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Issue 118

September 2007

He Sold His Soul To Wal-Mart

  • Working With the Enemy

    Once the youngest president of the Sierra Club, Adam Werbach used to call Wal-Mart toxic. Now the company is his biggest client. Does the path to a greener future run through Bentonville?

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Features

  • The Short, Shady History of Hollywood South

    One New Orleans industry survived Katrina: its booming film business. Now the lawsuits are flying, and the old rot is setting in fast. Another sad tale from the city that just can't stop itself.

  • Microsoft Class Action Microsoft's Class Action

    Across the country, talent-hungry corporations are trying to save our struggling public schools. Are they creating smarter kids--or a fleet of drones?

  • Hall Monitors
  • Man vs. Machine Man vs. Machine

    Serial Webmeister Jason Calacanis survived the dotcom bust and went on to sell Weblogs Inc. to AOL for $25 million. He says his new search engine--powered by people, of all things--will give Google a run for its money. We almost believe him.

  • Girl Power Girl Power

    No rich relatives? No professional mentors? No problem. Ashley Qualls, 17, has built a million-dollar web site. She's LOL all the way to the bank. :)

  • Whatevercash.com
  • Her Space: A Guide to Ashley's World
  • Teen Traffic
  • The CEO Who's, Like, 17
  • Mattel's Easy For Me 1-2-3 Barbie

    Toy packaging is frustrating to open, wasteful, and bad for the environment. How Mattel's designers and engineers worked to free Barbie from her shackles.

  • Unplanned Obselescence Unplanned Obsolescence

    Grameen's famous Village Phone Program lifted thousands out of poverty-- and helped Muhammad Yunus win the Nobel Peace Prize. The problem: It's not working anymore.

Next

  • Fast Food Medicine Fast-Food Medicine

    Retail health clinics are dotting the landscape like Starbucks, frustrating doctors but delighting patients. Is this the beginning of the answer to our national health-care crisis?

  • Watch List 9/07

    The books, conferences, and people to look for this month.

  • Mission: Impossible III
  • There’s a Message in Every Email
  • Hot Tickets

    EBay and other scrappy online outfits have created a legitimate $2 billion--plus secondary market for seats at concerts and sports events--and a risky new world for Ticketmaster.

  • What's The ROI On That Skybox?
  • Mobile Meltdown

    How the "can't miss" wireless startup Amp'd Mobile burned through $360 million and found itself in bankruptcy.

  • Keepers Of The Flame
  • Airport of Tomorrow

    In Germany, engineering giant Siemens tests features designed to make air travel less awful.

  • Sky Fighter

    Daniel Libeskind shares his vision for architecture and why he's at peace with the plans for Ground Zero that replaced his own.

  • The Air In There

    Americans spend 90% of their time indoors--and much of that at work. According to the EPA, air pollution is up to five times worse inside than outside. Harsh cleaning chemicals contribute to the problem. In fact, one-third of the cleaning products that janitors handle contain chemicals that can cause skin and eye irritation, cancer, or reproductive disorders. And approximately 37 million Americans suffer from chemical sensitivity, so increased absenteeism and health costs can stem from using compounds that evaporate harmful materials into the air.

  • The Green, Green Grass Of Home

    Step outside and discover how to make your grass greener--without chemical pesticides, fertilizers, and a gazillion gallons of water. Natural pesticides and herbicides keep chemicals off your lawn, making it safer for kids, pets, and even earthworms. Where pesticides are regularly applied, 60% to 90% of earthworms, whose job is to keep the soil healthy, are killed.

  • By The People, For The People

    Consumer-electronics companies are embracing the open-source model--enlisting volunteer developers, designers, and just regular folk--to create cooler products for all their customers.

Columns

Fast Talk

From the Editor

  • Letter From the Editor

    There is no more common lament in corporate C-suites than the sorry state of the American education system. Our next generation is said to be woefully unprepared for the economy of the future, while other countries steam ahead, producing engineers and scientists.

  • Contributors

    Learn more about the contributors featured in this issue.

  • Feedback

    Letters. Updates. Advice.