Life — October 1932 — page 7: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "Great Minds at Work" - October 1932 This satirical page presents quotes from prominent figures alongside cartoons mocking their commentary on the Great Depression. The page critiques political and intellectual leaders for offering simplistic or unhelpful responses to economic crisis. Featured figures include Calvin Coolidge (on taxation), George Jean Nathan (on speakeasies), Walter Lippmann (on the crisis itself), Bernarr Macfadden (on nutrition), Gene Tunney (on the Republican Party), and George Bernard Shaw (on capitalism). The cartoons visually ridicule these statements—showing figures like Coolidge as a lightbulb (suggesting dim ideas) and Macfadden with white flour and raspberries (mocking his nutritional claims). The overall message: these "great minds" offer platitudes disconnected from ordinary Americans' desperate economic suffering during the Depression.