NEWSWEEK MEDIA LEAD SHEET/October 23 Issue (on newsstands Monday, October 16)

COVER: "Special Report: North Korea" (p. 28). While the size of North Korea's nuclear test last week was unimpressive -- at half a kiloton or less, it was little more than a nuclear popgun -- Pyongyang continues to be the world's No.

1 missile proliferator. And Kim Jong Il's long, shady history of secret kidnappings, amphibious commando missions, and other spooky operations make American intelligence officials as nervous as they've ever been about what Kim has -- and what he might do with it. An international team of correspondents, led by Senior Editor Michael Hirsh, Beijing Bureau Chief Melinda Liu and Hong Kong Bureau Chief George Wehrfritz, investigates how North Korea may have acquired its nuclear capabilities, why diplomacy failed to halt the program and what might still be done to avoid a conflict.

INTERVIEW: Newly elected U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon (p.

41). Ban tells Special Diplomatic Correspondent Lally Weymouth that he envisions a very active role for himself in helping to resolve the North Korea crisis. "I will try to coordinate with the concerned parties.

If necessary, I will take my own initiative which will include visiting North Korea and meeting with North Korean leaders."
FAREED ZAKARIA: "Let Them Eat Carrots" (p. 42).

Despite all the disagreement over who's to blame for the North Korean nuclear test, everyone agrees on what must follow: economic sanctions, writes Newsweek International Editor Fareed Zakaria. But does anyone really think that they will work? North Korea is already the most isolated country in the world.

The United States has imposed sanctions against the country since the 1950s, but they have not stopped the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. Nor have they loosened the regime's grip on power. The new round of sanctions will be more multilateral.

Still, they have the telltale feel of most sanctions, imposed mostly because military intervention is impossible, and yet one has to do something.
POLITICS: "Rolling With Pelosi" (p. 44).

San Francisco Chief Karen Breslau, Contributing Editor Eleanor Clift and Correspondent Daren Briscoe profile California Congresswoman and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, whose discipline -- at keeping Democrats united against the GOP, and especially in raising millions of dollars for her colleagues' campaigns -- has paved her way to power. And in an age when politicians can't seem to get enough camera time, Pelosi is a bit more selective. "Two thirds of the public have absolutely no idea who I am," Pelosi told Newsweek.

"I see that as a strength. This isn't about me. It's about Democrats.

" Pelosi's relative anonymity has made it difficult for Republican candidates, who have attempted, and so far failed, to make her into a scary national symbol of the left.
MILITARY: "Trouble at Home" (p. 48).

Correspondents Catharine Skipp and Dan Ephron profile Jodi and Capt. Brad Velotta, who, like many military couples affected by the Iraq war, are coping with strains on their marriage. Newsweek has kept in touch with the Velottas over several months, publishing their accounts of the war in Iraq and the hardships back home in stories.

Though their marriage is clearly strong, what emerges from conversations with both and email exchanges they shared with Newsweek is a painful picture of longing and bitterness; little misunderstandings and larger anxieties about the distance and about their future together.
THE BOOMER FILES: "Not Your Father's Retirement" (p. 52).

National Correspondent Daniel McGinn reports that baby boomers are sitting atop trillions in equity generated by swollen home values -- and the real estate industry stands ready to help them cash in. Some boomers will follow the traditional route, retiring to updated versions of "age-restricted" sun-belt communities. Others will stay in their current locations, trading down to smaller houses or outfitting their existing homes to accommodate their aging bodies.

Still others will migrate to neighborhoods specifically designed to cater to today's "active adult" households, where instead of shuffleboard courts or bowling alleys, there will be Pilates classes, home offices, high ceilings and marble countertops.
"It's Splitsville" (p. 58).

McGinn reports on a new species of homeowner-a group that some demographers are calling "splitters." New research has found that boomers are buying second homes at younger ages (47, on average) than their parents did and visiting them more frequently (18 times a year, according to the study). More important, they're finding ways to use their second homes for both work and play, which allows them to extend their stays.

Some of these dual homeowners are migrating so fluidly between houses that terms like "primary residence" and "vacation home" have given way to a movement toward separate-but-equal residences.
SCIENCE: "How to Read a Face" (p. 65).

Correspondent Anne Underwood reports on a new book from Daniel Goleman, best-selling author of "Emotional Intelligence" about how our brains are "wired to connect." The book, "Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships," explores the fledgling field of social neuroscience, which explores how social interactions work on a neuronal level.
BUSINESS: "The Gospel Music Man" (p.

66). Senior Writer Johnnie L. Roberts profiles Max Siegel, arguably the most important exec in gospel music.

In a shrinking music industry overall, Christian music sales have soared to $700 million last year from $381 million in 1995, with gospel the biggest slice. As president of Verity Records, Siegel has helped guide the genre through a dramatic transition from a traditional, church-based sound to spiritual messages with beats as funky and edgy as anything in the secular sphere. Siegel is also committed to exposing a hidden, unholy side of the religious- music business, which has long been deeply and tensely divided along racial lines.

MOVIES: "Being Bening" (p. 68). Senior Writer Sean Smith talks to Annette Bening about her potentially Oscar-worthy turn in the upcoming "Running With Scissors.

" For years now, the received wisdom in Hollywood has been that there are no great parts for women -- and that actresses over 40 might as well put R.I.P.

on their resumes. A woman older than 39 hasn't won the Oscar in that category for more than a decade. But this year, Bening, at 48, may find herself one of the youngest in the group.

MOVIES: "Inside the Hero Factory" (p. 70). Senior Editor David Ansen talks to Clint Eastwood about his upcoming film, "Flags of Our Fathers," about three of the men in the legendary Joe Rosenthal photograph of six soldiers hoisting the American flag on Iwo Jima.

Watching Eastwood's harrowing film, which raises pointed questions about how heroes, and wars, are packaged and sold, it's hard not to think his movie is a commentary on today.
BOOK EXCERPT: "The Perfect Thing" by Steven Levy (p. 72).

In Senior Editor Steven Levy's new book, he contemplates the ways that the iPod changed the world. Musical one upmanship is nothing new. But the portability of the iPod and the transparency that comes from exposing an iPod screen to an observer make the otherwise private device a potential broadcaster of taste.

.. Surfing someone's iPod is not merely a revelation of character but a means to a rich personal narrative, navigated by click wheel.

At one point the universal goal of the literate was to write the Great American Novel. Then the Great American Screenplay. And now, the Great American iTunes Library.

INTERVIEW: Steve Jobs, Apple CEO (Web exclusive). Levy talks to Jobs about the fifth anniversary of the iPod and why the popularity of the device will not detract from its coolness.
THE TIP SHEET: "Kickin' and Streaming" (p.

75). The Tip Sheet's Ramin Setoodeh looks at how you can get free, legal online access to your favorite television shows.