Issue 155
February 2009
Contents
Darwin the abolitionist
The theory of evolution is regarded as a triumph of disinterested scientific reason. Yet new research reveals that Darwin was driven by a great moral cause
Comment (8)Public service narrowcasting
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Multi-channel television and the internet are killing public service broadcasting as we have known it. Instead, let's use the subsidy to turn Britain's remarkable creative and artistic talents into public service "narrowcasters"
Obama's moral majority
President Obama has a unique opportunity to unite Americans behind him and redefine liberalism.
The king and I
28th February 2009 — Issue 155The last Shah of Iran was bundled out of power in 1979 by one of the shaping events of modern history. Yet an engaging new biography by a monarchist insider is blind to its deepest causes and consequences
Rise of the red Tories
The crisis is an opportunity to sweep away the rotten postwar settlement of British politics. Labour is moribund. But David Cameron has a chance to develop a "red Tory" communitarianism, socially conservative but sceptical of neoliberal economics
Israel's phantom people
28th February 2009 — Issue 155About 20 per cent of Israel's citizens are Arabs, and the violence in Gaza has further radicalised them. But the last thing they want is to become part of a Palestinian state
Anniversary blues in Iran
As Iran's Islamic Republic celebrates its 30th anniversary, its oil wealth is in decline and the confidence of the past decade looks increasingly brittle
Revolutionary roads
28th February 2009 — Issue 155What actually happened in 1979? And how does the Iranian revolution compare with 1789 and 1917?
The girls they left behind
28th February 2009 — Issue 155I am the British love child of an Iranian sailor. I thought I would never meet my father: but, after almost 40 years, I did
The crisis: a reason to join the euro?
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Is Britain running the risk of a sterling crisis by staying out of the euro? Or would it have been in an even bigger financial mess had it already joined?
A crisis of pathology
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Pathology is central to the fight against disease and used to be one of the most respected branches of medicine. But modern trends are making it harder to practise and since the Alder Hey scandal of missing baby organs it has been politically unpopular
Four legs good, two legs bad
Mark Rowlands's book on what it meant to have a wolf as his constant companion is both a striking and a frustratingly limited work of philosophy
Clearing away dead Wood?
James Wood has been the king of the literary critics for almost a decade, and for good reason. But are the tides of opinion now turning against his realist proscriptions?
Israel's warring tribes
The greatest threat Israel faces is from within
J Street's moment
It may not seem like it, but America's Jews are growing tired of Israel's wars. And now they have a new lobby to voice their dissent
The Arab power game
George Mitchell's task of negotiating peace between Israel and the Palestinians will be complicated by the rivalry of key Arab players
Kabila's big gamble
Laurent Nkunda may have been captured. But will Congo and its neighbours be able to trust each other enough to bring any lasting peace to the region?
In defence of Adam Smith
Phillip Blond may regret the birth of the liberalism, but that does not mean he can ignore it
The perils of economic vandalism
Phillip Blond's arguments may be eloquent, but heavy-handed government meddling is not the answer. Breaking up Tesco would make the recession worse than it's already going to be
Frightening little communities
"Red Toryism" may claim to be progressive, but instead harks back to a time of fear, destitution and powerlessness. Rousseau would certainly have disapproved
The lesson of 1932
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Banks are lending to other financial corporations but not to business. The Bank of England must buy bonds
The Obama peace deal
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Israelis and Palestinians are at war with themselves, as well as each other. This is Obama's cue
The meaning of Huntington
Samuel Huntington died a pariah among America's intellectual elite. It's because he was normal
Moving pains
Obama's people are finding it hard to take his "movement" with them to Washington
When we dead awaken
Has the first great novel of the 21st century just arrived from South America? Roberto Bolaño's last novel is something quite unexpected—a critically garlanded epic of conspicuous virtuosity that's funny, filthy, sometimes boring and obsessed with violent death
Relatively speaking
28th February 2009 — Issue 155It's all very well respecting other people's beliefs. But—as a fine new book on moral relativism and its origins demonstrates—there are times when it's vital to be able to tell someone else they're wrong
The risible wizard of Oz
Murdoch: a manic deal maker, shrewd user of debt and monomaniac newspaper enthusiast
Not to be sniffed at
28th February 2009 — Issue 155Pandemic influenza is the greatest public health threat our society faces. Yet we're barely aware of the history of the great pandemic of 1918—which is why this new account is especially timely
Widescreen
Film prizes are usually a bloated mess, and encourage vacuous criticism. Here's what we should really be celebrating from the last 12 months of film
Private view
The bursting of the contemporary art bubble has been a comedy of errors. But what will the market's collapse mean for museums and artists?
Performance notes
Broadcasting opera shows live into cinemas is transforming the reach of the world's great opera houses. But opera will always be best savoured live
Smallscreen
Dickens founded a tradition of ghostly Christmas stories that's still alive and well on our TV screens. Just don't let Jonathan Creek anywhere near it
Fungi
28th February 2009 — Issue 155After Tess died, Adam started to hate her family. Almost as much as he hated his own ability to cope
Crisis watch
How many other Bernie Madoffs are the dozy regulators yet to uncover? Plus, why the Labour party should bring back clause four—and avoid zombies
Washington watch
Obama's foreign policy and economics teams contain a lot of big beasts—expect clashes. And the Woodrow Wilson Centre emerges as Obama's favourite think tank
This sporting life
Can England's bid for the 2018 football World Cup succeed? Perhaps—if we tone down the triumphalism, draw on the richness of our culture and invite the world to our party
These islands
England's churches contain many topless female statues. We are uncomfortable with this today—so what made the nudity acceptable to worshippers in the past?
China café
My neighbour, who has just died, suffered in the cultural revolution. But no one ever tried to make amends. There's no truth and reconciliation commission in China
Previous convictions
I used to be sure that Islam needed a rational reformation. Yet history has shown me that innovation and freedom have come from faith as much as reason
Lab report
What can we expect from Obama's science team? Action on climate change and over-fishing, and perhaps a change in nuclear defence policy. Plus, when galaxies collide
Brussels diary
The Czechs may have botched the Russia-Ukraine energy crisis, but it will be the EU, not Russia, that wins in the long run. Plus, how a toilet sparked a diplomatic incident
Confessions
For a long time, I thought I was doing good as a debt counsellor. But I have to face facts: I was coaching people on how to wallow in the warm swamp of indebtednesss
