Spring 2005
The Collapse of Big Media
In Essence
Sorting out the prospects and promises of Social Security reform.
“The Constitutionalization of Democratic Politics” by Richard H. Pildes, in Harvard Law Review (Nov. 2004), Gannett House, 1511 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass. 02138.
“The Inventor of Modern Conservatism” by David Gelernter, in The Weekly Standard (Feb. 7, 2005), 1150 17th St., N.W., Ste. 505, Washington, D.C. 20036.
“Faith Full” by E. J. Dionne, Jr., “Fact Finders” by Jonathan Chait, “Not Much Left” by Martin Peretz, and “Structural Flaw” by John B. Judis, in The New Republic (Feb. 28, 2005), 1331 H St., N.W., Ste. 700, Washington, D.C. 20005.
“The ‘War on Terror’: Good Cause, Wrong Concept” by Gilles Andréani, in Survival (Winter 2004–05), International Institute for Strategic Studies, Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel St., Temple Pl., London WC2R 3DX, England.
“American Maximalism” by Stephen Sestanovich, in The National Interest (Spring 2005), 1615 L St., N.W., Ste. 1230, Washington, D.C. 20036.
“Outsourcing War” by P. W. Singer, in Foreign Affairs (Mar.–Apr. 2005), 58 E. 68th St., New York, N.Y. 10021.
“David Ricardo: Theory of Free International Trade” by Robert L. Formaini, in Economic Insights (Vol. 9, No. 2), Public Affairs Dept., Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, P.O. Box 655906, Dallas, Texas 75265–6906.
“How Fair? Changes in Federal Income Taxation and the Distribution of Income, 1978 to 1998” by James Alm, Fitzroy Lee, and Sally Wallace, in Journal of Policy Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (Winter 2005), Assn. for Public Policy Analysis and Management, P.O. Box 18766, Washington, D.C. 20036–8766.
“A Nation of Wimps” by Hara Estroff Marano, in Psychology Today (Nov.–Dec. 2004), 115 E. 23rd St., 9th fl., New York, N.Y. 10010.
“American Exceptionalism Revisited” by Daniel T. Rodgers, in Raritan (Autumn 2004), 31 Mine St., New Brunswick, N.J. 08903.
“Digital Gambling: The Coincidence of Desire and Design” by Natasha Dow Schull, in The Annals (Jan. 2005), The American Academy of Political and Social Science, 3814 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104–6197.
“Exploding the Self-Esteem Myth” by Roy F. Baumeister, Jennifer D. Campbell, Joachim I. Krueger, and Kathleen D. Vohs, in Scientific American (Jan. 2005), 415 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017–1111.
“The News Media and the ‘Clash of Civilizations’” by Philip Seib, in Parameters (Winter 2004–05), U.S. Army War College, 122 Forbes Ave., Carlisle, Pa. 17013–5238.
“Leo Strauss: The European” and “The Closing of the Straussian Mind” by Mark Lilla, in The New York Review of Books (Oct. 21 & Nov. 4, 2004), 1755 Broadway, 5th fl., New York, N.Y. 10019–3780.
“The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience” by Ronald J. Sider, in Books & Culture (Jan.–Feb. 2005), 465 Gundersen Dr., Carol Stream, Ill. 60188.
“The Economics of the Counter-Reformation: Incumbent-Firm Reaction to Market Entry” by Robert B. Ekelund, Jr., Robert F. Hebert, and Robert D. Tollison, in Economic Inquiry (Oct. 2004), Texas A&M Univ., Dept. of Economics, College Station, Texas 77843–4228.
“Why Nature & Nurture Won’t Go Away” by Steven Pinker, in Daedalus (Fall 2004), Norton’s Woods, 136 Irving St., Cambridge, Mass. 02138.
“The Edge Annual Question—2005: What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?” in Edge (Jan. 4, 2005), www.edge.org.
“Hyperownership in a Time of Biotechnological Promise: The International Conflict to Control the Building Blocks of Life” by Sabrina Safrin, in The American Journal of International Law (Oct. 2004), The American Society of International Law, 2223 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.
“Critical Thinking about Energy: The Case for Decentralized Generation of Electricity” by Thomas R. Casten and Brennan Downes, in Skeptical Inquirer (Jan.–Feb. 2005), 944 Deer Dr., N.E., Albuquerque, N.M. 87122.
“Red-Hot MoMA” by Charles Rosen and Henri Zerner, in The New York Review of Books (Jan. 13, 2005), 1755 Broadway, 5th fl., New York, N.Y. 10019–3780.
