The GOOD List

Seventeen Female Reporters Who've Redefined a Formerly Male-Dominated Field

Rosie Spinks — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:30:00 PDT

This June marked Helen Thomas's retirement from journalism after 67 years. Although she resigned amid controversy, the achievements of her long-lasting career as a presidential correspondent remain largely untarnished. To commemorate Thomas and other trailblazers, we present this list of some of the most responsibly tenacious women in today’s media.

For women today, the media world is far different than it was in the 1940s, yet it's far from ideal. Google “top female reporters,” and among the first links you’ll find the “Top 5 Hottest Female Sideline Reporters,” or, worse, “The Top 10 Female Reporters Being Harassed on Live TV.” Considering the abundance of qualified women (our list is hardly comprehensive), this is a sorry status quo. While the women on our list may be attractive, their intellectual capacity, journalistic training, and impressive resumes are what land them on the GOOD list.

1. Lara Logan

Years in the Business: 20

Hometown: Durban, South Africa

Current position: Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, CBS News; correspondent, 60 Minutes

Past experience: Embedded correspondent for war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, Middle East

After years of serious reporting as an embedded journalist from war zones and imperiled locations around the world, Logan's attractive looks and personal life no longer cause people to doubt her credibility. However, this South African woman is no stranger to career controversy. In 2007, a report she filed depicting street fighting in Haifa, Iraq, was deemed too graphic for air by CBS. Logan fought back by sending out a personal appeal to family and friends asking them to disseminate the footage to as many people as possible, insisting the story was too important not be told. More recently, her critique of Rolling Stone's Michael Hastings’s profile of former General McChrystal put her at odds with some of the media at large.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

2. Christiane Amanpour

Years in the Business: 25

Hometown: Tehran, Iran

Current position: Anchor, This Week, CBS

Past experience: Chief International Correspondent, CNN; Anchor, Amanpour, CNN; Correspondent, 60 Minutes

From her first major assignment as CNN foreign correspondent during the Persian Gulf War in 1990, Amanpour has reported from war zones and hot spots virtually all over the world including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Rwanda, Iraq, and Palestine. Despite her commitment to covering wars, famines, violent outbreaks, and civil unrest, Amanpour's objectivity has come into question more than once. During her coverage of the siege of Sarajevo in the mid 1990s, critics accused her of favoring Bosnian Muslims. Amanpour took the criticism in stride, responding to her detractors with level-headed commentary on the nature of objectivity.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user World Economic Forum

3. Name: Rachel Maddow

Years in the business: 8

Hometown: Castro Valley, California

Current position: Host, The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC

Past experience: Host, The Rachel Maddow Show, Air America Radio; Panelist, Race for the White House, MSNBC; Contributor and sub-host, Countdown with Keith Olbermann

In addition to filling the void of female anchors on MSNBC, Maddow is also the first prime time news anchor that is openly gay, making her quick rise in success and credibility all the more impressive. Maddow's coverage of the historic 2008 election garnered praise for her knowledge of policy and willingness to ask tough questions. Most recently, Maddow's embedded coverage of the war in Afghanistan and on-air interview with Special Envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has shown that her journalistic prowess extends beyond the studio lights. One pundit put it best when summing up Rachel’s journalistic style: "She penetrates, without puncturing."

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

4. Katie Couric

Years in the business: 27

Hometown: Arlington, Virginia

Current position: Anchor and Managing Editor, CBS Evening News

Past experience: Contributor, 60 Minutes; Contributing anchor, Dateline NBC; National political correspondent, Today Show

Throughout her career, Couric has interviewed presidents, first ladies, senators, prime ministers, and celebrities. In 2006, she became the first female anchor of a nightly news broadcast, filling the CBS slot that once belonged to the legendary Walter Cronkite. During the 2008 election, Couric conducted a series of interviews with Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Without losing her own credibility as a reporter, Couric managed to garner what McCain's senior campaign strategist and adviser later called the "most consequential interview from a negative perspective that a candidate for national office has gone through."

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Image Editor

5. Diane Sawyer

Years in the business: 35

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky

Current position: Anchor, World News with Diane Sawyer

Past experience: Correspondent, 60 Minutes; Co-anchor, 20/20, ABC; Anchor, Good Morning America, ABC

In her work as a correspondent, Sawyer has reported from all over the world and interviewed a slew of political figures like Saddam Hussein, Robert McNamara, and Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. In the 1980s, she became the first female anchor on 60 Minutes, and in 2006, the first American journalist to report from North Korea. After a long stint on Good Morning America, Sawyer succeeded Charlie Gibson on ABC World News. Her switch shifted the American media landscape, with two of the three major evening news broadcasts now being anchored by women.

6. Barbara Walters

Years in the business: 50

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts

Current position: Co-Anchor, ABC Evening News; Correspondent, ABC World News

Past experience: Anchor, Today Show, Host, 20/20, Creator/Host, The View

When it comes to women in journalism and media, no one has seen the landscape change more than Barbara Walters. When she first entered the business, Walters had to struggle through the difficult relationship with ABC Evening News co-anchor Harry Reasoner and other male co-hosts who were eager to assert their on-air authority. These days, Walters is best known for her extensive interviewing repertoire. While she has been criticized for “soft” questions and pandering to celebrities, her specials are consistently top-rated and few journalists can claim to have interviewed such a diverse group.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

7. Leslie Stahl

Years in the business: 38

Hometown: Lynn, Massachusetts

Current position: Correspondent, 60 Minutes

Past experience: White House Correspondent, CBS News; Moderator, Face of the Nation

In spite of the institutional sexism she encountered in her early days as a correspondent for CBS, Stahl managed to thrive covering major national news events from Watergate to the Reagan assassination attempt to the first Gulf War. As a 60 Minutes correspondent, Stahl has conducted exclusive interviews with top U.S. and world officials. Her career is marked by coverage of issues that are both timely and otherwise untouched by the media: She landed an exclusive interview with former White House terrorism adviser Richard Clarke in 2004, and won an Emmy for "Punishing Saddam," a piece on the suffering of Iraqi citizens caused by U.N. sanctions in the mid-1990s.

