economist, Dec. 5

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(posted Saturday, Dec. 5, 1998)

The cover editorial berates new German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder for failing to control his government. Schröder's campaign platform was vague, and since the September election his leadership has been even vaguer. Without direction, Germany's economy will soon stall, and its foreign policy will be confused and ineffective. ... A story says Ivy League universities may soon begin a price war. Once accused of colluding to keep tuition high, the Ivies are now sitting atop outsized endowments and could start using generous financial aid packages to compete for students. ... The obituary mourns the passing of Josef Stalin's interpreter. Valentin Berezhkov, dead at 82, attended Uncle Joe's critical meetings with Adolf Hitler and FDR and spoke some of the most important words of the century as Stalin's mouthpiece.

New Republic New Republic, Dec. 21

(posted Friday, Dec. 4, 1998)

The cover story by former U.N. Special Commission inspector Scott Ritter blasts the United Nations and the U.S. government for going soft on inspections of Iraq's arsenal. The United Nations' insistence on peace at any cost and the United States' insistence on containment and sanctions instead of confrontation left UNSCOM without any backers. The only solution: full-scale, surprise inspections, backed up with an unequivocal threat of military action. ... "TRB" wonders why we're so concerned that President Clinton's behavior offends the military: "[I]f there's a worse reason for removing an elected president from office, I can't think of it. That's the way they used to run things in places like El Salvador and Honduras." ... A story says Britain is holding Holocaust victims' property. Seized during World War II, the cash and jewelry was kept by Britain as compensation for wartime losses and still hasn't been returned to its rightful owners.

New York Times Magazine New York Times Magazine, Dec. 6

(posted Thursday, Dec. 3, 1998)

The depressing cover story follows the struggle of two parents trying to save their toddler, a victim of Canavan disease. The parents desperately lobby the cautious and slow-moving Federal Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health to approve experimental gene therapy, but when the treatment comes it does little. The child is still alive but slowly dying. ... A story profiles Michael Darnell, the man behind all those Fox "reality" TV specials (When Good Pets Go Bad, World's Scariest Police Chases, World's Deadliest Swarms, etc.). Darnell cares solely about ratings and dismisses charges of social irresponsibility. His latest masterpiece, Prisoners Out of Control, was deemed too graphic by Fox execs.

Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 7

(posted Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998)

The big Christmas story this year: Internet shopping. Both Newsweek and U.S. News run cover packages predicting that consumers will log on to find holiday gifts. Newsweek's coverage says the Web beats the malls: It's easier to find what you want, it's often cheaper, and you don't need to find parking. Newsweek also lets Martha Stewart describe her successful foray into Web marketing. Martha's Web readers are younger and richer than her magazine subscribers. "Still," writes Stewart, "you have to plan well. Who could have foreseen several-hundred-percent increases in sales of pumpkin-carving kits? But that's a problem I want to have." Us, too.

U.S. News' Web shopping package centers on the America Online-Netscape merger. AOL's 14 million customers form a captive audience for its online mall, and Netscape's e-commerce software will ease Net transactions.

Time Time, Dec. 7

(posted Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998)

Continuing its series on the most influential people of the century, Time picks the 20^th century's top business leaders. At the top of the list of "Builders & Titans": Henry Ford, profiled by Lee Iacocca. Also ranked: movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, McDonald's mogul Ray Kroc, and marketing mogul Leo Burnett. United Auto Workers' President Walter Reuther makes the list too. The only women included are cosmetics mavens Estée Lauder and Madam C.J. Walker (who is also the only African-American profiled). A feature on the century's worst bosses mentions George Steinbrenner, Leona Helmsley, and Armand Hammer.

The New Yorker The New Yorker, Dec. 7

(posted Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998)

The second annual cartoon issue. (Waiter to diners: "Might I suggest the most expensive wine and the most expensive dinner." Bum to other bum guzzling booze: "That is not one of the seven habits of highly effective people." Slyly smiling male brown bear to female white bear at a bar: "Polar? Or simply slow to warm?") An article traces the evolution of gender politics in New Yorker cartoons. Decades ago, cartoons frequently featured secretaries warding off amorous bosses. Today, those amorous bosses are often female. Another piece analyzes the crash test dummy cartoon, a form invented in 1993 (Policeman to crash test dummy woman: "Ma'am, it's your husband. There's been an auto accident.") and already a cliché.

--Seth Stevenson

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