Zoo Station

Yep, you read that right. It seems like the New York Times Sunday magazine will feature Bono on the cover, for a story titled The Statesman. I have no idea why the NYT is allowing us to access a weekend edition story this far in advance (U.N.Summit perhaps?), but since this is a blog named for a U2 song, I figured this might as well be the first place for you to read about it.

There's very little in there about Bono's day job with U2, but mostly focusses on his role as the most articulate spokesman in the world today for increasing well-directed, conditional aid to well-governed African countries. What is interesting is that Bono comes across as being more hard-headed than his mentor, Jeff Sachs. The other remarkable thing about him is his ability to reach across the aisle to politicians like Rick Santorum (whose support is crucial in lobbying Congress), an ability that has the potential to make him unpopular both with his fans as well as his band-members. And it's not like Bono does not know this; he simply sees his approach as a second-best solution, which is pretty astute for someone who wears his heart on his sleeve.

There's also far too much in this rather long story to excerpt out here, so just make sure you read it before it goes behind the subscription wall. I'll try and make it a permanent blog link once it actually goes live on the NYT site.