January-February 2006
Contents
Calm in the Chaos
Calm in the Chaos
Find inner peace, then take it outside
by David Schimke
Spiritual Activism
A conversation with Robert Gass and Nina Utne
Spirited Dissent
Five activists talk about staying centered
interviews by Kristin Ohlson
The Real Rosa Parks
by Paul Rogat Loeb
Utne Independent Press Awards
The winners for 2005
Chocolate
Hot Cocoa
Chocolate goes gourmet. But is there a dark side?
by Anjula Razdan
Dare to Discover Your Center
If you are what you eat, what if you eat a box of chocolates?
by Theresa Cheung, from Better Than Sex: Chocolate Principles to Live By
Extremism
Portrait of the Bomber as a Young Man
Why Children of England’s immigrants look to radical Islam for a sense of belonging
interview by Aatish Taseer, from Prospect
Beyond Organics
Beyond Organics
Good food is about more than standards: It’s a state of mind
by Joseph Hart
Organic Passion Portraits
In Michael Ableman’s Fields of Plenty, farming is a labor of love
The Clean Plate Club
A clip ‘n’ save resource guide for living beyond organics
An Economy of Fail
Large-scale farming sends shock waves around the world
interview by Joseph Hart
Market Appeal
Do you know who is growing your tomatoes?
by Julie Hanus
Emerging Ideas
Apocalypse How?
From the insightful to the cockamamie, end-times prophecies abound. Here are a few to pencil in your date book.
by Morgan Mae Schulz
Against the Tide
Chinese sea turtles leave the U.S. with advanced degrees and become seaweed
by Archie Ingersoll
Read Nothing About It!
The Top Ten Censored Stories of 2005
by Hannah Lobel
Freedom to Ride
Biking in the Big Apple can get you arrested
by Leif Utne
Spin Factories
Think tanks on the left and right have become hollow echo chambers
by Leif Utne
Plus: Peace conspiracies; $100 laptops; Big Mac raps; Iraq’s new pro-business constitution, the decrepit state of the U.N. building, and more
Mixed Media
Music
Winter Chills
A soundtrack for gray days
by Joseph Hart
Reviews: Bobby Bare, The Tragically Hip, and more
Film
The Docs of War
Three new films on the war in Iraw plus seven more must-see war films
by Leif Utne
Reviews: a John Trudell documentary, a film about making a film of a novel, and more
Books
Reviews: Books on the hamburger-human relationship, hard-to-define women, and poetry that has gone too far
This Just In
What’s new in the Utne stacks
Street Librarian
Mags that tackle transportation as if others matter
by Chris Dodge
Mindful Living
Not Too Sexy for the Earth
The fashion industry goes green
by Andi McDaniel
The 3R’s of Ecofashion
Reduce, reuse, and revamp
by Andi McDaniel
Earthy and Smooth with a Hint of . . . Limestone?
Middle America’s new wine country heats up
by Laine Bergeson
Get Off the Energy Grid
It’s easy, painless, and a great excuse to buy a flat-screen TV
by Laine Bergeson
Plus: Hula heals, the French go le fooding, and skateboarding moms
Gleanings
The Candy Monkey Raves
Things get sticky when one writer mixes candy and politics
by Steve Almond, from Mobylives.com
Relocation
When memories fade, can one ever really return home?
by Floyd Skloot, from Approximately Paradise
My Tennis Game
It was feral and godless and knew no master
by Don Gillmor, from The Walrus
How Scientists Party
Wanna raise the roof? Try liquid nitrogen.
by Alastair Bland, from Brick
The Lobster Shift
Covering the news in a city that never sleeps
by Julia F. Heming, from Columbia Journalism Review
Shift
Flower Fairies