Photo of Stahl with Raymond Odierno via Wikimedia Commons

8. Arianna Huffington

Years in the business: 30

Hometown: Athens, Greece

Current position: Co-founder and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post

Past experience: Writer, National Review; Co-host, Any Questions?; Panelist, Left, Right & Center; Co-host, 7 Days in America

In 2005, she launched The Huffington Post, now the 15th most popular news site in the United States. The Post has come to represent an independent, liberal voice that covers news related to politics, business, entertainment, and the environment. As a female media powerhouse, Huffington has worked to reinvent the way our society perceives success: "The most important thing I will say…is it is not enough for women to break the glass ceiling. We need to get to a different place. We need to do success differently. The goal is not to be CEOs and presidents, but to do it with more balance, with more wisdom, and less stress and ulcers in our 50s."

Photo (cc) by Flickr user cliff1066

9. Andi Zeisler

Years in the business: 15

Hometown: New York City

Current position: Co-founder and Editorial/Creative Director, Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture

Past experience: Guest Writer, Ms., Mother Jones, Bust, The Utne Reader, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Women’s Review of Books, SF Weekly, and the East Bay Express

Zeisler's work focuses on feminism, gender issues, and their place in today’s media. She founded Bitch, a nonprofit magazine based out of Portland, Oregon, to offer an alternative, "third-wave feminist" perspective on political, social, and cultural trends. The magazine's name is Zeisler's homage to the cultural mindset that "deems powerful women to be scary, angry, and, of course, unfeminine … and sees uncompromising speech by women as an anathema to a tidy, well-run world." Zeisler and her colleagues at Bitch seek to journalistically re-appropriate the word as a tool of empowerment for women.

Photo (cc) by Picasa user sree: Zeisler (left) with Elizabeth Stark

10. Maureen Dowd

Years in the business: 36

Hometown: Washington, D.C.

Current position: Washington Bureau Correspondent and Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times

Past experience: Writer, Time, Washington Star

Dowd takes on top political officials in a caustic, irreverent manner. She has written many a column about Clinton, Bush, and Obama in which she combines political, sociological, and personality-related commentary. She also explores topics related to popular culture, which she incorporates into her political analyses. Despite receiving a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Monica Lewinsky affair, Dowd was accused by critics of writing petty, overly cynical columns that capitalized on the sensationalism of pop culture. Many of these same critics, however, simultaneously praised her writing style and ruthless tenacity as a journalist.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

11. Sarah Vowell

Years in the business: 14

Hometown: Muskogee, Oklahoma

Current position: Contributor, Salon

Past experience: Contributor, This American Life; Contributor/Guest Writer, The Village Voice, Esquire, GQ, Spin, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, SF Weekly

Vowell's audio essays for This American Life feature her wry sense of humor as applied to American history and politics, along with a smattering of pop culture. She has confronted historical issues from the Gettysburg Address to Rosa Park's bus sit to the Salem witch trials, as well as more contemporary issues like inaugurations and State of the Union addresses. Underlying many of her pieces are discussions of patriotism, citizenship, and what it means to be an American in this day and age.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Susie Martinez

12. Michele Norris and 13. Melissa Block

Years in the business: 25 each

Hometowns: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Old Chatham, New York

Current positions: Co-hosts, All Things Considered, NPR

As NPR’s first African American female host, Norris has covered momentous historical landmarks—the 2008 presidential campaign, Hurricane Katrina, 9/11—in painstaking depth and detail. In 2009, the National Association of Black Journalists named her "Journalist of the Year." She's also won an Emmy and a Peabody for her 9/11 coverage for ABC.

A 24-year veteran of NPR, Block has covered breaking news stories about Hurricane Katrina, the Virginia Tech shootings, and the Kosovo conflict. She garnered exceptional praise for her on-site coverage of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and its aftermath, as well as for her New York coverage of police brutality and terrorism trials.

Photos by Steve Barrett and Stephen Voss via NPR

14. Terry Gross

Years in the business: 37

Hometown: Brooklyn, New York

Current position: Host, Fresh Air, NPR

Past experience: Host and producer,

Fresh Air, WHYY-FM; Guest host, All Things Considered

Gross’s list of interviewees on Fresh Air would be prized by any talk-show host. She is known for the extensive research she does to prepare for her interviews; her questions are sometimes tough but always informed. According to Salon, Gross has interviewed more than 10,000 musicians, actors, writers, comedians, painters, politicians, scientists, tycoons, and generals. When Gross interviewed Bill O’Reilly in 2003, he protested that her questioning was biased and hostile and ended the interview by walking out of the studio. Many listeners called the interview overly pointed and aggressive; Danny Miller, the executive producer of Fresh Air, defended the interview as "tough … not unfair."

