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The author looks at issues of same-sex marriage, homophobia, and free speech in the U.S., as of 2013. He recounts the controversy over the selection of pediatric neurosurgeon and Republican Party media figure Ben Carson as commencement speaker at John Hopkins Medical School in Maryland, related to Carson's public statements opposing gay marriage. He criticizes the gay rights movement and the university's administration over the episode. He expresses the view that having largely won the marriage equality battle, gay-rights proponents should be gracious toward people who continue to oppose gay marriage. He says it was wrong for the university to try to prevent unpopular opinions from being expressed, even if as a private institution it is obligated to protect the freedom of speech.

The author, a long-time U.S. journalist, discusses his 2013 return to the publication in the role of editor-at-large. He recounts his history with the publication, noting that he was its editor in the 1970s and describing how he left briefly in 1979 due to a dispute with the editor-in-chief, but then returned. He offers anecdotes from his earlier years as a journalist, including how various functions were carried out prior to the introduction of e-mail and fax machines. He presents excerpts from letters he received over the years from authors including Irving Howe and Christopher Hitchens.

In this article the author discusses aspects of news magazines and magazine publishing in the United States. The focus of the article is the restructuring of "Newsweek" magazine that took place in early 2009. The author evaluates a number of elements in the revised edition of "Newsweek" including its layout, design and editorial policy.

RIGHT-WING TALK RADIO these days is carrying fewer commercials for second mortgages. (Consolidate your debts, lower your monthly payments, and have enough left over for that dream vacation!) They've been [...]

Comments on the decision of U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno not to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the campaign fund-raising of vice presidential candidate Al Gore. Explanation issued by Reno for her decision; Controversy involving the existence of some handwritten notes, which were taken by an aide of Gore at a 1995 meeting, about hard and soft money; Tradition observed by the Republicans, and which the Democrats violated; Implication of Reno's decision.

The author reflects on the benefit of the Internet to the publication of the online magazine "Slate." Topics discussed include the problem encountered prior to the magazine's publication, the introduction of a system of posting parts of each issue every weekday and the instantaneous feedback received from readers. Also mentioned is the velocity of email which makes Internet publications faster than traditional print.

Discusses the tax reform proposal of the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Expected reaction of the liberals to the tax reforms; Provisions of the reform plan; Reasons why the major objections against the proposals are wrong; Labor Party's main objection to Reagan's plan; Justification of the shift of taxes from individuals to corporations under the supply-side economic philosophy; Professor of Political Economy at the Georgetown Center for Strategic and International Studies, Paul Craig Roberts' denouncement of Reagan's plan.

Explores the reasons for the impression of the majority of people in the U.S. that President Bill Clinton has raised their taxes. Argument that the best measure of the overall tax burden is taxes as a share of gross domestic product; Impact of the Clinton administration budget deal of 1993 on income taxes; Explanation that the total burden of federal taxes on society as a whole since 1980 has remained constant.

Contends that voters together with politicians and the interest groups are to blame for the failure of the U.S. federal government to provide a universal health care to its citizens. Discussion on the health care reform plan of President Bill Clinton; Public opinion on the country's health care system; Stand of Republicans on health care reform; Criticism on the media's coverage of the health care reform debates; Comparison of the U.S. with other industrialized countries in the area of health care.

Focuses on the plan of the U.S. government under Ronald Reagan to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Public spending on social programs and defense; Strategies undertaken by the administration to reduce budget deficit and improve public spending policy; Options for raising taxes; Indications of politics and public administration.

Examines the fact checking system used by the periodical "The New Yorker." Revelation that the periodical's writer, Alastair Reid, has been fabricating stories for the magazine; Step taken by the newspaper "The Wall Street Journal" when faced with the same experience as "The New Yorker"; Implication of the trend on the status of journalism in the United States.

Focuses on the national debt of the U.S. Reasons behind the temptation for Democrats to attack U.S. President Ronald Reagan's budget deficits; Change in the nature of deficit and the nature of the general public towards deficit; Need of the U.S. to discourage consumption and encourage savings; Reasons behind the fall in inflation and interest rates during the Reagan megadeficit years; View of the author that Reagan lied to the American public regarding the matter of deficits; Accusation leveled by Reagan against the Congress that it spends too much, leading to the deficits.

Focuses on the impact of free trade on social and economic conditions in the U.S. Comment on economist David Ricardo's theory of free trade; Ways through which one nation gains comparative advantage over another; Living standards of the U.S. working class; View that importing the products of cheap foreign labor cannot lower American living standards; Suggestion on how to take advantage of the disparity between American and foreign wages.

Discusses the imposition of foreign trade restraints in the U.S. Announcement by President Ronald Reagan that his administration would provide $1.5 billion in credit subsidies to spur food exports; Reason behind the preference for voluntary trade restraints than imposed restraints by Reagan; Information on a bill related to free trade sponsored by thirty Senators; Explanation by Senator Wendell Ford regarding the domestic content bill; Problems related to the free trade.

Discusses various legal developments taking place in the U.S. electronic communication industry. Fight over the incipient technological revolution known as "videotext"; Decision of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the case involving AT&T Corp.; Regulation of FCC that AT&T could provide some video information services through a separate subsidiary; Concern of the U.S. Congress in rewriting the law it is based on the Communications Act of 1934.

Presents information on the performance and future of the Democratic party in the United States. View that the party is run by lawyer-operators with no commitment to any particular political values; Statement that the poor, the working class and the country would have been better off if the Democrats had played no role in shaping the tax and budget cuts; Discussion over the U.S. President Ronald Reagan's budget cut for fiscal 1982; Description of food stamp program; housing and home weatherization program.

The article presents an exploration into the MacArthur Foundation and its fellowship award. The history of its founder, John D. MacArthur, an intrepid insurance salesman during the Great Depression, is provided. Details are given of MacArthur's financial legacy and the formation of the award for individual creative entrepreneurship.

Focuses on the medical profession that performed miracles in Washington. Comment on enormous nuclear weapons arsenals,of the superpowers and the rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world; Report that medical care would be unaffected by a nuclear war; Claim that only the existence of nuclear weapons has prevented a major conventional war between the superpowers; Information about medical education campaign.

Focuses on views of two political action committees, Committee for an Independent Judiciary and Americans Concerned for the Judiciary about Ronald Reagan, a U.S. presidential candidate. Charges made against Reagan by the committees; Purpose behind criticizing Reagan by these committees; Basis on which Reagan would appoint judges if he wins the election.

Presents information on the decline in editorial quality of the journal "The New Republic." Criticism of the unintended rhymes in the book reviews; Reasons for the author to resign from the post he was holding in the journal's editorial team; Comments on an article by Suzannah Lessard, which will be shortly published in the December issue of the Washington Monthly; Violation of responsible standards of taste and ethics.

Explains that Jack Landau, head of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, poses the biggest threat to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Supreme Court decision reaffirming the state of the libel laws as they have existed for the past 15 years; Indication of journalists' contempt for the freedom of speech rights of non-journalists; Immunity from libel laws of statements about public figures unless they were made with reckless disregard for the truth; Argument that the First Amendment protects the editorial process of the press from public scrutiny.

Comments on the White House Drug Scandal involving Doctor Peter Bourne who claims that by fraudulently obtaining the restricted drug Quaalude for his assistant he was protecting her future as a drug-enforcement official. President Jimmy Carter's refusal to answer questions about Bourne on the grounds that it might interfere with the investigation; Argument by White House employees that the pleasure drug hunt violates their privacy; Author's view that the scandal involves arrogance and hypocrisy.