Contents
November-December 2010
FEATURES
25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World
by Utne Reader staff and contributors
The Body as Battlefield
Dale Phelps turned his bout with cancer into woodblock prints
from CR
Nothing Grows Forever
Meet the economists who are rewriting the gospel of consumption
by Clive Thompson, from Mother Jones
Living Like a Liberal
A conservative journalist tries to switch teams and fails hilariously
by Matt Labash, from The Weekly Standard
Thou Shalt Not Kill. Unless . . .
A Texas native stares down his state’s execution machine, one day at a time.
by Robert Leleux, from The Texas Observer
At Death’s Door
Sister Helen Prejean on America’s obsession with retribution
interview by David Cook, from The Sun
EMERGING IDEAS
The Big Green Machine
Military vets work to end our dependence on fossil fuels
by Joseph D’Agnese, from OnEarth
Diplomacy in a Lab Coat
Scientists make peace
by Christine Grillo, from Johns Hopkins Public Health
The Great Desprawling Experiment
A Virginia town transforms into a livable community
by Jebediah Reed, from GOOD
Skin Deep
Civil rights struggles in Bolivian beauty pageants
by Wendy Dale, from mental_floss
GLEANINGS
Secret Liaisons in the Middle East
A gay writer’s eye-opening tour
by Michael Luongo, from The Gay & Lesbian Review
No Apologies
Instructions for visiting a murderer
by Madge McKeithen, from TriQuarterly
Hardscrabble Salvation
I learned my work ethic from watching my mother
by Joel Preston Smith, from In Good Tilth
MINDFUL LIVING
Retiring Minds Ought to Know
Your working life is not over
by Michael Schrage, from the Harvard Business Review
Pray It Again . . . and Again
Spiritual life requires repetition
by Andrew Holecek, from book The Power and the Pain
Reduce, Reuse, Reform
Plastics pollute our landscapes and our bodies
by Marla Rose, from VegNews
The Watermelon Whisperer
The secret lives of ripe fruit
by David Feela, from Small Farmer’s Journal
MIXED MEDIA
Happy Birthday, Like It or Not
The song that we all know yet few of us love
by Stefany Anne Golberg, from The Smart Set
Art in the Aspens
Beautiful Basque tree carvings
by Jane Braxton Little, from High Country News
Creole Copyright
Mardi Gras Indians own their looks
by Brittany Epps and Alex Rawls, from Offbeat
REVIEWS
Music:A New Day, Return of the Century, Mirror
Film:The Night of the Hunter, The Kids Grow Up, Neshoba
Books:In Utopia, Small Acts of Resistance, Fish Tales
COLUMNS
Editor’s Note
Fantasmagoria
by David Schimke
Forward
Heartache and House Calls
by Eric Utne
DISPATCHES FROM: California, Third World Resurgence, Spacing, Technology Review, Milwaukee Magazine, ChinaHush, Science News, Herizons, Miller-McCune, Conservation, Dissent, Psychology Today, Miller-McCune, Afar