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Finsthwait

15. Tina Brown

Years in the business: 30

Hometown: Maidenhead, United Kingdom

Current position: Founder and editor in chief, The Daily Beast

Past experience: editor in chief, Tatler; editor in chief, Vanity Fair; editor in chief, The New Yorker; founder, Talk magazine

Brown rose to prominence with editorships at Tatler (she was just 25 at the time), Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker. Throughout her career, she managed to increase the circulation and popularity of all three publications. In her time at The New Yorker, Brown largely restructured the publication, hired many new writers including Malcom Gladwell, and introduced Richard Avedon as the first staff photographer. With The Daily Beast, Brown has managed to seamlessly and successfully enter the realm of new media by targeting a “curious, upscale and global audience who love politics, news and the media world."

Photo (cc) by Flickr user cliff1066

16. Amy Goodman

Years in the business: 35

Hometown: Bay Shore, New York

Current position: Creator and host, Democracy Now!

Past experience: Broadcast journalist and news director, Pacifica Radio, WBAI

There are few journalists as well known for their relentless yet unbiased reporting as Goodman. In 1996, Goodman launched Pacifica Radio’s Democracy Now!, which in its time on the air has become one of the most important and respected progressive news sources. In 2008, Goodman and several of the show's producers were arrested at the Republican National Convention while reporting on anti-war protesters in the streets. Goodman has also authored several books and is the only journalist have received the Right Livelihood Award, an honor commonly compared to the Nobel Peace Prize, for “developing an innovative model of truly independent grassroots political journalism.”

Photo (cc) by Flickr user ChrisEaves.com

17. Gloria Steinem

Years in the business: 50

Hometown: Toledo, Ohio

Current position: Co-founder, member of advisory board, and former editor, Ms. Magazine

Past experience: Co-founder, columnist New York Magazine

Gloria started out her career as a freelance writer, grabbing attention with a 1963 piece describing the treatment of women employed at New York’s Playboy bunny clubs, which was later turned into a film. The assignment, for which Steinem worked at one of the famous clubs, temporarily tarnished her credibility. However, in 1968, she began writing for New York Magazine and four years later created Ms. Magazine, which was originally intended only as a special edition of New York, but quickly rose in popularity and circulation after the first issue. She has contributed to numerous publications and magazines throughout her long career of political activism, and still remains a seminal voice for women today.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Ping News

The 10 Best Books on ALA's Banned or Challenged Books List

Patrick James — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 05:00:00 PDT

Saturday, September 25, is the first day of Banned Books Week, a national celebration of our freedom to read; it was launched in 1982 in response to what organizers describe as "a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries." In anticipation of Banned Books Week, GOOD scrolled through the American Library Association's list of the 100 most frequently banned or challenged books from 2000 to 2009 and selected our 10 favorite entries.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user pcorriea

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

You might think that banning a book about the burning of books reflects especially poorly on those who propose doing so. You are correct.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The beloved story of coming of age in the Jim Crow South pits the innocence of youth against the injustice of institutionalized racism. It possesses a clear sense of morality, but its use of racial epithets has made it a target of parental outrage for decades.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Seemingly Utopian futures tend to disappoint. In the case of The Giver, a society purports to have eliminated all pain and memories of it, but one boy is tasked with carrying knowledge of all the world's pain, suffering, and love on his shoulders. A fun fact is that this probably inspired the Weezer song My Name Is Jonas, but even that won't stop parents from calling for its removal from school reading lists.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

More dystopia! Successfully banned in Ireland and the United States, the book imagines a terrifying view of the future where hedonism and passivity are commonplace. Whereas 1984 worried that the people of the future would be denied freedom to think for themselves because of the threat of pain, Brave New World fears that people will willingly surrender freedom through apathy and the pursuit of pleasure.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Profanity. Check. Sex. Check. Aliens. Check. Multiple dimensions. Check. Heartbreaking, inventive critique of war in modern life? Check, check, check. Amusingly, references to religion gave detractors an opportunity to ban it using an interpretation of the Establishment Clause, which, you have to admit, is kind of clever.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

So long as Holden Caulfield has been venturing into the city and besmirching adults as phonies, he has been the subject of book bans.

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Nobel Prize winners are not immune to having a book banned or challenged, even when said book offers one of the most enduring and creative portraits of racial identity in the 20th century.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

That a writer could think so highly of children as to craft a story that prominently features a folding of the fabric of space and time is a beautiful thing. And few stories offer as compelling a response to childhood experiences of isolation as this one. Sadly, a few people find it blasphemous.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

Who is really crazy: the mental patient, or the parents who thought this treasure was unfit for their children to read?

Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle

You probably remember Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar for its top notch artwork and tender story. This time around, Carle's story of an artist as a creator, which includes a somewhat abstractly drawn nude couple in a setting like the Garden of Eden, got parents predictably perturbed.

No, Thanks: Six High Profile Award Renunciations

Patrick James — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:30:00 PDT

A look at honorees of major awards who said, "No, thanks."

When Fareed Zakaria announced he would return his ADL-awarded Hubert H. Humphrey First Amendment Freedoms Prize and the $10,000 honorarium it came with, he was taking a stand against what he saw as an unconscionable conflict. How could he keep an award celebrating "first amendment freedoms" if it came from a group that was impeding religious freedom. It was bold move, but Zakaria is not the first person to turn down a highly coveted honor. This is a look at six people who have received high-profile awards, from Nobel Prizes to Oscars, and said, "No, thanks."

In 1970, George C. Scott refused to accept the Best Actor Academy Award for his performance in Patton, an iconic film treatment of World War II General George S. Patton. He had refused nominations in the past because he despised the competitive process that pitted actors against one another, and called the ceremony a "meat market."

