Monday, September 30, 2002
World
Suberting Hong Kong's Autonomy
It's taken a few years, but now Beijing has what it wants: complete control.
Life
22 Rooms With A 3-D View
The renewed sculpture galleries at the National Gallery of Art take up much of the ground level of the elegant West Building and prompt this odd sensation. Not long after you enter them, your hands will start to tingle.
Monsters And Other Secrets Of The Writing Life
Is there a monster in the house? Is there a baby writer sitting over there on the floor storing up memories of family fights and betrayals for future books? Beware.
EOF
War Cry
Making the case for United Nations intervention against the United States, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told the organization yesterday that military action will be "unavoidable" unless the U.S. agrees to destroy its weapons of mass destruction.
Sunday, September 29, 2002
World
E. Timor Points A Way For Mideast
Strong U.N. action can lead to a peaceful transfer of power.
Life
The Mysteries Of Translation
No translator wants his achievement stolen or denied; yet just as certainly, no translator wants her voice to overpower that of her source author.
The Age Of Innocence
Perhaps the problem is that as Americans, we no longer have any idea what constitutes a child.
In The Age Of Focus, How The Mind Wanders
Whatever spin you put on it, being distracted is the norm of working life.
As Security Cameras Sprout, Someone's Always Watching
With the recent arrest of a woman in Indiana whom a security camera videotaped beating her daughter in a parking lot, the presence of electronic eyes across America has drawn new attention.
Saturday, September 28, 2002
World
Some Say Deterrence Is Enough...
... but two can play at the deterrence game.
Life
Voices In The Wilderness
Readers and writers are united in their need for solitude, in their pursuit of substance in a time of ever-increasing evanescence: in their reach inward, via print, for a way out of loneliness.
The Writing Life
No matter what kind of literary reception a writer secretly desires, what may please him most is an unexpected, ornery reader.
Tasting It All At A Buffet Of Meridians
A globe-circling couple and their 12 bags take Radisson's cruise to everywhere.
Think You Have A Book In You? Think Again
Save the typing, save the trees, save the high tax on your own vanity. Don't write that book, my advice is, don't even think about it. Keep it inside you, where it belongs.
Friday, September 27, 2002
World
Outward Bound
Do developing countries gain or lose when their brightest talents go abroad?
Ready To Rumble In Singapore
Why is one of the world's most successful politicians also one of the most litigious?
Speaking Freely In The Barbershop
Some of the critics complaining most loudly about the film are not interested in straight talk.
Look Who's Playing Politics
This speech, an attack on the Bush policy on Iraq, was Gore's big effort to distinguish himself from the Democratic pack in advance of another possible presidential run. It served: It distinguished Gore, now and forever, as someone who cannot be considered a responsible aspirant to power.
Life
Give The Guy A Break
When Marian Keyes became a successful novelist, her husband gave up his career to support her. So what's the big deal? Isn't it time we stopped cheering househusbands to the rafters?
A Reader's Rhapsody
It was at Mount Sinai Medical Center that I first felt the power of books, high above Fifth Avenue, where the annual New York Is Book Country fair is taking place this weekend.
In Broad Daylight
How could a $30 billion robbery take place in broad daylight?
Web Site Fuels Debate On Campus Anti-Semitism
A Web site that identifies college professors who don't support American efforts in the Middle East has outraged so many professors that more have asked that their names be added in protest.
When Bloggers Commit Journalism
What do informed amateurs and niche experts bring to the media ecosystem? Should journalists blog? And should they rely on weblogs as news sources?
Thursday, September 26, 2002
World
The Fifty-First State?
Going to war with Iraq would mean shouldering all the responsibilities of an occupying power the moment victory was achieved. These would include running the economy, keeping domestic peace, and protecting Iraq's bordersóand doing it all for years, or perhaps decades. Are we ready for this long-term relationship?
In President's Speeches, Iraq Dominates, Economy Fades
As he seeks to boost Republican candidates in the midterm elections, President Bush is increasing his emphasis on terrorism and national security, shedding his previous determination to demonstrate his concern about the flagging economy.
Not Getting America
We don't rule the world. We lead the world — this is a huge distinction to people who live outside the intellectual menagerie of an Ivy League English department.
