Slate Articles

For the People, by the People

Amy Crawford — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:17:44 GMT

We tend to ignore local government until something goes wrong—municipal bankruptcy, perhaps, or unplowed streets after a mishandled blizzard. Turnout in local elections is notoriously low, and attendance at city-council and school-board meetings is usually negligible. Most Americans have become accustomed to putting our communities in the hands of a few purported experts and leaving well enough alone.

“A Peculiar Moaning Sound”

Brian Palmer — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:03:47 GMT

Many survivors of the recent Oklahoma tornado compared the sound of the twister to that of a train. Before the advent of railroads, how did people describe the sound of a tornado?

You Do Not Have Asperger’s

Amy S.F. Lutz — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:00:44 GMT

The autism community is a fractious bunch. We argue over the causes of autism, the best treatments, or even if it should be treated at all. But we do share a common anxiety: the DSM-5. This latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, released by the American Psychiatric Association this month, officially eliminates many familiar autism spectrum diagnoses. Asperger’s syndrome (typically applied to those with no intellectual disability or language deficit); pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (generally given to higher-functioning individuals who may not meet all the criteria for autism); and childhood disintegrative disorder (attached to kids who develop typically and then experience severe regression after the age of 3) are now incorporated into the single diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. This anxiety ranges from a mild concern on the part of some parents to angry protest: More than 8,000 people signed an online petition circulated by the Global and Regional Asperger’s Syndrome Partnership; another petition sponsored by Asperger’s Association of New England received 5,400 signatures.

An Older Woman

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:58:00 GMT

At her live event in New York, Prudence answered a woman's question about irksome workplace comments and also recounted her own past as a "walking human resources violation" at Slate.

I Like Likable Characters

Jennifer Weiner — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:33:01 GMT

Quick: What’s the most unforgivable sin a writer can commit in fiction? A writerly crime so awful that major, award-winning novelists are condemning it on the pages of Publishers Weekly and inveighing against it in The New Yorker? If you said lazy plotting, dull language, or cardboard-thin characters, well, shame on you. Currently, the most gauche thing a modern-day writer can do is write protagonist who is—oh, the horror—likable.

Stop Aid to Africa Now

Wed, 22 May 2013 16:09:00 GMT

When President Obama visits Africa in late June, one of the main agenda items will be how the U.S. can help foster economic growth in the sub-Sahara. He may want to grab a copy of Dambisa Moyo’s book Dead Aid before he goes. A Zambian-born, Oxford-educated international economist, Moyo argues that the international aid model is broken and that aid programs actually leave recipients worse off.

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Prog Bots Into Darkness Edition

Stephen Metcalf — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:29:21 GMT

Listen to Culture Gabfest No. 244 with Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and June Thomas with the audio player below.

Do Charter Schools Work?

Ray Fisman — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:30:00 GMT

On June 4, 1991, Minnesota Gov. Arne Carlson signed into law a bill that set in motion one of the most significant—and controversial—education reform movements in modern history. Minnesota’s charter school law allowed educators and other concerned individuals to apply to the state for permission to operate a government-funded school outside of the public education system. In order to obtain and keep their licenses, these new schools needed to show they were serving their students effectively, based on goals laid out in the school’s “charter.” City Academy, America’s first charter school, opened in St. Paul the following year. Its mission was to get high-school dropouts on track to vocational careers, and it is still operating today. One early enrollee, Demetrice Norris, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in 1992 that he had spent years, “being lazy – not doing nothing” before he “got a life back here in school” and “got a chance to be something.”

The Pedestrian–Cyclist Armistice

L.V. Anderson — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:41:00 GMT

Following in the footsteps of Amsterdam; Portland, Ore.; and Washington, D.C., among other cities, New York is set to launch its bike-share program, Citi Bike, on Memorial Day. New Yorkers have met the impending influx of bikes with both excitement and dread. The mixed reactions are unsurprising: Antagonism has long simmered between pedestrians and cyclists in New York. As bicycle commuting has increased, so have eruptions of hostility between the two factions: These days, no intersection is immune to shouted insults and raised middle fingers. Then there are the daily incursions onto enemy turf: Loiterers defiantly lolling in bike lanes; bike-mounted scoundrels barreling down sidewalks. With 5,500 new bicycles about to hit the streets of New York, the situation is liable to escalate to all-out warfare.

The White House To-Do List

John Dickerson — Wed, 22 May 2013 11:30:00 GMT

When White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told his colleagues last week to spend no more than 10 percent of their time responding to scandals, he didn’t know a tornado would devastate entire stretches of Oklahoma. He knew something like it would happen though. A chief of staff knows that White House plans are always being upset, so he reminds his staff: Don’t get too distracted, bigger distractions are always on the horizon.