Photo (cc) via Flickr user cliff1066

Seeing as his then most recent work, Les Mots (The Words), could be read as a farewell to (if not a renunciation of) literature, it is rather unsurprising that Jean-Paul Sartre rejected the Nobel Prize in 1964. He expressed that he was fearful of being "institutionalised" and that he always refused "official distinctions." True to form, he had declined other literary honors over the years, and he remains the only Nobel Laureate to decline the literature award.

Photo via Wikipedia Commons

William Saroyan, an Armenian-American playwright, rejected a Pulitzer Award in 1939 for his play The Time of Your Life, a drama set in a San Francisco dive bar. Like George C. Scott, he stood in opposition to the idea of artistic competition, and believed that commercial institutions should not judge the arts.

Photo via Wikipedia Commons

Grigori Perelman refused to accept the Fields Medal and Science's Breakthrough of the Year award in 2006, as well as a $1,000,000 Millennium Prize Problem award (in 2010) for solving the Poincare conjecture. Perelman believed his contribution to proving the conjecture failed to add upon American mathematician Richard Hamilton's earlier attempt at a solution.

Marlon Brando refused the Oscar for best performance in The Godfather in 1973. He had Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather represent him at the ceremony. She declined the award for him, citing poor treatment of Native Americans across the film industry. This happened in the wake of the conflict at Wounded Knee, where members of the American Indian Movement occupied the town and faced off against U.S. military and FBI officers.

See a video of Littlefeather rejecting the award here.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons

The Vietnamese revolutionary and diplomat Le Duc Tho was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1973 alongside Henry Kissinger for their roles in ending the Vietnam war; the duo held a series of secret talks from 1970 to 1973 that led to cease-fire agreements at the Paris Peace Accords. Tho declined, as he felt no real peace had been achieved in his homeland. Kissinger, on the other hand, accepted.

Photo via Hon Viet

Six EVs You Can Actually Buy in the Next Few Years

Sasha Jones — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 13:30:00 PDT

A list of six electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that you can actually buy in the next year or two.

Over the past few years, the media hype for electric vehicles has built to a fever pitch. These sleek, highly conceptual cars, we are told, will forever change the way we drive. But how many of these cars become more than just a flashy 3-D rendering? Between auto dealers rushing to compete in the new market and media enthusiasm for the subject, there is a lot of buzz to sort through.

Nissan Leaf
Expected release date: December 2010 with refundable $99 reservation; increased availability begins in the spring of 2011, with full market roll-out by 2012
Price estimate: $25,280 (after $7,500 tax saving)
Projected range: 100 miles
Charge time: 30 minutes with quick charger, eight hours with 200V outlet
Classification: Five-door hatchback (seats five)
Power: 120 hp
Top speed: 90 mph
Additional notes: Availability in all markets is not guaranteed at this time.

Chevrolet Volt
Expected release date: late fall 2010 in Washington, D.C., New York City, California, and Austin; early 2011 in Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, all of Texas, all of New York; late 2011 to mid 2012 nationwide
Price estimate: TBD (speculation between $30,000 to $40,000)
Projected range: 40 miles (on electric charge alone)
Charge time: Three hours with 240V outlet, eight hours in a standard household outlet
Classification: Five-door hatchback (seats four)
Power: 150 hp
Top speed: 100 mph
Additional notes: Technically not an EV, it has plug-in capability.

Tesla Model S
Expected release date: early 2012 with a $5,000 reservation fee
Price estimate: $49,900 (after $7,500 tax saving)
Projected range: 300 miles
Charge time: 45-minute quick charge, five-minute battery swap, standard charging between three and five hours
Classification: Five-door hatchback (seats five adults and two children)
Power: TBD
Top speed: 120 mph

CODA
Expected release date: late 2010 in California
Price estimate: $32,500 (after $7,500 tax saving, unofficially)
Projected range: 90 to 120 miles
Charge time: Six hours with 220V
Classification: Four-door sedan (seats four)
Power: 134 hp
Top speed: 80 mph
Additional notes: There is an open wait-list on the Coda site.

Fisker Karma
Expected release date: February 2011
Price estimate: $87,900
Projected range: 50 miles (electric only)
Charge time: TBD
Classification: Four-door sedan (seats four)
Power: Combined 403 hp (electric motors), 265 hp (2.0L turbocharged engine)
Top speed: 125 mph
Additional notes: Plug-in hybrid

Aptera 2e
Expected release date: TBD (estimated 2011), reservations for $500 available in California only
Price estimate: $25,000 to $40,000
Projected range: 100 miles
Charge time: 11 hours (level one charge); six hours (level two charge)
Classification: Two-seating, three-wheeler
Power: 110 hp
Top speed: 90 mph

The Seven Deadliest Volcanoes Since 1500

Patrick James — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:30:00 PDT

Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano had been from dormant for nearly two centuries until late March 2010, when, as The New York Times puts it, "fire fountains jetted from a dozen vents on the volcano, reaching as high as 100 meters." Weeks later, after it had returned to a brief period of inactivity, the mountain unleashed a massive blast of volcanic ash into the sky. Today, we're fortunate to count the losses associated with the eruption in dollars (and euros) rather than in human lives. Throughout history, however, some volcanoes have been much more deadly. Here's a look at the volcanoes that have claimed the most lives since A.D. 1500.

7. Laki, Iceland, June 8, 1783
Number killed: 9,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Four
Eyjafjallajokull has nothing on Iceland’s most devastating eruption, which produced sulfuric gas that wafted over Europe and the Northern Hemisphere, causing extreme winters that would go on to kill a fifth of Iceland’s population.