Tech & Science
End Of The Fossil-Fuel Era
Will the European Union take the lead in staking out the future of energy?
Bob Wallace, Software Pioneer, Dies At 53
Bob Wallace, a pioneering programmer of the personal computer era who helped invent "shareware" software marketing , died on Friday at his home in San Rafael, Calif. He was 53.
Hollywood's Gadget Factories
Even with the boom in personal technology — or perhaps because of it — the fusion of science fact and Hollywood fiction has not lost its appeal.
The Virtue Of Engineering Cynicism
Cynicism among engineers isn't a character flaw. It is key to their strength.
Life
Hong Kong Film At The End Of The Reel?
Beleaguered by limp sales and rampant piracy, the SAR's movie industry cries out for help.
Magazines Talk Books
In a very dicey economic time for magazines, when many find it difficult to sustain themselves, two new ones have just started up, about books of all subjects. Which speaks not only to a particularly bravura entrepreneurial spirit but also to speculation that there are enough people out there who are willing to spend money for their love of commentary about books and the writers who produce them.
Vox Populi, Online And Downtown
A meeting at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in July at which 4,000 New Yorkers gathered to pass judgment on the original six plans for rebuilding the World Trade Center has been cited as an exercise in the very principles of participatory democracy, in which informed public discussion leads to the best decisions.
Pop-Up Move To TV Set From Computer Screen
The pop-up ad — that Internet bane — has migrated to the TV screen, despite achieving widespread disdain from lovers of the Web.
Bending Journalistic Ethics Sometimes Does More Good Than Bad
The Tribune firing of Bob Greene has generated nationwide discussion about journalistic codes of ethics. I mentioned in a TV interview that by today's codes I'd have been fired a dozen times for some of the things I did as an investigative reporter and editor.
Wednesday, September 25, 2002
World
The Roaring Nineties
As the chairman of Bill Clinton's Council of Economic Advisers, and subsequently as the chief economist of the World Bank during the East Asian financial crisis, Joseph Sitglitz was deeply involved in many of the economic-policy debates of the past ten years. What did this experience tell him? That much of what we think we know about the prosperity of the 1990s is wrong. Here is a revised history of the decade, by the winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics.
Life
TV Ads Show Generation Y's Anti-PC Attitude
Television ads are increasingly seen as a way to reach under-25 viewers for whom television is merely another spoke in a personal media hub.
Naples, By Pizza Possessed
The pizza has soul here, and you can't alter soul.
Tips Past The Tipping Point
Handy tip charts showing up lately on restaurant credit card receipts all over the country do more than spare you the math.
Despite Starbucks Jitters, Most Coffeehouses Thrive
The battle between independent coffeehouses and Starbucks may be one of the most hostile — and most misunderstood — rivalries in retailing.
Michel Houellebecq: Drunken Racist Or One Of The Great Writers? The Jury Is Out
Prophet; pornographer; fascist; racist; trouble-maker; drunk; nihilist; moralist; self-publicist; misogynist; martyr to freedom of speech; one of the greatest living writers. Which is the real Michel Houellebecq?
Expressions
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
World
Hitler And Bad History
What worked for Stalin may be working for Hussein.
Tech & Science
No Island Is An Island
Although islands conjure up images of pristine tropical paradises, they are also among the world's most threatened ecosystems.
Here They Are, Science's 10 Most Beautiful Experiments
What they have in common is that they epitomize the elusive quality scientists call beauty. This is beauty in the classical sense: the logical simplicity of the apparatus, like the logical simplicity of the analysis, seems as inevitable and pure as the lines of a Greek monument.
The Clockwork Computer
An ancient piece of clockwork shows the deep roots of modern technology.
Life
Battle Of The Planets
Selling the future is a dirty business.
What Matters To Us
Us magazine looks like a cheesy gossip rag. And it is a cheesy gossip rag, of course, but it's also a brilliant anthropological study of the folkways, the mores, and the bizarre mating habits of that exotic tribe known as celebrities.
Publishers Trying To Salvage Troubled Magazines
Publishers of magazines old and new are trying to salvage brands that advertisers and readers have left behind.
Monday, September 23, 2002
World
High-Altitude Rambos
"So many men and women have fought and died for freedom in this great country, and now we are in danger of ruining that in the name of security."
