July-August 2006
Contents
Trauma?
Get Over It
When to let go. How to heal.
by Joseph Hart
A Practical Guide
Crash Course
An accident taught Matthew Sandofrd what holds body and soul together
interview by Nina Utne
Pedal Power
Invisible Riders
For L.A.’s immigrant day laborers, biking isn’t exercise or a hobby. It’s a way to get to work.
by Dan Koeppel, from Bicycling
Special Report
Training the Left to Win
In their fight to catch up with the right, progressives are sending their young to boot camp
by Leif Utne
Election Reform
Unstuffing the Ballot Box
The right is working to change voting rules. Advocates and ordinary citizens are pushing back.
by David Brauer
Election Watchdog With a Bite
Greg Palast says Republicans stole the election in 2004, and can do it again in 2008
Green Building
The Houses Bamboo Built
In bamboo structures, form and function merge
by Hannah Lobel
Emerging Ideas
Beating Bombs to Plowshares
Sculptors and smiths turn weapons into art and tools
by Chris Dodge
Out on a Limb
Genetically engineered trees take root
by Keith Goetzman
A Toast to Dissent
Activist beer makers deliver politics in a bottle
by Leif Utne
Walking Test Tubes
Drug companies take their trials overseas
by Sonia Shah, from NACLA Report on the Americas
Plus: McMansion lite, corporate social opportunity, lifesaving ceramics, moving art, trashy cash, MapQuests for the carless, conditional love, and more
Mixed Media
Film
Reimagining Reality
Mockumentaries, “factions,” and the new, new journalism
by Annie Nocenti
Reviews: Films on the Zapotec women warriors, twisted logic at Guantanamo, and more
Music
Fade Out
As the tape format dies, rewind those memories
by Brian Joseph Davis
Reviews: Nuru Kane, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, Sugarplum Fairies, and more
Books
Reviews: Books on mass-marketing individuality, America’s throwaway culture, and more
Art
Picture Imperfect
Found photos testify to the wondrous ambiguities of anonymity
by Rick Poynor, from Print
Street Librarian
Apocalypse Soon?
Publications about dismantling civilization are going feral
by Chris Dodge
Mindful Living
The Zen of Surfing
How to brave life’s choppy waters and ride the perfect wave
by Jaimal Yogis, from Shambhala Sun
A Cleaner Coat
Environmentally friendly paints are catching on–but shop with caution
by Keith Goetzman
A Journal to Remember
Travel writing for pleasure, not profit
by Deborah Burand, from Transitions Abroad
Plus: The lotion loophole, the incredible growing brain, small stuff adds up, reframing the 3R’s, dinner party hearty, and Aesthetics 101
Gleanings
Letters from a Desert Prophet
Ed Abbey’s prescient voice rings out again
by Edward Abbey, from Postcards from Ed
My Son the Marine
A defiant young man leaves for boot camp and becomes a caring killer
by Annaliese Jakimides, from Hip Mama
The Americano Dream
An immigrant’s daughter remembers her father’s assimilation
by Angela M. Balcita, from Red Mountain Review
Shift
Water of Life
