Express
George W. Bush’s Redemption Song
By Norman KelleyIf the black political agenda of the post–civil rights era has been to influence the machinery of the federal government to black advantage, moving from protest to politics, the reelection of George W. Bush has shown that this agenda has failed.
A Brief History of Plastic
By Heather RogersIn 1957, on a small plot in Anaheim, California, the powerful chemical and synthetics manufacturer Monsanto—working with two MIT architects—constructed the first all-plastic house.
American Medicine’s Perfect Storm
By John AbramsonWithin the FDA, the doctors, scientists, and statisticians are dedicated to making sure the data about drugs and medical devices presented by manufacturers justify their claims of safety and efficacy. But the FDA is understaffed, underfunded, and under pressure, according to its own employees.
An Oration on Secession
By Jason Flores-WilliamsI don’t care how it comes down, whose name gets in the paper, or whose turf gets stepped on: I want progressive change. Real change.
If it Ain’t Here, it Ain’t Anywhere
By Ryan GrimIf there was any doubt about the state of acid culture in America, last summer’s Phish concert in Coventry, Vermont, cleared it up. The verdict is in: it’s gone.
In Conversation
Options, But Not Solutions: Thomas De Zengotita with Williams Cole
Thomas De Zengotita, a contributing editor for Harper’s, has been praised by the likes of Norman Mailer as a thinker comparable to Marshall McLuhan. His book Mediated: How the Media Shapes Your World and the Way We Live in It (Bloomsbury USA, 2005) presents a new diagnosis for what he sees as a radically mediated world where options have become a defining factor.
In Conversation
The Left and Air America: Danny Goldberg with Theodore Hamm
Danny Goldberg, former CEO of Artemis Records, is the new CEO of Air America. He is the author of How the Left Lost Teen Spirit, which will be published in paperback this month by Akashic Books. Rail editor Theodore Hamm recently sat down with Goldberg at Air America’s corporate headquarters in Chelsea.