Tech & Science
Blood In The Jungle
A newly discovered Maya text chronicles the ebb and flow of an ancient superpower conflict.
Life
The Better Angels
From Fort Sumter to Appomattox, parks that once confined their interpretation to military maneuvers and strategy are now beginning to talk about the causes and consequences of the war.
Can McDonald's Shape Up?
Will a broader menu and spiffy new digs get the burger giant on track?
The Art Of Darkness
On 'Stepford Wives' anniversary, Ira Levin is surprised by his effect on popular culture.
Kids Lit Grows Up
Inspired by Harry Potter, bestselling authors Michael Chabon, Neil Gaiman, Carl Hiaasen and Isabel Allende are spearheading a renaissance in books that enchant readers of all ages.
Make Room For Daddy
Why do men sit on subways with their legs splayed like Suzanne Somers' in a Thighmaster ad? Is their precious package more important than our comfort?
Shanghai, Modern But Still Exotic
Shanghai may no longer have the raffish mystique of its early 20th-century incarnation as a place of guns, girls and gamblers, but a different mythology, no less alluring, has taken its place.
Why Are English Departments Still Fighting The Culture Wars?
Everyone has heard about the culture wars that have torn apart university departments of English. But it was still shocking to read a New York Times article a few months ago about how animosity between traditional and theory-oriented professors at Columbia University has decimated its once-great department.
Expressions
Dancing Lessons
In June of 1959, on the day before Charles Starkweather was to be electrocuted, my mother went out and bought a Studebaker Golden Hawk. Teenagers were gathering around the Nebraska State Penitentiary, waiting for the lights to dim when 2,200 blue volts went slamming through the murderer's body. I'd been watching them strut back and forth across the television screen from the safety of our living room. They were defiantly hanging off the hoods of cars, slugging beer, their eyes fixed on the prison windows for some sign of Starkweather's passing.
Sunday, September 22, 2002
World
A World Away
Central Asian students see the U.S. — and themselves — in a new light.
Life
The Safety Catch
Why hi-tech solutions fail to answer low-level problems.
Must-See Metaphysics
Joss Whedon knows how to sneak complex ideas into pop packages. Having created an alternate feminist universe with 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer,' he is exploring existentialism with his new sci-fi series, 'Firefly.'
Free Speech 101
Wartime censorship is alive and well and living on campus.
Saturday, September 21, 2002
World
Why I'm Fighting Federal Drug Laws From City Hall
How did I, a mayor of a small town in California, wind up in a tug of war with the Drug Enforcement Agency?
Life
Musical Chairs
Today's pop stars, say their critics, aren't half as talented as their predecessors because they have little or nothing to do with writing their songs. But that misses the point. Kylie and Robbie aren't really so very different from Elvis or Frank. In pop, the songwriter has always been the power behind the throne.
A Beautiful World
Duct tape and other uplifting snippets from the Miss America front lines.
So Many Planes, So Few Passengers
Things go from bad to worse for big airlines, and not just because of September 11th.
Bribes, Threats And Naked Readings
In a world where more and more new books get less and less attention, authors will do anything to promote their work.
Letter From Egypt
"There is a question," our correspondent writes, "that less-sophisticated Americans ask (and more-sophisticated Americans would like to): Why are people in the Middle East so crazy? Here, at the pyramids, was an answer from the earliest days of civilization: People have always been crazy."
Expressions
Friday, September 20, 2002
World
Crisis Of '62 Calls To Bush
He should ponder how JFK hnadled Cuba emergency.
Iraq, Upside Down
Don't believe the polls that a majority of Americans favor a military strike against Iraq. It's just not true.
Tech & Science
Radio Telescope Proves A Big Bang Prediction
After 271 20-hour nights of staring at the Antarctic sky, a radio telescope at the South Pole has confirmed a critical prediction of the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe.
More Sci- Than Fi, Physicists Create Antimatter
In science fiction, antimatter, with its perfect convertibility to energy, is the ultimate rocket fuel, but the CERN scientists see their antihydrogen atoms as a ticket not across the galaxy but in effect to a different mathematical universe, in which positive is negative and left is right.
Life
$2,200 Trash Can? Sure, Why Not?