6. Kelut, Indonesia, 1586
Number killed: 10,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Four
In spite of its relatively small size (pdf), the volatile Kelud volcano took 10,000 lives in 1586, when the volcano's crater lake released piping streams of lahar, a deadly combination of volcanic material and water.

5. Unzen, Japan, 1792
Number killed: 14,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Three
Unzen's real damage didn't occur until a month later, when landslides from neighboring Mount Mayuyama flooded Shimabara City and flowed into the sea, generating a tsunami that killed 14,000 people.

4. Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia, November 13, 1985
Number killed: 25,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Three
The only recent eruption on the list, the Columbian volcano known as “the sleeping giant” erupted just hours after an evacuation was ordered, and fatally abandoned once the volcano seemed to have settled.

3. Mont Pelée, Martinique, May 8, 1902
Number killed: 30,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Four
St. Pierre, the site of last century’s most deadly eruption, was known as the "Paris of the West Indies" around the turn of the century. In spite of signs presaging the worst, city officials urged the public to stay put in order to cast ballots in what would be an ill-fated May 11 election.

2. Krakatau, Indonesia, August 26, 1883
Number killed: 36,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Six
Plumes of black ash were emitted from Krakatau months before it erupted with two days of explosions, which culminated in a final catastrophic blast that was 26 times as powerful as the biggest H-bomb test.

1. Tambora, Indonesia, April 10, 1815
Number killed: 92,000
Volcanic Explosivity Index: Seven
The largest volcanic eruption in recorded history killed 92,000 people, but the damage didn’t end there. The 200 million tons of dust and sulphur dioxide gas the eruption released into the stratosphere limited incident sunlight and cooled the globe’s climate, causing what would be known as "the year without a summer."

Source: United States Geological Survey

Five Innovative Urban Gardening Programs in Los Angeles

Mia Lehrer — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:00:00 PDT

For the first time in the history of the United States, children have lower life expectancies than their parents.

This is bad news. Here is some good news: “Let’s Hear It for Urban Agriculture,” “Mayor’s Agriculture Plan Soon to Bear Fruit,” and “Planners Recommend New Zoning, Lower Tax for Urban Farms.” These are just a few of the headlines that pop up from a Google search for current news on urban agriculture.

The idea is not new, but it’s being resurrected in cities throughout the country (and, for that matter, the world), in part because it’s one way of fighting childhood obesity, which, along with diabetes, is a serious health concern for children of all ages. The number of urban gardens in the United States has grown dramatically in such cities as Los Angeles, Detroit, Milwaukee, and San Francisco, where local governments and residents agree that these gardens are an important way to give children and residents access to healthy food like locally grown fresh produce. Below is a list of innovative programs and initiatives emerging in the Los Angeles area.

Urban Farming Food Chain Project
A partnership between Green Living Technologies and Emslie Osler Architects, this organization constructs “edible” food-producing wall panels and mounts them on buildings. The people who tend these vertical gardens use them for their own purposes (meaning produce is not sold commercially), but they currently have four locations in and around downtown Los Angeles.

Silver Lake Farms
Launched in 2004, Silver Lake Farms just began a Community Supported Agriculture program offering subscribers a weekly box of fresh produce, grown locally in Silver Lake. They also hold workshops on how to start your own vegetable garden, and sponsor a volunteer program that connects urban residents with local farms, community gardens, and homesteads to help out with some of the work.

Market Makeovers
Responding to poor access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their communities, South Los Angeles’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities initiative and Public Matters have teamed up to engage young people and convert corner stores into sources of healthy foods via an online toolkit.

Urban Homestead, Pasadena
An advocacy group for self-sufficient city living via farming and homesteading, this family-owned operation was started in the mid-1980s on a one tenth of an acre backyard plot. Most of the produce is sold to local restaurants and caterers.

Urban Farming Advocates
Formed in June 2009, Urban Farming Advocates is a group of individuals, small business owners, and organizations seeking to legalize urban farming in the City of Los Angeles. Their goal is to revise outdated ordinances that restrict people's freedom to use residential land for urban agriculture.

What sort of urban farming initiatives are going on in your community?

The 15 Most Fuel-efficient Cars for 2010

Patrick James — Mon, 1 Mar 2010 16:00:42 PST

We're generally of the mindset that our transportation future will include many varieties of vehicles working en masse-from bikes to buses to high-speed rails and even our own two feet-to get us from here to there. In the mean time, many of us still find ourselves in need of automobiles, and some of us need new automobiles. With that in mind, we present this list of the 15 most fuel-efficient cars, ranked by city miles per gallon, that you can actually buy this year.

15. The Hyundai Elantra Blue (manual)
Miles per gallon: 26 city, 35 highway
Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price: $14,145

14. Mini Cooper (manual)
MPG: 28 city, 37 highway
MSRP: $19,500

13. Toyota Yaris (manual)
MPG: 29 city, 36 highway
MSRP: $12,905

12. Volkswagen Jetta TDI (manual)
MPG: 30 city, 41 highway
MSRP: $22,830

12. Volkswagen Golf TDI (manual)
MPG: 30 city, 41 highway
MSRP: $22,354 for Golf

10. Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen TDI (automatic)
MPG: 30 city, 42 highway
MSRP: $24,615

