January/February 2013 Table of Contents
Food Riot
The Weak Link
The new geopolitics of food scarcity by Lester Brown, fromFull Planet, Empty Plates
Spinning Wheat into Gold
A tale of bankers, long-standing commodities markets, and corruption by Suzanne Lindgren, from Utne Reader
Mayhem: It’s What’s for Dinner
How one weak link could bring down the whole food system by Wayne Robert, from Spacing
Reimagining Mental Health
Sing, Brother
A cry for help from the edge of sanity by Anonymous, fromBriarpatch
Beyond the Brain
The social causes and cures of mental illness by Tanya Marie Luhrman, from The Wilson Quarterly
Whole Earth Mental Health
Ecopsychology aims to treat illness by bridging the human-nature rift by Katherine Rowland, from Guernica
Digital Dilemmas
Dawn of the Digital Sweatshop
Welcome to the internet’s factory floor by Ellen Cushing, East Bay Express
Gimme the Loot
From Blackbeard to Kim Dotcom, the many faces of piracy by Gavin Mueller, from Jacobin
Click Your Poison
Finding inner balance in the age of social media by Suzanne Lindgren, from Utne Reader
Emerging Ideas
Living Soil
The lessons we can learn from France’s fertile farmlandby Carolyn Lebel, from Resurgence and Ecologist
The Hidden Epidemic of Murder
Environmentalists are being killed in record numbers by George Black, from OnEarth
Gleanings
Stop the Presses
The death and life of a great American newspaper by Chris Rose, from Oxford American
Rites of Passage
When a quirky old man who lived on the cape died, I thought I didn’t care by Steve Macone, from The American Scholar
Mindful Living
The Vagabond Queen of Craigslist
Discovering delight in nonattachment by Bonnie Friedman, from Shambhala Sun
What Is Your Truth?
Investigating our little white lies can give us insight into the inner self by Irene Petryszak, from Yoga International
Mixed Media
Let the Bad Times Roll
On concerts, parents, and growing up by Lad Tobin, from The Sun
The White Correspondent’s Burden
Being an object of compassion is not the same thing as being the subject of a storyby Jina Moore, from Boston Review
Pleased to Meet the Facebook Version of You
Juggling identities in the information age by Dan Kennedy, from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
Reviews:
Film
Chess Club Cool: a review of Brooklyn Castle
Enabling Exploitation: a review of Girl Model
The Larger Meaning of Home: a review of Inventing Our Life
Music
Melting Pot Masterpiece: a review of Algiers by Calexico
Raggae’s Mad Scientist: a review of Master Piece by Lee “Scratch” Perry
Cash is Still King: a review of The Complete Columbia Album Collection by Johnny Cash
Books
Shaped By All of Us: a review of People’s Guide to the Federal Budget by Mattea Kramer
It’s the Real Thing: a review of Authentic: The Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand Culture by Sarah Banet-Weiser
Preaching Faith in Each Other: a review of Faitheist by Chris Stedman
Editor’s Note
by Christian Williams
Forward
by Eric Utne
Dispatches from:
Scientific American (Cutting Corruption Out of the Budget)
Sierra (Hey Kids, Your World’s On Fire)
Alternatives (Recognizing the Wild World Around Us)
Psychology Today (I Will Not Obey)
Grist (Monsanto’s Achilles’ Heel)
Stanford (Hagia Sophia Sings Again)
Shareable and Counterpunch (This Bank Was Made For You and Me)