Designers share their visions of the ultimate wastebasket.
Notes From Boston: Big Dig Bluster
Boston offers a cautionary tale about how difficult it is to re-create a walking city in a nation long dominated by the car.
Rosie The Star Pulls Plug On Rosie The Magazine
The publishing industry, which has increasingly found a new kind of golden goose by hitching magazine franchises to the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart and Ms. O'Donnell, might be rethinking the trend.
Meals Make Us Human
Never mind obesity, it's the loneliness of the fast food eater that matters.
Thursday, September 19, 2002
World
Recipes For Death
We have a window now, while terrorists still have difficulty obtaining reliable recipes for bio- and chemical weapons. If we continue to allow these cookbooks to improve, buttressed by helpful articles in professional journals, then over the next 10 years we may empower terrorists to kill us on an unimaginable scale.
Life
Conan O'Brien Is Mr. Emmy
"I have one thing that I want to be. I want to be that guy for my generation."
All That Viewers Ask For Is A Little Closure
So are networks hurting themselves in the long run by letting loyal customers, people who sat through a season's worth of commercials, end the experience with a bad taste in their mouths? Because until technology solves this dilemma, just thinking about it as a consumer, does wanting to know how the story ends really sound like too much to ask?
Ebert's Outburst Was Stellar
It was awful, I tell you. I missed all the fun.
Wednesday, September 18, 2002
World
D.C. Gives A Lesson In Voting
Shouldn't a user-friendly society consider user-friendly elections?
Notes From Tallahassee: Two Strikes And You're In Congress
If Florida can't get its act together by November's general election, some of Katherine Harris' fellow Republicans may be the ones that suffer.
Life
The Great Expectations Of Women's Magazines
If Cosmo wants its readers to beat their 'extreme sadness', it could start by admitting that some things are simply not possible.
Read Between The Lines
With his simple slabs of colour, Barnett Newman reduced painting to its basics. So why is his work so rewarding?
Sober Steps Back To The Runway
After a tough year, the do's and taboos of fashion are still shifting.
From Tuscany, Simple Perfection
When good food writers die — to misquote Oscar Wilde — they go to Italy. I, however, am taking no chances with what will be coming to me in the afterlife and so have decided to spend as much time as possible there while alive.
Learning To Avoid A Deal-Killing Faux Pas In Japan
Yes, something as seemingly inconsequential as the mishandling of a business card can be a deal killer in Japan.
Expressions
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
World
Wretched Excess
Flush with the spoils of capitalism, China's fledgling multimillionaires are living large. Mao would have had a cow.
Tech & Science
In Nature Vs. Nurture, A Voice For Nature
Steven Pinker, a psychologist of language, is trying to make it safer for biologists to theorize about the genetics of human behavior.
New Eyes In Space, Even Sharper Than Hubble's
The Next Generation Space Telescope will allow astronomers to close in on the beginning of time.
Life
Still Sexy After All These Years
The ground-breaking bestseller that 30 years ago encouraged us to have more erotic fun has been reborn as sexist as ever but with added social responsibility.
Novel Is Restored, But The Grudge Continues
The things that pass between serious writers and their editors usually are intensely private. Like any process involving genuine intimacy, literary editing presumes both parties' discretion. Its absence is what makes this week's unusual publishing event—the reissuing of Gore Vidal's historical novel "Creation"—more interesting still.
Trent Reznor's Pretty Hate Machines
A geek before geeks were cool, the high-tech musician explains why he had to reclaim his programming roots for his next album.
Monday, September 16, 2002
Tech & Science
Against All The Odds
Christopher Reeve tells how he is regaining control of his body, one finger at a time.
Vision Of The Future
Researchers are on the right track to produce artificial sight for the blind.
Scientist Gives Voice To Blind
Ray Kurzweil was 12 years old when it became pretty obvious that the world could expect great things from him.
Life
The Accidental Laureate
Twenty years ago a shy, lovelorn Cumbrian baker, David Harkins, wrote a poem. This year, the Queen read it out at her mother's funeral.
Baggy Clothes Conceal Bigger Issue
So did clothes go baggy first, or did we just get fat?