10. Audi A3 (automatic)
MPG: 30 city, 42 highway
MSRP: $27,270

8. Smart For-Two Coupe or Convertible (both automatic)
MPG: 33 city, 41 highway
MSRP: $11,990

7. Ford Escape (and Mazda Tribute) Hybrid (both automatic, and both SUVs!)
MPG: 34 city, 31 highway
MSRP: $29,175

6. Nissan Altima Hybrid (automatic)
MPG: 35 city, 34 highway
MSRP: $26,650

5. 2010 Lexus HS 250h (automatic)
MPG: 35 city, 34 highway
MSRP: $34,650

4. Honda Insight Hybrid (automatic)
MPG: 40 city, 43 highway
MSRP: $19,800

3. Honda Civic Hybrid (automatic)
MPG: 40 city, 45 highway
MSRP: $23,800

2. Ford Fusion (and Mercury Milan) Hybrid (automatic)
MPG: 41 city, 36 highway
MSRP: $27,950

1. Toyota Prius (automatic)
MPG: 51 city, 48 highway
MSRP: $22,800

There you have it. I'll go out on a limb and say you can probably haggle your way into a decent deal on a Toyota in the next few months. Also, if you're interested, you can calculate gallons per mile here (we recommend gallons per 10,000 miles).

The 10 Best Talks from TED 2010

Patrick James — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:00:34 PST

Every year, the technology, entertainment, and design worlds' most inspired movers and shakers convene in Long Beach, California, for a week of forward thinking revelry. TED 2010, which ran from February 9 to 13, and which a few GOOD team members attended, was no exception. After taking some time to reflect on the event, we've compiled our 10 favorite talks from TED 2010.

1. Mark Roth, biochemist and cell biologist, on suspended animation

In maybe the most jaw-dropping talk of the entire event, Roth explained "reversible metabolic hibernation," wherein we could put animals into states of suspended animation-and bring them back, safely.

2. Sam Harris, neuroscientist and philosopher, on fact-based morality

Harris argues that questioning religious faith might be the only way to save the human race; his Reason Project attempts to erode "the influence of dogmatism, superstition, and bigotry in our world."

3. Dan Barber, chef, on food

Barber's work to transform the way we interact with food, and to tell the stories of why we eat what we do, has made him an indelible force in the world of eating.

4. Christopher Poole, founder of 4Chan, on anonymity and censorship

Poole, also known as "moot," has built what's arguably the most bizarrely influential community on the internet.

5. Jane McGonigal, game designer, on how reality ought to be more like video games

The idea that video games could improve the world might seem far fetched, but McGonigal wants to make that a reality.

6. Seth Berkeley, vaccine researcher, on HIV vaccination

As Berkeley races to find a vaccine for HIV, he wants to ensure that meds make their way to the places they're needed most: throughout the developing world.

7. Nathan Myhrvold, polymath, on shooting mosquitoes out of the sky with lasers

The former Microsoft employee has been a barbecue champion, a wildlife photographer, a chef, a contributor to SETI, and a volcano explorer, and now he's invented a mosquito death ray, which could be the x-factor in the effort to solve the global malaria crisis.

8. William Li, cancer researcher, on how what we eat can save us from cancer

Could your diet keep you from getting cancer hard? Li shows just how how easy to swallow that idea might be; here's his list of antiangiogenic foods.

9. Nicholas Christakis, physician and sociologist, on how social networks affect our health and happiness

We previously profiled his research partner, James Fowler, and we're still endlessly fascinated by the way that social networks can determine whether we smoke-and how healthy or happy we'll be.

10. Cheryl Hayashi, spider silk scientist, on the tremendous strength of spider silk

Hayashi sees in spider silk the potential to supplant armor and protect soldiers on the battle field-this is biomimicry at its best.

Note: Videos of the talks are on a delayed roll-out; you can view the recently released talks here.

The 10 Largest Earthquakes of the Last Century

Patrick James — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:30:56 PST

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the nation of Haiti on January 12, 2010 has begotten widespread devastation and unfathomable ruin, killing hundreds of thousands of people and leaving an estimated 1 million with nowhere to live. It may shock you to know that at 7.0, that quake doesn't make the list of the 10 largest of the past century; this is especially unsettling when one considers that each whole number increase in magnitude means a release of about 31 times more energy from the earth. Here's a look at the most powerful earthquakes, ranked by their registers on the Richter Scale, felt around the world since 1900.

10. Southern Sumatra, Indonesia, September 12, 2007: 8.5

Number killed: at least 25

Number injured: 161

Cost of damages: Unknown

Only a day after the dust settled, another 7.9 magnitude earthquake followed, collapsing buildings and killing five people.

9. Andreanof Islands Alaska, March 9, 1957: 8.6

Number killed: 0

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: $5 million

The only reported casualties were sheep, but it did produce massive waves all along the coastline of North, Central, and South America.

8. Assam, Tibet, August 15, 1950: 8.6

Number killed: 780

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: more than $25 million

Forty to 50 percent of all wildlife in the area nearest the quake died; the quake produced an violent aftershock a few days later that many journalists mistakenly believed to not only be greater than the original (it wasn't), but also the largest of all time (nor was it that).

7. Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, March 28, 2005: 8.7

Number killed: at least 1,000

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: Unknown

Two months earlier National Geographic predicted that Sumatra would experience more earthquakes (following the larger one on December 26, 2004). The island sits on a part of the ocean where large chunks of Earth's crust often collide; Sumatra's fault also spans the entire length of the island, which is a bit of a double whammy.

6. Rat Islands, Alaska, February 4, 1965: 8.7

Number killed: Unknown

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: $10,000

Positioned on the Aleutian arc on the boundary between the Pacific and North American crustal plates, the Rat Islands occupy one of the world's most active seismic zones; with more than 100 7.0 or larger magnitude earthquakes having occurred there in the past 100 years.

