- By David Plotz - Slate Magazine

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

By David PlotzUpdated Sunday, Dec. 13, 1998, at 3:30 AM ET

Economist, Dec. 12
(posted Saturday, Dec. 12, 1998)
The cover editorial, pegged to NATO's 50^th anniversary, warns that the military organization is shaky. With the Soviet threat gone, NATO needs to address broader future challenges, such as ethnic conflict and germ warfare. This will only happen if European members spend more on defense and rely less on the United States. ... A piece notes that the West is subsidizing critical Russian infrastructure, including its nuclear programs, schools, and libraries. The crippled Russian government has no choice but to accept this aid, but it's disturbingly reminiscent of 19^th century colonialism. ... An essay tries to explain why everyone hates the French. Americans mock the Frogs because we envy their intellectual arrogance, history, and glamour. There is also universal scorn for their "fashion-bound intellocracy," though the Economist concedes that not all French intellectuals are "jargon-spouting frauds."

Vanity Fair, January 1999
(posted Saturday, Dec. 12, 1998)
The most alarmist Y2K story yet. In addition to the usual list of catastrophes (power outages, plane crashes, etc.), it foresees 10 million to 300 million deaths from food shortages and accidental nuclear missile launches. It also berates everyone, from early programmers to IBM to Microsoft to the Clinton administration, for lackadaisical response. Y2K could destroy Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign. Weirdest detail: Mobsters are bribing Y2K debuggers to rig computers to funnel money into their accounts. ... A profile of Susan McDougal says she's manipulative and awful beneath her sweet front. She refuses to testify to Kenneth Starr not because she wants to protect the president but because she's afraid of being charged with perjury herself.

The New Republic, Dec. 28
(posted Friday, Dec. 11, 1998)
The cover story questions whether the new "Republican Heartthrobs," moderate state governors from George W. Bush to George Pataki, can truly satisfy the longings of party conservatives. Embracing Ronald Reagan's "conservatism of easy answers," they pursue popular policies such as cutting taxes and welfare, while spending lavishly on middle-class programs. Disillusionment and estrangement are predicted. ... Clinton policy guru Ira Magaziner, architect of the administration's disastrous 1994 health care plan, is now guiding its Internet policy. Where Magaziner's health plan called for too much government regulation, his new policy places too much reliance on the Internet's ability to govern itself. It also counts on Congress to buy into a visionary sales tax plan. ... A series of pieces deplores the impeachment proceedings. One article asks the question: When Clinton finally and inevitably eludes this latest threat to his presidency, what fresh scandal will he stumble into?

New York Times Magazine, Dec. 13
(posted Friday, Dec. 11, 1998)
The magazine drives home its theme (yes, another theme issue) with its cover. The masthead is printed upside down at the bottom, alerting you to the message that modern design--from toothbrushes to Web pages--aims to catch your eye with "the shock of the familiar." The new style in Web pages is "logical as well as luscious": more color, less confusion. In desks, it's creative clutter (though the clean-swept desktop also has its champions). In modern art museums, it's jumbo jets, Jeeps, subway signs, and Post-It notes. In chairs, it's casual, cheap, and computer-designed. Also "100 Years of Stuff," which includes Isadora Duncan's Grecian robes, the electric fan, and Penguin Books. At the height of a high-consumption holiday shopping season, it all seems familiar.

Time and Newsweek, Dec. 14
(posted Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1998)
Time's Moses cover is pegged to the release of The Prince of Egypt. A long piece wonders whether Moses and the Hebrew exodus were real: One theory argues that Moses was an Egyptian inspired by an obscure monotheistic pharaoh. As for Mount Sinai, at least eight different mountains claim the title. In an attached piece, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the DreamWorks' exec behind the movie, says, "We've edited God, but we have not rewritten him." Both Time and Newsweek review Prince lukewarmly. ... Newsweek puts actress Nicole Kidman on its cover with the flimsiest of pretexts: She has won raves for a Broadway play in which she strips naked. The piece is celebrity puffery at its most pathetic and slavish: Kidman, who's "not just Mrs. [Tom] Cruise anymore," is "free-spirited, serious, mischievous, and thoughtful."
While Time searches for the historical Moses, Newsweek analyzes the science of Christmas: The three wise men probably followed Jupiter, not a star in the East, and frankincense and myrrh really are superb gifts for a new mother because they help fight infections and inflammation. ... Baby boomers' parents are now dying in great numbers, so Newsweek discusses how boomers are personalizing mourning. They are establishing grief groups and conducting less formal funeral services.
Time describes the burgeoning private banking business, which serves those with more than $1 million to invest. Much of private banking is routine advice, but private bankers also help crooks and shady politicians hide ill-gotten gains in Switzerland and the Caribbean.

U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 14
(posted Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1998)
The cover story examines the joys and perils of office romance, where "today's fling is tomorrow's filing." One-third of all romances begin at work, and employers are increasingly worried about legal liability. Firms generally permit their workers to date but now often insist on being notified about it. Some companies have amorous employees sign contracts to protect the business from post-breakup lawsuits. A sidebar says businesses are getting rid of Christmas parties for fear of legal problems. Advice for companies that continue throwing yuletide bashes: No mistletoe, no slow dancing, and lots of starchy food--it slows alcohol absorption. ... A columnist proposes that congressional Democrats censure President Clinton on their own. Such an action would demonstrate Dems' disapproval of the president and might short-circuit the Republican impeachment campaign.

Weekly Standard, Dec. 14
(posted Tuesday, Dec. 8, 1998)
The boyfriends of single mothers are responsible for a huge amount of child abuse, argues the cover story. The media tend to blame fathers and stepfathers for abuse, even though boyfriends are 27 times more likely to abuse children than parents are, according to one study. The remedy: We should "restigmatize" cohabitation. A mother living with a boyfriend should be seen as unfit.

--David Plotz