Double Takes
After the radical social shuffle of the '60s, the Bay Area experimented with communal living, an idea that stretches back centuries in other parts of the world. But for some in the Bay Area, the experiment became a way of life and a stylish way to age together within environments of their own design.
Cheatin', Writin', & 'Rithmetic
How to succeed in school without really trying.
Cinema At The Cineplex
"Independent" cinema has come to the burbs, and the burbs seem to like what they're seeing.
Secrets Of Digital Creativity Revealed In Miniatures
Most of us seem to want to experience an artistic creation as a finished product, not as a mound of raw materials. So an exhibition called "Gobs of Paint" or a concerto titled "Loads of Notes" would probably have some problems attracting an audience. Which means that "Codedoc," an online exhibition of digital artworks that focuses on their underlying computer code, is a daring endeavor.
Sunday, September 15, 2002
World
Good Students And Good Citizens
Just because civic virtues must be learned, does not mean they can be easily taught — and still less that they can be taught in schools.
Minority Vs National Views
Instead of questioning whether they are 'true Singaporeans', it may be more fruitful to focus on the issues they raised.
Tech & Science
Physics In Crisis
Physics is in crisis. We have lost our ideals and focus as a unified field.
Life
Girl Power
Funky interiors and the best DJs help, but it's the door bitch who can make or break a nightclub.
Going Hunting In Seinfeld Country, Just For Laughs
Can a comedian find material for his standup routine on the streets of Manhattan? Jerry Seinfeld tours his neighborhood, the Upper West Side, for some good jokes.
Stop, In The Name Of Love
More and more people are giving up sex in the months before their wedding. But, abstinence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder.
Saturday, September 14, 2002
World
What Time Is It?
There just isn't time for all the things it's time for.
Life
Can Women Save Country Music?
Dynamite new albums from the Dixie Chicks, Kelly Willis and Allison Moorer bridge the gap between alt-country and those cowboy-hat robots in Nashville.
The Poetic Voice Of Change
Gathering celebrates the passion of author-activist June Jordan.
Friday, September 13, 2002
World
A Tale Of Two Cities
There is one New York that is recovering well from September 11th—and another New York that probably never will.
Life
The Legacy Of The Battle For Seattle
With dot.coms bombing and Boeing going, Seattle has lost its artificial luster, returning to the status of a lovely, cultured city instead of the mecca of a global kingdom.
(Never) Mind Your Language
Reviving Gaelic is a tall order, even with taxpayers' cash.
Beware The Perils Of Drink-Dialling
A friendly warning for a new student generation about the demon drink, mobile phones and old lovers.
The Restaurant That Fed The World
Windows' general manager reflects on emergence of a dining community.
Book Club Encourages Read-And-Release
Hornbaker is the founder of BookCrossing.com, an Internet book club that combines karma and kismet and encourages people to leave their books at coffee shops, parks, airports or anyplace else.
50 Ways To Leave Your Fajitas Combo Plate
The day of a breakup is always fraught with tension. I know it's over, but the cashier doesn't.
For A Change, Commentators Let Coverage Unfold Without Too Much Talk
Television rarely leaves you alone with your thoughts, but for a couple of shining, solemn hours in yesterday's dawn-to-midnight coverage it did.
Thursday, September 12, 2002
World
Exploring A Painful Past
TV shows and films have begun building on new freedoms of expression to probe Indonesia's history of discriminating against the ethnic Chinese.
Tech & Science
The Big Picture On Digital TV: It's Still Fuzzy
Digital television was supposed to be commonplace by now. Instead, it is widely unavailable, and the public remains confused about just what it is.
Grisly Task Changes All
"That was a very emotional moment for me. I suddenly realized I had 40 pieces of the same guy here, the same man, and I know who it is, and at this particular moment in time, I'm the only person in the world who knows that."
First Telescope? Try Binoculars
As hobbies go, astronomy has a tough reputation.
Life
May I Have A Word, Please?
Do they honestly believe that by raising themselves up on towers of verbiage they will protect themselves from our wrath?
We Will Forget
Perhaps we should leave our own memories of that day behind and think of those wives and husbands and children and parents who cannot live a single day without remembering.
What Do We Tell The Children?
Could we tell them
To please stop asking so many questions?
In New York, A Film Of The Unforgettable
For 70 minutes, they watched the twin towers burn. More precisely, they watched an uncut, real-time documentary film of the twin towers burning.
