Media Notice

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Lisa Proctor/Utne Marketing Director
612-338-5040, ext. 338/lproctor@utne.com

A DANGEROUS IDEA EXPLORED IN NEW UTNE - "TRANSITIONAL HUMAN BEINGS": HOW NEW MEDICAL AND SCIENTIFIC ADVANCES, TECHNOLOGIES AND DRUGS CAN SHAPE OUR FUTURE WHILE CASTING DEEP DIVISIONS; PLUS ONE FAMILY'S STORY OF BIG CITY FLIGHT AND A RURAL REBOUND IN A SMALL WISCONSIN TOWN

MINNEAPOLIS. -- "Transhumanism is the global warming of 10 years ago," says Jeremiah Creedon, Utne's senior editor, who worked on the magazine's May-June cover story, Humanity -- The Remix: Is building a better human the key to utopia -- or the world's most dangerous idea? "The ability to redesign our species is an issue we should all be talking about now," says Creedon,"and the politics of it are fascinating."

And in a stirring first-person account about getting away from city life, former Utne Contributing Editor, Joseph Hart, writes about why he packed it all in for a small town in Wisconsin in Just a Small Town Boy: A writer gives up the rat race and finds peace in the country. Hart confesses that a combination of factors, from city consumerism to the need for genuine privacy, drove him and his family for the rural life he once knew as a kid. Two years ago, Hart arrived from the Twin Cities in Viroqua, Wis., and today he relishes a number of enduring benefits, including "a social life -- the essence of community -- that simply materializes," rather the urban one that "gets penciled in." Hart's rural rebound is rebutted by Utne's own Laine Bergeson in Life in a Northern Town, who argues that "My little town had two acceptable hobbies: alcoholism and snowmobiling (the most popular residents combine the two).

In another media first, the current issue of Utne looks at a group of individuals who call themselves liberal transhumanists and why their ideology could dramatically alter politics in the 21st century. The magazine's cover story examines the benefits, for example, of giving eyesight to the blind and communication abilities to the paralyzed and mute (along with "improving" people without disabilities) through electrode implants and a wide assortment of other ways to boost human performance, lifestyles and entertainment through nanoscience, bioengineering, information technology and cognitive science. But Ford's story also looks at those who are wary or outright alarmed at the transhumanist trends that are, in the words of liberal writer Jeremy Rifkin, dividing people -- beyond the political left and right -- into two camps: "those who believe life has 'intrinsic' value and those who see it in purely utilitarian terms as reducible to material for manipulation."

As writer Ford notes, "Issues such as stem-cell research, abortion, cloning and the Schiavo case are all intimately connected to the cover story of the new Utne." Her story examines the intersection of a number of life-and-death beliefs.

In a related sidebar -- "Shiny Happy People: In our quest for self-perfection, have we gone too far?" -- Utne writer Anjula Razdan asks if our culture of self-improvement has become a tyranny, noting that in recent books, such as Peter C. Whybrow's American Mania: When More Is Not Enough, "the survivalist ethic that served us so well on the frontier is, in this era of abundance, making us sick."

Also in this issue:

• The Big Organic O: Got nature's Viagra? Laine Bergeson looks at stories that explore natural aphrodisiacs, such as ginkgo, ginseng, muira puama ("potency wood" from the Amazon) and other love medicinals.
• Draft Dodging: Although it's not been instituted yet, the draft is coming back, say those who are helping potential draftees around the country achieve Conscientious Objector status. (Engage in online discussion at caféutne.org).
• Toronto's Hot Magazine Scene: Associate Editor Leif Utne finds that Canada's cool city is also the home address for some of the hottest indie magazines in the world.
• Like, Surreal, Man . . . : Former Utne Editor Jon Spayde says that with all the images from cable, network, internet, hip-hop and other mass media, we are living inside a surrealistic world -- and that's all good. . . . and so much more . . .

About Utne

Utne is a national progressive lifestyle magazine with an audience of nearly 600,000, now celebrating more than 20 years of publication. Since 1984, Utne has been a leading voice for the alternative and independent press, bringing readers the other side of the story on issues ranging from the environment to the economy and from politics to pop culture. Utne provokes thought and inspires action by offering the best of the independent press as well as original writing, Read more at: www.utne.com

For more information, please contact Lisa Proctor at 612-338-5040, ext. 338, or online at lproctor@utne.com, or contact Martin Keller at Media Savant Communications Co., 612-729-8585/kelmart@aol.com