“Conrad’s Latin America” by Mark Falcoff, in The New Criterion (Jan. 2005), 900 Broadway, Ste. 602, New York, N.Y. 10003.
“The Political Salience of Cultural Difference: Why Chewas and Tumbukas Are Allies in Zambia and Adversaries in Malawi” by Daniel N. Posner, in American Political Science Review (Nov. 2004), George Washington Univ., Dept. of Political Science, 2201 G St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20052.
“Holland Daze” by Christopher Caldwell, in The Weekly Standard (Dec. 27, 2004), 1150 17th St., N.W., Ste. 505, Washington, D.C. 20036, and “Final Cut” by Ian Buruma, in The New Yorker (Jan. 3, 2005), 4 Times Sq., New York, N.Y. 10036.
“Tribal Preservation” by John Hemming, in Prospect (Jan. 2005), 2 Bloomsbury Pl., London WC1A 2QA, England.
Book Reviews
JEFFERSON’S SECRETS: Death and Desire at Monticello. By Andrew Burstein. Basic Books. 351 pp. $25
SACRED AND SECULAR: Religion and Politics Worldwide. By Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart. Cambridge Univ. Press. 329 pp. $24.99
WITH BILLIE.By Julia Blackburn.Pantheon Books. 368 pp. $25
WE ARE ALL THE SAME: A Story of a Boy’s Courage and a Mother’s Love. By Jim Wooten. Penguin Press. 243 pp. $19.95
FREE WORLD: America, Europe, and the Surprising Future of the West. By Timothy Garton Ash. Random House. 286 pp. $24.95
THREE NIGHTS IN AUGUST: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager. By Buzz Bissinger. Houghton Mifflin. 280 pp. $25
YOU, THE PEOPLE: The United Nations, Transitional Administration, and State-Building. By Simon Chesterman. Oxford Univ. Press. 296 pp. $95
PLAN B: Further Thoughts on Faith. By Anne Lamott. Riverhead Books. 320 pp. $24.95.
JEWS AND THE AMERICAN SOUL: Human Nature in the Twentieth Century. By Andrew R. Heinze. Princeton Univ. Press. 438 pp. $29.95
INVENTING SUPERSTITION: From the Hippocratics to the Christians. By Dale B. Martin. Harvard Univ. Press. 307 pp. $29.95
CAMPO SANTO. By W. G. Sebald. Translated by Anthea Bell. Random House. 221 pp. $24.95
IMPRESSIONIST QUARTET: The Intimate Genius of Manet and Morisot, Degas and Cassatt. By Jeffrey Meyers. Harcourt. 368 pp. $26
DESCENT: The Heroic Discovery of the Abyss. By Brad Matsen. Pantheon. 304 pp. $25
WHY WE LIE: The Evolutionary Roots of Deception and the Unconscious Mind. By David Livingstone Smith. St. Martin’s Press. 238 pp. $24.95
DECEPTION AT WORK: Investigating and Countering Lies and Fraud Strategies. By Michael J. Comer and Timothy E. Stephens. Gower Publishing. 459 pp. $185
BIG COTTON: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map. By Stephen Yafa. Viking. 398 pp. $25.95
BORN LOSERS: A History of Failure in America. By Scott A. Sandage. Harvard Univ. Press. 362 pp. $35
JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH: His Life, His Politics, His Economics. By Richard Parker. Farrar, Straus & Giroux. 820 pp. $35
Essays
America’s once-mighty news media institutions are in decline, with network news shows losing viewers and newspapers suffering steep drops in circulation. They have lost prestige and much of the public’s trust. Is the era of Big Media over?
The mainstream news media is not attracting younger viewers. Can anything be done to reverse the trend?
A prescription for what ails America's news media.
For the first time in human history, a majority of the earth’s population lives in cities. But though great cities have been among humanity’s supreme achievements down through the ages, they now face an uncertain future, threatened by forces that could undermine the very things that have made them great.
We expect nothing less from music than that it give meaning to our lives. And for centuries, Western classical music did just that. But in the 20th century many composers turned in a new and less satisfying direction, and it’s unclear whether music will ever regain what was lost.
Sixty years after the Allies’ bombing of Dresden enveloped the city in flames, controversy persists over whether the attack was militarily justified or morally indefensible. But another question, no less crucial, is seldom asked: Did wartime conditions allow military leaders to look away as they violated their own principles?