Did We Blow It By Going A Week Early With Our 9/11 Issue?
I don't think so, but striking a balance between being "ahead of the curve" and "catching the moment" is one of the many challenges in my job, particularly in this increasingly crowded and competitive media environment.
At Gound Zero: Bagpipes, Readings And Flowers
"This poem makes me feel like my daddy is speaking to me."
Back To Downtown
The quiet streets of a year ago have been brightened by a new hotel restaurant scene.
Downtown Rising
Surprisingly, few restaurants in the area have closed. Perhaps even more surprisingly, new restaurants are popping up all over, like mushrooms after a rain.
Expressions
Wednesday, September 11, 2002
Life
On Hallowed Ground
Let's also hope that, when they stand here, they know enough to be silent, to show respect. Let's hope they understand why this is hallowed ground.
Getting On With Life Abroad Plane Home
Then I'll then get on with my day. As will we all. As we must.
The Fears Of A Child, Reflected In The Clouds Above Any U.S. City
What is perhaps most remarkable about the way Sept. 11 has lingered in the subconscious of Michaela, a third grader, is not that she she knew no one who died that day, but that she lives in Omaha, 1,200 miles west of ground zero.
New York Newlyweds Look Ahead, Not Back
On Sunday, Elizabeth and Anthony Rakis will take their leftover wedding cake from the freezer and share a toast to their first year of marriage. And to a better year ahead.
The Artist's Reponse
What has helped us make sense of the senseless? Directly and subtly, in ways enormous and small, the events of Sept. 11 affected artists and the work they created.
Life In The Fields Of Sorrow
Shanksville was happy to be Nowhere, USA, but the community has lost its innocence to America's grief tour.
Filling The Sky With Words And Meaning
"A poem," Emerson wrote in his journals, "is made up of thoughts, each of which filled the whole sky of the poet in its turn."
After The Fear, A New Normalcy For Workers In Sears Tower
A hijacking scare nine days after Sept. 11 was a turning point, forcing many to take stock and re-examine their lives inside and outside the skyscraper.
Windows On The Other Side Of The World
Half a world away from New York City, on top of one of Asia's tallest buildings, a small piece of the World Trade Center lives on.
The Troubles We've Seen
9/11 thoughts from Mark Crispin Miller, David Thomson, Richard Stallman and more.
An Unlikely Hero
The Marine who found two WTC survivors.
Still New York, In All Its Pain And Glory
One year after it faced its own mortality, New York, in its daily curiosities and unexpungeable flavor, is still New York. For some time, no one knew if that could happen.
The Bravery Of Strangers
I choose to believe that Todd Beamer saved my life because it helps me to believe in hope.
Reflecting On 9/11 - How Important Is What We Do?
"Listen Kid, it's not you. Don't take it personal. Everybody's stuff sucks."
Expressions
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
World
The Path To Peace
The only way to beat terrorism is for the u.S. to unite the world, not divide it.
Tech & Science
Can These Boxes Be Locked Against Terror?
Postal authorities are realizing that strengthening security will take years and the nation is probably even more vulnerable than it was last fall.
Life
Where Art Is A Household Word
Audrey Irmas' home is a museum-like setting for large works by big names.
Public Spaces, Still Under Siege
An ever-widening security net entangles the capital's architecture.
Publisher Tries Literary Lightning Rod To Attract Latino Writers And Readers
Rayo, a bilingual imprint of HarperCollins, is the first attempt by a major publisher to focus on the Latino market in the U.S. as creators and buyers of mostly English works.
The Power Of James Burnham
ìWho is James Burnham?î How often have I fielded variants of that question while pondering this essay!
Monday, September 9, 2002
World
The City And The Country
Principles that are a daily reality in New York — a belief in the dignity of the individual, a tolerance of differences — are the bedrock creed of American life.
Tech & Science
Who Killed King Tut?
The boy King died young and was buried in haste. Now a pair of U.S. gumshoes, armed with modern forensics, is trying to crack an ancient case.
Life
Worth Giving Tourism The Big Banana
Love or hate them, the surprisingly large number of giant fruits and animals are good news for small towns.
