To the Point
Small is Beautiful: The End of Super-Size America
In the 1970-s, the Governor of California drove a used Plymouth and gave up the Governor-s Mansion for a small apartment. He ran for President advocating an era of limits, but his campaign failed, and in the 80-s and 90-s, everything seemed to get bigger and bigger. Although Mini-Coopers haven-t replaced SUV-s, trend-spotters claim there-s a new direction to America-s obsession with size. Big cars, big houses, big portions of food--even big executive salaries-are no longer cool as they used to be. Is it all due to falling stock prices and corporate scandal? We get surprising answers from a historian on consumer culture, former California Governor Jerry Brown, a cultural anthropologist and the president of a consumer research company. Newsmaker: White Zimbabwe Farmers Face Eviction President Robert Mugabe has ordered white farmers in Zimbabwe to cease farming and gave them 45 days to clear out. That deadline is tomorrow at midnight. Peta Thornycroft, of London-s Daily Telegraph, reports that the evictions will displace over 2500 farmers and countless workers who help cultivate the land, and have a grave impact on the country-s agricultural exports. Reporter's Notebook: Rebuilding Afghanistan Ishaq Sharyar grew up in Afghanistan. Recipient of a scholarship to UC Berkeley, he earned a series of scientific degrees and pioneered development of the photovoltaic cell. Now, the man who parlayed his expertise into a luxurious Southern California lifestyle has renounced his US citizenship to become Afghanistan-s Ambassador to the US. He shares his hopes for rebuilding his homeland, devastated by 23 years of war.
By Warren Olney • • 1 min readIn the 1970-s, the Governor of California drove a used Plymouth and gave up the Governor-s Mansion for a small apartment. He ran for President advocating an era of limits, but his campaign failed, and in the 80-s and 90-s, everything seemed to get bigger and bigger. Although Mini-Coopers haven-t replaced SUV-s, trend-spotters claim there-s a new direction to America-s obsession with size. Big cars, big houses, big portions of food--even big executive salaries-are no longer cool as they used to be. Is it all due to falling stock prices and corporate scandal? We get surprising answers from a historian on consumer culture, former California Governor Jerry Brown, a cultural anthropologist and the president of a consumer research company.
White Zimbabwe Farmers Face Eviction
President Robert Mugabe has ordered white farmers in Zimbabwe to cease farming and gave them 45 days to clear out. That deadline is tomorrow at midnight. Peta Thornycroft, of London-s Daily Telegraph, reports that the evictions will displace over 2500 farmers and countless workers who help cultivate the land, and have a grave impact on the country-s agricultural exports.
Rebuilding Afghanistan
Ishaq Sharyar grew up in Afghanistan. Recipient of a scholarship to UC Berkeley, he earned a series of scientific degrees and pioneered development of the photovoltaic cell. Now, the man who parlayed his expertise into a luxurious Southern California lifestyle has renounced his US citizenship to become Afghanistan-s Ambassador to the US. He shares his hopes for rebuilding his homeland, devastated by 23 years of war.