In This Issue
September-October 2008
FEATURE: Mother Earth’s Big Comeback
Tomorrowland
An eco-smart urban design competition turns “what ifs” into “what is”
by E.B. Boyd, from Conscious Choice
Hiring Mother Earth to Do Her Thing
Are capitalists the new conservationists?
by E.B. Boyd, from Whole Life Times
Green All the Lawyers
Legal expert Mary Wood on how Lady Justice could tip the scales
interview by Carla A. Wise, from High Country News
In Praise of Economic Pain
Why the threat of recession could lead to an environmental boon
by Hannah Lobel
Environmental Innovations to Give You Hope
Online Exclusive: More Environmental Innovations to Give You Hope
FEATURE: Imperial Presidency
Supreme Warlord of the Earth
It’s time to rein in the imperial U.S. presidency
by Gene Healy, from Reason
Presidential Power to the People
Author Dana D. Nelson on why democracy demands that the next president be taken down a notch
interview by David Schimke
FEATURE: Roma
The Misunderstood
Living with and learning from the Roma, who still endure gypsy stereotypes
by Keith Goetzman,
photos by Joakim Eskildsen
Special Online Project: The Roma People
EMERGING IDEAS
Sharing War’s Burden
We need modern rituals to heal our wounded warriors
by Edward Tick, from Yes!
Shooting Blanks
Why gun control misses the target
by Jim Kessler, from Democracy
Taking Sex Ed to School
Young people get real about the birds and the bees
by Barbara Miner, from ColorLines
Plus: Farmers Fight for Gay Rights, Humanizing Corporate Responsibility, Underground Railroad, Texas-Sized Mental Problems, Nuclear by Any Other Name, Don't Blame the Olsen Twins!
MIXED MEDIA
The Art of the New Deal
Rediscovered WPA posters pack a potent visual punch
by Joseph Hart
Digging Deep in Dixie
The Jackson Free Press is an alternative weekly with a Southern soul
by Casey Sanchez, from Next American City
Bohemia in Brooklyn
Move over, Manhattan: There’s a new jazz nucleus
by Jennifer Odell
Online Exclusive: Brooklyn-Born Jazz
Plus: Film Reviews, Book Reviews, Music Reviews
MINDFUL LIVING
Bundle of Trouble
Kids are supposed to bring joy. So why are parents so unhappy?
by Robin W. Simon, from Contexts
Fish or Foul
The life-and-death quest for ethical seafood
by Taras Grescoe, from the book Bottomfeeder
Special Online Project: Sustainable Seafood
Your Brain Is a Pharmacy
The placebo effect yields real neurological results
by Julie Hanus
The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen in Kabul
In an Afghan orphanage, something astonishing is happening
story and photos by Aaron Huey, from Shambhala Sun
GLEANINGS
Now That’s Reality TV
A Chinese American family dreams of a Family Feud
by Leslie Bow, from the Michigan Quarterly Review
Traveling Souls
Life in a refugee camp, where hearts wander as minds deteriorate
by Abebe Feyissa with Rebecca Horn, from Boston College magazine
The Riddle in the Front Row
Pugnacious, pimply, intentionally offensive—why won’t the smartest student try to fit in?
by M. Garrett Bauman, from the Chronicle of Higher Education
The Purloined Library
Sometimes, crime really does pay
by Denise Herrera, from the Sun
COLUMNS AND LETTERS
Editor’s Note: Eco-Neurosis
Letters
Shelf Life: The Kids in the Newsroom
Heartland: Hope Comes of Age