Trying To Hit The Right Note, All Day Long
For TV and radio news stations, the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks will be a nonstop blur of memorial events, emotional reminiscences and related news stories. Their challenge: Cover the occasion without bludgeoning it. Everyone else in radio and TV — those normally devoted to playing cartoons, comedy shows or Kenny G songs — faces a different challenge: Ignore the anniversary without seeming callous or mindlessly irrelevant.
Sunday, September 8, 2002
Life
Go Ahead, Snooze
What have you got to lose?
In The Soulful 70's, Real Men Played Tennis
The stars of the modern men's game haven't even begun to arouse the kind of passion tennis players generated a quarter-century ago.
Writer's Block
Authors may go in and out of style, but it's time to bring George V. Higgins back into fashion.
Writer's Voice Matures With A Generation
Veteran puts aside Vietnam for a tale about boomers who had to settle for less.
The Clouds Of Memory
Windows on the World restaurant lost 72 workers. For those left behind, there is no real moving on.
Don't Rebuild. Reimagine.
Now is the time for New York to express its ambition through architecture and reclaim its place as a visionary city.
Above All, The Fishing's The Thing
At Poronui Ranch, there's every comfort on 16,000 acres. But the real lure is the fly-fishing.
Saturday, September 7, 2002
World
The Troubling New Face Of America
Formerly admired almost universally as the preeminent champion of human rights, our country has become the foremost target of respected international organizations concerned about these basic principles of democratic life.
Life
Placement, People!
Television's 30-second spot is lurching toward extinction. For the show to go on, the ads will go in.
Poetry And Sept. 11: A Guided Anthology
The interest in poetry in the wake of the calamitous attacks of last fall surprised some observers. But the art of poetry makes the breath of any one reader its medium: a commanding appeal, heightened at a time when many of us felt overdosed or overwhelmed by mass media.
Double Exposure
An old Etonian from a theatrical dynasty, Hugo Williams eschewed the family business and became a poet. His verse reflects his passion for pop music, his obsession with the past and the vicissitudes of his unconventional marriage.
Friday, September 6, 2002
Tech & Science
Mouse And Superman
Imagine your muscles never aged or weakened, and repaired themselves after injury. Scientists have created a synthetic gene that does just that — and the consequences for sport could be seen as early as the 2004 Olympics.
Life
Sticks And Stones And Lemon Cough Drops
From Joseph Beuys to Eva Hesse to Zoe Leonard, many postwar artists make works in unstable or ephemeral materials. Curators and conservators dealing with latex, lard, bodily fluids, and banana peels are coming up with new preservation strategies.
Television's Special Day Of Pain And Comfort
Television is setting the memorial tone as it offers — or rather demands with its blanket coverage — a day of reflection on Sept. 11.
Thursday, September 5, 2002
World
State Of Despair
Only freedom can produce truly sustainable development.
Tech & Science
Math = Beauty + Truth / (Really Hard)
Explaining what the winners of the world's top awards in mathematics actually do isn't as easy as adding 2+2. But we'll give it a try.
Life
The Early Genius Of Wodehouse
One hundred years ago P.G. Wodehouse left his dead-end job and started his writing career with a series of school stories.
Big Gap For A Poet To Bridge
Coughing back the black exhaust fumes of screeching buses, a handful of poets collected on Westminster Bridge yesterday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of William Wordsworth's sonnet about the spot, now one of London's most clogged-up traffic routes.
Missing The Message On Sex
Moms in America, take heed: What you think you're telling your teenagers about sex, and what they hear, may be two very different things. And it's your kids' perceptions that shape their behavior.
One Year Later, Standard Time
It has only been a year since the Industry Standard, the bible of the bubble, shut its doors.
The Laws Of Applause
Clapping has long been the bond between audiences and performers, but is it losing its meaning?
Expressions
Wednesday, September 4, 2002
World
When Scoops Are Product Placements
Press 'leaks' can serve a corporate agenda.
Tech & Science
Hot Flashes: Exploring The Mystery Of Women's Thermal Chaos
Is this nature's idea of a joke?
Life
Quotes That Prove Americans Do Have A Sense Of Irony
Its editor, Elizabeth Knowles, said she was looking for the recognition factor, something that was half-remembered and likely to be looked up.
