Issue 159
June 2009
Contents
The ghosts of Tiananmen
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Two decades after the student uprising was crushed, China's rulers have more to fear from the economic crisis than they do from democratic dissidents
Obama’s Iranian charm offensive
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Washington wants to start again with Tehran, but Iran is finding it hard to respond. The June presidential election could change this
Britain’s got talons
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Do our attitudes to television talent shows, celebrities and even animals betray an enduring national cruelty?
Comment (1)Are children getting dumber?
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
While Britain's annual exam standards row rages on, the most important question is ignored: what should our children learn?
China’s final frontier
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
The remote, rebellious western provinces of Tibet and Xinjiang are China's poorest, but they hold vast natural wealth. On a 3,000-mile trek I saw how far Beijing is bending the whole central Asian region to its will
Spare me the lecture
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
I was a student protestor in 1989, but China's youth has moved on
Tiananmen 20 years on: lessons from Russia
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Twenty years ago, China could have followed the path of the Soviet Union. Now the picture is very different: but China's leaders could still learn from Gorbachev
Obama in Cairo: dare more democracy
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Obama cannot afford to ignore Bush's tentative push for greater democracy in Eqypt
Franco-British Council Short Story Prize 1
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Last month saw the Prospect/Franco-British Council prize for a short story inspired by France. The top three entries in the undergraduate category are below
Franco-British Council Short Story Prize 2
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Last month saw the Prospect/Franco-British Council prize for a short story inspired by France. The top three entries in the secondary school category are below
The two faces of Isaiah Berlin
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
On the 100th anniversary of his birth, the second volume of the letters of one of the 20th century's great intellectuals makes strange reading: in turn troubling, exasperating, two-faced, self-absorbed - and laced with wit, provocation and soaring intellectual flights
Rafsanjani—on the threshold of opposition
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
One of Iran's most influential men now stands on the threshold of open opposition to its supreme leader
The battle for Tehran
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Despite a violent crackdown, Iran's youth continue to defy the regime, and their leader stand firm. But as the death toll rises, what hope is there of a resolution? And are the protesters even agreed on what they want?
The sword arm of Europe
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Forget Iraq or Afghanistan. British foreign policy must fix its own backyard first
A real British museum
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
A place to make the national story come alive is back on the agenda
Kourou, do we have a problem?
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
It's a nervous wait for a €5bn rocket to launch. But it's worse if you're inside mission HQ
Re-weaving the web
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
New government plans could stop us accessing the internet freely. We should beware
Current affairs
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
A new generation of powerful viral batteries could mean a breakthrough for electric cars
The global war for souls
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Religion is once again one of the most urgent fields of human experience. Now an important new book has startling things to tell us about its future
The death of do-nothing celebrity
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Everyone knows you can be famous just for being famous. But, with a new kind of reality show on the rise, is celebrity-land witnessing a flight towards authority?
One nation under tarmac
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Many Britons spend a twelfth of their lives driving, yet we barely examine the roads beneath our wheels. Now Joe Moran has told the story of a vast, unseen world
Dorset’s answer to Patti Smith
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Almost two decades after her ferocious debut, PJ Harvey is still redefining what it means to be a female rock star. She's even learned to play the piano
Robot visions
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
What does it mean to be human, and can a machine have a soul? In Genesis, a remarkable and entirely unexpected treatment of these ideas has arrived
Performance notes
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Schubert's greatest song cycle has been revamped with theatre, dance and action. But nothing beats one man and a piano
Private view
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
How "real" are photographs? As an important new show suggests, this may be a question best answered by tearing them up
Smallscreen
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Embarrassing Bodies saw Channel 4 at its skin-crawling best: taking an equal delight in shocking, entertaining and informing
Widescreen
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Beyond its brilliant visuals, the new Star Trek is a blockbuster with a brain—and a progressive political message to boot
Brussels diary
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Has the Czech presidency been the worst ever in the history of the European Union? Plus, the Russians take their revenge
Confessions
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
I am a trainspotter. I write down engine numbers in one book and then underline them in another. Could I be any more sad?
Crisis watch
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Too few top bankers have walked the plank. And why is monetarist Tim Congdon in favour of quantitative easing?
Lab report
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
The search for dark matter continues with mixed results. China unveils its new particle accelerator, but it's not for particle physics
Letter from Dublin
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Ireland is having a brutal recession. But why are Dublin's middle classes punishing themselves, not their government?
Matters of taste
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
Some food bloggers want a code of ethics. But the proposals would put most British newspaper food writers out of business
Political notes
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
We are in a populist, angry moment. But the real story is the failure of Labour's elite, now as discredited as the Tories before them
The prisoner
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
David was the dearest friend I had ever made in prison. Gradually, however, I realised that there was something truly wrong with him
Sporting life
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
On a cold May evening, Newcastle United rose to the occasion to beat Middlesbrough. But the team owes it all to their fans
The life & opinions of Julian Gough
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
I had hoped to bring about world peace as I promised last month, but this can't wait
Washington watch
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
The Dems are dreaming about permanent majorities. Meanwhile, the Republicans are letting Cheney do the talking for them
Editorial
4th June 2009 — Issue 159
The expenses scandal is a success story of modern British democracy