Issue 160
July 2009
Contents
Mandy in the middle
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Peter Mandelson is suddenly the most powerful man in the country. Why did he decide to save Gordon Brown? And was he really old Labour all along?
Freud in the slips
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Both test cricket and psychoanalysis are out of tune with a world that demands quick results. That's our loss, argues former England cricket captain Mike Brearley, now Britain's leading psychoanalyst
Digital license
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The BBC is the world's largest broadcaster, with a long list of sins. But now that its licence fee is being raided and its output attacked, we must defend this powerful, plural national institution
The unravelling of the EU
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Divided on foreign and defence policy, the EU seems to be slipping backwards. It must learn to speak in one voice, or others will shape the new world order
Down with people power
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Direct democracy is back in fashion, seen as a way of restoring trust in politics. But more referendums, and even votes to sack MPs, are a bad idea—just look at what has happened in California
Comment (3)In search of the Swedish soul
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
What most defines Sweden—its welfare state, Lutheranism, sex or Pippi Longstocking? Having lived there for 8 years, I've discovered it's much more complicated than we think
A moral renewal
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Punishing our bankers and politicians won't deter them from wrongdoing; they'll just find new ways of acting as they please. Instead, they must be rehabilitated
Mark Thompson on the future of the BBC
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Mark Thompson talks to Prospect about the licence fee, Britain, the future of broadcasting—and why he's not dumbing down.
Aiding and abetting
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo talks to Prospect about why development is simple, good governance comes second to financial stability, and the credit crunch may be good for Africans
Manchester remade
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Forget Edinburgh, Latitude or the Big Chill. Manchester's festival of culture ticks all the boxes—and you won't need a tent
Big Brother-in Law
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
A wildly popular reality TV show predicted—and may have influenced—the outcome of Argentina's elections. What now for the country's ruling elite?
Flaubert's flame
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
While writing a biography of a Victorian grande dame, I unearthed an unexpected - and previously unknown - trove of letters between her and Gustave Flaubert
How to survive a Homad
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Holidaying on Mum and Dad this year? If so, here are the essential rules of engagement
China's naval gazing
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Europe and America can no longer afford to ignore China's increasing influence in the Indian Ocean
Green shoots
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The aftermath of Iran's election may have been bloody, but it marks the start of a new era
Sexual politics
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Sex workers have persuaded MPs not to criminalise their clients. It's about time they had their say
How to cut £90bn a year
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The next government will have to slash spending and raise taxes. But what's the best way to save?
Cameron’s big moment
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The expenses row saw Cameron at his most Blair-like. He now has the party firmly under his spell
The people’s William
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Today's leaders could learn a lot about crisis management from Gladstone
Why don’t you Baidu it?
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
China's top search engine offers a glimpse of Google's limitations
Tall stories
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Comedy and brain damage both show that we could all be much more creative than we think
Don’t kill me
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Can we trust new weapons that are supposed to be non-lethal?
A dish best served boiling hot
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The great theme of cinema at the moment is vengeance. And our appetite for punishment seems to be getting more ferocious
Cursed by comfort
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The latest generation of American authors are hobbled by ease and self-congratulation
Cultural notebook
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Rock music is no longer the sole province of youth. But, as my favourite band knows, there's more than one way of growing old
A beautiful science
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Those sceptical about psychiatry will find a poor champion in Richard Bentall. The most enthralling of the medical sciences deserves a better critic
Performance notes
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Female characters in operas are even more likely to die than henchmen in a Bond film. So why is opera out to kill its women?
Fathoming financial failure
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Two impressive books on the financial crisis shed some light on its causes. Yet questions of blame and consequence are still being skirted
Britain’s woodland idol
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
I was inspired to write a series of books about Robin Hood by dreams of a noble rebel. But I discovered a far more savage and mysterious figure
Private view
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
A new exhibition shows artists staking their claim to a form that's been in amateur hands since the Renaissance: the parade
Only connect
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Danny Kruger reports from his company's work with ex-offenders
Remembering the lunar landing
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
On the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing we select three contemporary records
Smallscreen
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Although it had its moments, much of the BBC's poetry season was a lesson in why celebrities shouldn't "do" literature
If I ruled the world
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Cigarettes are designed to kill you painfully. How silly—they should be designed to kill you painlessly, preferably just as you retire
Political notes
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Some worry that parliamentary scandals will push talented people away from politics. But might the opposite be true?
Washington watch
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
Americans don't believe that Obama has quit smoking, but he's still more popular than the Pope or Tiger Woods. Except with the gays
Crisis watch
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
All the attention is on politicians' expenses—but there are still plenty of fat cats in the boardroom. Plus, lessons from A Doll's House
Brussels diary
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The thought of Cameron as prime minister has pro-Europeans spooked. Meanwhile the Czech ex-premier gets naked chez Berlusconi
Lab report
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
On a visit to Cern, I found optimism over the reopening of the Large Hadron Collider and a surprising alliance with novelist Dan Brown
Sporting life
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
The Tour de France is set to offer nailbiting suspense—and that's just over the drugs testing. Plus, how the English do Twenty20
China café
4th July 2009 — Issue 160
I was slaving away in the kitchen of our coffee shop when the county chief turned up for a surprise visit. But it went well, or so I thought