5. Off the coast of Ecuador, January 31, 1906: 8.8

Number killed: 500 to 1,500

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: Unknown

An especially violent year for earthquakes, 1906 also saw massive tremors in San Francisco and in Valparaiso, Chile.

4. Kamchatka, Russia, November 5, 1952: 9.0

Number killed: Unknown

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: $800,000 to $1 million

This earthquake unleashed a tsunami that was "powerful enough to throw a cement barge in the Honolulu Harbor into a freighter," but it wasn't widely reported in the West because it happened during the Cold War.

3. The west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, December 26, 2004: 9.1

Number killed: 157,577

Number displaced: 1,075,350

Cost of damages: Unknown

The tsunami that followed caused more casualties than any in recorded history.

2. Prince William Sound, Alaska. March 28, 1964: 9.2

Number killed: 128

Number displaced: Unknown

Cost of damages: $311 million

Because it occurred on Good Friday, it earned the somewhat dubious (if logical) title of the "Good Friday Earthquake."

1. Valdivia, Chile, May 22, 1960: 9.5

Number killed: 1,655

Number displaced: 2 million

Cost of damages: $550 million

The world's largest earthquake produced landslides so massive that they changed the courses of rivers and lakes. It begot a tsunami that battered the northern coastline of California, some 9,000 miles away; waves also hit Hawaii, the Philippines, and Japan where hundreds died.

Source: United States Geological Survey. Thanks, Alicia.

Our 10 Favorite Innovations for Reducing Plastic Consumer Waste

Patrick James — Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:00:29 PST

The practice of individually packaging consumer products may not have originated in the 20th Century, but that's certainly when it was perfected; our landfills are stacked with unconscionable mounds of plastic waste as a reminder. Fortunately, there are those among us working to buck the trend and put a dent in our masses of trash.

What follows is a round-up of our favorite innovations for reducing plastic consumer waste-some you've heard of, some you haven't, but all of which could help this century be remembered as the time we learned to scale-back.

1. Tax plastic bags:

Although this program is generally accompanied by gripes, moans, and outcries of socialism, it's undeniably effective. As you've seen in our ongoing coverage of the a controversial but effective implementation in Washington, D.C., a mere 5-cent fee for plastic bags has reduced bag consumption by 50 percent and looks to generate $3.5 million for the District. You can find similar efforts everywhere from Ireland to California (pdf).

2. Ban the bags outright:

From the city of San Francisco to the entire nation of China, bans on thin, single-use, store-provided plastic bags have been immensely successful. In the case of the latter, through June of last year, the use of 40 billion bags has been avoided, saving China 1.6 million tons of petroleum (per the NRDC).

3. Ban other plastics, like bottles:

GOOD 100 winner Bundanoon, Australia, was the first city anywhere to ban single-use plastic water bottles. As we wrote in GOOD 017, "Bundy's ban won't destroy the entire bottled-water industry, but it will reduce plastic trash, mobilize the city to develop its public-water resources, and-perhaps most important-spark communities around the world to follow suit."

4. Sell products without packaging:

At London's Unpackaged grocery store, food is sold without packaging. No ban or tax needed, the market, quite literally, changes behavior.

5. Try take-out, without:

Take-out Without is an online campaign to get people to use their own plates or Tupperware when they order take-out and to inspire restaurants to accommodate the behavior. Like Unpackaged, the idea is simple and spot-on. That it's an opt-in campaign (as opposed to a government mandate) should help with the live-free-or-die crowd.

6. Wastefree lunches:

The Wastefree Lunches site reminds us that an average child's lunches will produce "67 pounds of waste per school year. That equates to 18,760 pounds of lunch waste for just one average-size elementary school," and offers simple solutions to cut back.

7. Use packaging that can be used again:

For its new Voodoo line of Laptops, HP hopes its sturdy, beautifully designed packaging will inspire consumers to save the boxes and use them again.

8. Turn existing plastic waste into something useful, like art:

There are shining examples of artists using reclaimed materials all over the world, and the abundance of plastic waste makes this a no-brainer. With examples form Chris Jordan to Dianna Cohen to students at Carnegie Melon, there might be a movement afoot.

9. Or turn it into something practical, like fuel:

Pennsylvania State University professor James Garthe developed a prototype machine to convert waste into Plastofuel-dense, plastic nuggets intended eventually for co-firing with coal at a power plant. According to Garthe, "the burner takes the granulated plastic, sized in diameter between 2 and 10 millimeters, from a solid to a liquid to a gas immediately in the combustion chamber…the gas is actually producing the heat we need to transfer into the boiler system." See also, Environ's Oil Generator.

10. Or turn plastic waste into a road:

The architecture graduate student Henry Miller has found a way to transform plastic waste into concrete. Meanwhile, in India, Ahmed Khan's company, K.K. Plastic Waste Management "is trying to solve two of the biggest problems in India: battered roads and overflowing landfills. His solution: streets made with recycled plastic."

Thanks, Alicia!

The 15 Books You Must Read in 2010

Patrick James — Mon, 1 Feb 2010 09:00:24 PST

We get a lot of emails, letters, and comments from community members asking us which books we're reading. So we polled members of the GOOD team and compiled our suggestions here. Consider it-as well as anything by J.D. Salinger, Howard Zinn, or David Foster Wallace (including Wallace's unfinished The Pale King)-your 2010 reading list.

1. The Savage Detectives (F)

Author: Roberto Bolaño

Suggested by: Andrew Price, Senior Web Editor

Why read? Bolaño's wit and sexual energy flies off the page as the novel's journeymen romp through Mexico City, Barcelona, Israel, Liberia, and a desert in Northern Mexico. If you finish it in the next few months, you will be ready for its companion 2666, whose English translation is coming this year available now.