Sept. 11 Goes To School
Patriotism and psychobabble in the civics classroom.
This Is Family Style?
Memo to the Sopranos: Pass the pasta and mind your manners.
In A Seafaring Body Lurks A Writer's Soul
Linda Greenlaw's only complaint about her book tour to promote "The Lobster Chronicles" is that it is keeping her from the height of the lobster season on Isle au Haut.
Ah, Sweet Mysteries Of Trenton, She's Got 'Em
With her eight comic crime novels featuring Stephanie Plum, Janet Evanovich has made herself the de facto poet laureate of Trenton, N.J.
Up A Mountin, Chasing A Cheese
Frico, as the Italians call it, is a simple dish for a complicated part of the world.
Why Do Cell Phones Make Us Stupid?
They make you stupid because they are eroding the art of conversation, filling the air with the banal.
Strange Case Of A Legal Oddity: She Puts Pen To Paper
South L.A. court reporter is the only one in California to shun a steno machine in favor of shorthand on a notepad.
Are Weblogs Changing Our Culture?
Why blogging is "a format designed for Unabombers."
What Is It About British Men? Cheap, Drunk And Stiff Lipped
But as various commentators here weighed in on the relative merits of English men and North American women, it began to emerge that Ms. McLaren was not the only foreign woman who has hoped for Mr. Darcy, only to be saddled with Austin Powers.
Expressions
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Tech & Science
With Towers Gone, Area May Be Vulnerable To Lightning
When the World Trade Center stood, lightning regularly struck its towers and was safely discharged to the ground. Now, Lower Manhattan could be more vulnerable.
As Alaska Warms, Glaciers Stage A Ferocious Dance
Why are some Alaskan glaciers growing, while most are shrinking? Much about glacial movement remains mysterious. But in simplest terms, glaciers are a varied lot, each marching to its own geophysical rhythm.
Life
Bloomberg Butts In
New York City and the anti-smoking crusade.
A Life Of Ridicule?
How is Romeo Beckham going to cope with a name like that? We asked four other Romeos.
Osama Bin Laden Is Alive And Well And Living In Utah
As the anniversary of Sept. 11 approaches, terror-related urban legends are running rampant. Luckily, Snopes.com is on the case.
Please Turn Down The Orchestra
Orchestras have become much, much louder since the 18th century. And the process has gathered pace dramatically since the Second World War.
Monday, September 2, 2002
Tech & Science
Radio Emerges From The Electronic Soup
A self-organising electronic circuit has stunned engineers by turning itself into a radio receiver.
Life
How To Write Like A Pundit
If necessary, repeat yourself until your message becomes conventional wisdom.
Wish You Were Still Here?
Why do we go on holiday? When were there, does the reality live up to the expectation? And do we come home with a changed attitude to life and work, or is it just the same old grind but with a suntan?
Art For Tate's Sake
Can a combination of Condé Nast and Britain's premier art institution sell a magazine?
Solemnity Slips Under The Covers
Nearly a year after sweeping predictions that the news business would be permanently transformed by the events of Sept. 11, the media world has largely returned to business as usual.
Tofu And Zazen By The Sea
At the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Marin County, overnight guests can join in meditation sessions and do chorse — or not.
Expressions
Sunday, September 1, 2002
Life
My Country, But Not My Home?
In today's decentered, plug-and-play world, is home an outdated notion? Isn't one rooted to ideas, rather than to places? Why be a citizen of a small place, when one can be a global citizen?
A Lost Shortcake Recipe Brings Back Bittersweet Memories
"Can you remember how to make Grandma's strawberry shortcake?" my breathless daughter asked on the phone. She was making dinner for her boyfriend du jour, and clearly was pulling out all the stops.
Untouched By Tourism, The Ordinary Can Be Extraordinary
It was a nothing-special kind of day in Petersburg, Alaska: The salmon canneries throbbed and hummed, a flyer in a store window advertised an upcoming totem-pole raising, and in the Java Hus coffee shop, two teenage girls chatted about a wolf they'd seen the day before, right on the edge of town.
On The Home Front
Short story imagines the Reagans in a strange, painful struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
Totally Uncooked
The latest trend for the health-conscious is raw food. Whether it's really healthy is a subject of heated debate.