In This Issue
November-December 2008
FEATURE: Visionaries
50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World
by Keith Goetzman, Julie Hanus, Judith Lewis, Hannah Lobel, Danielle Maestretti, and Elizabeth Ryan
Online Exclusive: Interview with Dave Eggers
Online Exclusive: Interview with Lawrence Lessig
Online Exclusive: Podcast interview with Saul Griffith
FEATURE: Your Brain on Music
Blue Notes
Understanding the life-giving link between mood and musical expression
by Moira Farr, from the Walrus
Literary Interludes
Great readings on why music moves us
FEATURE: Detroit Blog City
Bloggers vs. Blight
An online community beats back urban decay in Detroit
by Megan Garber, from Columbia Journalism Review
FEATURE: Giving Till it Hurts
The New Colonialists
Humanitarian groups and well-meaning charities keep failing countries afloat. They also create a crippling cycle of dependence.
by Michael A. Cohen, Maria Figueroa Küpçü, and Parag Khanna, from Foreign Policy
EMERGING IDEAS
Meet the “Green” Berets
Armed eco-troops might be Mother Nature’s last defense
by Andrew Wasley, from the Ecologist
The Power of ONEsies
MomsRising.org marshals maternal forces for political battle
by Nanette Fondas, from Tikkun
English Die Soon
Global web geeks are killing the Queen’s English. Good riddance.
by Annalee Newitz, from San Francisco Bay Guardian
Plus: Children of the Night, Doctors Without Managers, Petroleum = Patriarchy, Mega-Mosques Rising, Womens Primary Problem, Four Wheelin', Don't Take the Escalator, Indentured Students
MIXED MEDIA
Baghdad’s Roaring Twenties
A new CD takes listeners back to the streets of a forever lost, fabulous-sounding Iraq
by Rachel Aspden, from New Statesman
As the World Turns on Its TV
Ever caught that cheesy Mexican soap down the dial? Chances are it’s an international hit.
by Pablo Helguera, from Vice
Lights, Camera, Sandstorms
A Saharan refugee camp hosts the world’s most remote film festival
by Beatrice Newbery, from Developments
Plus: Film Reviews, Book Reviews, Music Reviews
MINDFUL LIVING
Save Energy, Skip the Insanity
Don’t have time to render earwax for cooking fuel? Neither do we.
by Kari Volkmann-Carlsen
Greener Than Thou
Boston’s eco-zealots pick up where the Puritans left off
by Joe Keohane, from Boston magazine
An Addict’s Last Refuge
Prescribing an illegal drug that quells deadly cravings
by Peter Tupper, from This Magazine
Blood and Guts
An urban farmer talks about butchering the turkey she raised
interview by Amy Standen, from Meatpaper
GLEANINGS
The Grizz-ind
Giving props to young rappers and their homemade CDs
by Davy Rothbart, from the Believer
Turkey Day in the Clink
An insider’s guide to jailhouse cuisine
by Sean Rowe, from Oxford American
I Believe in Deviled Eggs
Sermons be damned. It’s the little rituals that stir the spirit.
by Angela Long, from Geez
Trains, Planes, and Bar Cars
Riding the rails is easier on the earth than flying, and could be way more fun
by J.B. MacKinnon, from Explore
COLUMNS AND LETTERS
Editor’s Note: That Vision Thing
Letters
Shelf Life: A Criminally Insane System
Forward: Older, Wiser, Back for More