2. Anna Karenina (F)

Author: Leo Tolstoy

Suggested by: Siobhan O'Connor, Features Editor

Why read? Because you've been hearing train-related questions on Jeopardy for years, and it's finally time you got in on those jokes. It doesn't hurt that Tolstoy is an undeniable master of the written word.

3. Fast Food Nation (NF)

Author: Eric Schlosser

Suggested by: Siobhan O'Connor, Features Editor

Why read? All your friends have read it. And while you think you get the gist of its message, an overview is no substitute for a real experience-especially when we're talking about what we put into our bodies. Consider pairing with The Omnivore's Dilemma and a viewing of Food, Inc. to ensure you never look at lunch the same again.

4. Open: An Autobiography (NF)

Author: Andre Agassi

Suggested by: Ben Goldhirsh, Founder

Why read? Most media conversations regarding Agassi's memoir reduced the book two talking points: his drug use and his wig. Hot topics, sure. But they're really just footnotes in an brutally honest, thoroughly inspirational story of human endurance.

5. The Stranger (F)

Author: Albert Camus

Suggested by: Sebastian Buck, Strategy

Why read? Because it has one of the best opening lines in the history of the printed word-depending on your translation: "Mother died today. Or maybe yesterday, I don't know." And what follows is utter brilliance.

6. Point Omega: A Novel (F)

Author: Don DeLillo

Suggested by: Zach Frechette, Editor in Chief

Why read? That it's a DeLillo book set in the middle of a desert "somewhere south of nowhere," where a war adviser has gone "in search of time and space," should be compelling enough. That it's a slim 160 pages makes it rather brisk for a meditation on death. Consider pairing Point Omega with his more hefty Underworld and you've got yourself some time for pondering the subject.

7. Going Rouge: An American Nightmare (NF)

Authors: Richard Kim and Betsy Reed

Suggested by: Eric Small, VP of Product Technology

Why read? Sarah Palin wears a lot of different hats-church-goer, hockey mom, sex symbol, media-hating politician, member of the media-and Kim and Reed explore them all. Consider pairing this exploration of American obsession with Palin's own memoir for a fun game of conflicting histories.

8. Freedom (F)

Author: Jonathan Franzen

Suggested by: Patrick James, Associate Editor

Why read? The 9,000-word Freedom excerpt "Good Neighbors" that appeared in The New Yorker's June, 2009 Fiction Issue was vintage Franzen, pitting hapless middle class families against each other during two decades of gentrification in a St. Paul neighborhood. And a hilarious, teeth-baring, full-length follow-up to The Corrections is long, long overdue. (Though we'll have to wait until fall for this one.)

9. This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession (NF)

Author: Daniel J. Levitin

Suggested by: Tali Catz, Print Distribution Coordinator

Why read? For most of us, attempting to explain why, precisely, a certain song resonates so deeply would be an exercise in futility; it's ineffable, we might say. For Daniel Levitin, there are scientific explanations behind the rhythms, keys, and time signatures that move us, and he's willing to fill you in on them.

10. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (NF)

Author: Mary Roach

Suggested by: Tali Catz, Print Distribution Coordinator

Why read? Roach, a Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, has gone to great lengths to turn dead bodies into a hilarious-and thought-provoking-subject. It's probably the most informative take on a macabre topic of the past decade.

11. Strength In What Remains (NF)

Author: Tracy Kidder

Suggested by: Amanda Millner-Fairbanks, Education Editor

Why read? Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains is an undeniable modern classic. In Strength, the author follows Deogratias, a young medical student from the central African nation of Burundi forced to flee his home during a time of ethnic violence. The improbable journey takes the young man to New York City and back to Burundi, where he attempts to build a medical clinic. "Above all," Kidder says, "this is a book about coming to terms with memories."

12. Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives (NF)

Authors: Nicholas A. Christakis and James H. Fowler

Suggested by: Hillary Newman, Community Manager

Why read? Obesity, smoking, and happiness, Christakis and Fowler find, are all socially transmitted behaviors. That means that what you do can be determined by the people you know-as what they do is contagious. (For more, read Andrew Price's interview with Fowler.)

13. PayPal Wars (NF)

Author: Eric M. Jackson

Suggested by: Craig Shapiro, President

Why read? In a little over a decade, PayPal has become a ubiquitous service, but its birth and short life have not been without its fair share of growing pains. Industry insider Jackson recounts the turbulent history with wit, energy, and plenty of dirt.

14. Rework (NF)

Authors: David Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson

Suggested by: Craig Shapiro, President

Why read? Mark Cuban, the billionaire co-founder of HDNet and Broadcast.com and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, puts it best: "If given a choice between investing in someone who has read Rework or has an MBA, I'm investing in Rework every time. This is a must read for every entrepreneur." The book outlines the business principles behind the successful web application company and blog 37signals, and does it with grit.

15. Wisdom Book (NF)

Author: Andrew Zuckerman

Suggested by: Atley Kasky, Designer

Why read? Inspired by the idea that wisdom gained from life experience is the best gift one generation can pass down to the next, and assembled with the help of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Wisdom is a collection of stunning photography and riveting interviews with such luminaries as Clint Eastwood, Buzz Aldrin, Jane Goodall, Nelson Mandela, Yoko Ono, Madeleine Albright, Frank Gehry, and many, many more. Each copy comes with a 60-minute film.

For a few slightly more literate suggestions, consider looking at Flavorwire and HTMLGiant's reading lists.