January - February 2019

January - February 2019 issue

A special double issue with new writing from Clive James, Hannah Fry, Justin Welby, Cathy Newman, AL Kennedy and more! Plus: the fiction special and Prospect's books of the year

Past issues

Essays

Mathematician Kurt Gödel, right, and physicist Albert Einstein, left, taking a walk in Princeton, 1954

Kurt Gödel and the romance of logic

The Nose at the Royal Opera House. Photo: Courtesy ROH

An ode to the nose

Britain is failing to recycle waste. Photo: Veolia

The recycling myth

Wendell Steavenson

Begin afresh: Philip and Monica in later years

A life more ordinary: inside Philip Larkin's extraordinary everyday

Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon

Will humans ever reach Mars?

Kwame Kwei-Armah. Illustration: Tim McDonagh

A new direction: how Kwame Kwei-Armah broke through barriers to become theatre’s leading man

Even if drink is bad for us, should we stop? Photo: Pexel

Drink is (probably) bad for us. But should we stop?

Michael Blastland

Trump re: Nixon? Photo: Prospect composite

Donald Trump and the Nixon playbook

Duck! Journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw his shoes at President Bush who was standing next to Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, as a “farewell kiss from the Iraqi people”

The myth of liberal interventionism: why it always fails

England could have a lot to learn from Ireland's move from self-mythology to real-world complexity. Photo: Prospect

England's dreaming

Regulars

Simon Schama illustrated by Nick Taylor

Simon Schama on how he changed his mind about Jags, Iggy Pop—and John Major

What does this place have in store for us in 2019?

The Prospect editorial: New year, new thinking

The Prospect crossword: January/February 2019

The Prospect Puzzle: January/February 2019

A piece of tape covers a laptop's webcam as a porn site of 'webcam girls' is displayed onscreen, in London. Photo: PA

Should internet porn be banned?

Sarah Ditum and Amelia Tait

Speed data: expanding Britain's national parks

Hannah Berry's cartoon: The simple things in life

Stephen Collins's cartoon: Adam and Eve

Stephen Collins

Opinions

Why it's not as simple as "breaking up big tech"

Beware the perils of artificial intelligence

Flooding in Japan has affected the country’s industry. Photo: STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The global economic outlook: it’s not all gloom

Why scientists must fight off the DNA determinists

Remainers would like to see a second referendum—but only parliament can sort this mess out, argues Bragg. Photo: Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick/Empics Entertainment

From now on the UK should not hold any more referendums—full stop

Three investment trends and three opportunities for 2019

Photo: Charlie Neuman/Zuma Press/PA Images

Bernie Sanders: the aim should be full employment

NHS crisis: Not a hospital problem but a community one

NHS: the government has yet again failed to prepare for winter

Photo: Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick/Empics Entertainment

In 2019 we can defeat the online trolls

The power of protest: the Million Women Rise march in London, 2018. © TINA NORRIS/SHUTTERSTOCK, PENELOPE BARRITT

Why we must build a new sexual morality

Lisa Appignanesi

Policy report: The NHS in winter

Forgiveness sets us free: in Cincinnati last year, Rukiye Abdul-Mutakallim embraced her son's killer. Photo: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock

Justin Welby: we must learn how to forgive—and disagree

Alexander Hamilton is on the $10 bill—but will Trump trash the dollar? Photo: © Alex White / Alamy Stock Pho

Michael Lewis: are we heading for Trump's financial crisis?

Gina Miller outside The Supreme Court, which rules in her favour on Article 50. Photo: Jonathan Brady/PA Archive/PA Images

David Neuberger on the fundamental importance of the rule of law

David Neuberger

Arts & Books

Stephen Hawking who died in 2018 aged 76

Prospect's books of 2018: science

Winston Churchill defined imperial Britain

Prospect's books of 2018: history

"Turbulence": a new short story by David Szalay

Xi Jingping dominates modern China

When China's dream becomes a nightmare

The Northumbrian Coast where Ghost Wall is set

Sarah Moss's new novel cements her reputation as one of our best novelists

Always rewatchable: Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada

The best podcasts for January 2019: The Rewatchables and How I Built This

Charlotte Runcie

Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other alt-right factions face off against counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville. Photo: PA

In the age of Trump, Barbara Kingsolver is the novelist we need

Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings

The best films to see in January: Brexit on film and a Dr Who Special

Melissa McCarthy finally gets the role she deserves

The best films in January 2019: The Favourite and Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Alexia Arthurs's stories are imbued with a tender nostalgia

Alex Peake-Tomkinson

Portrait of Nietzsche

Prospect's books of the year 2018: ideas

Queen of Spades at Covent Garden

The best classical and opera in January 2019: The Queen of Spades and Baroque at the Edge

Alexandra Coghlan

Knausgaard's project has been an object lesson in exorcising shame. Photo: © PAULINE KEIGHTLEY / ALAMY STOCK PHOT

The struggles of Karl Ove Knausgaard—and those of his readers—are finally over

Anthony Cummins

John Lanchester's new novel imagines a walled Britain

Blocked out: John Lanchester's new novel imagines a very British dystopia

The City. Overrated? © Matt Crossick/Matt Crossick/Empics Entertainment/PA

Prospect's books of 2018: economics

Thomas Jones's debut novel reminds us life is little more than game

Ian McKellen on stage

Ian McKellen's tour and Martin Crimp: the best theatre of January 2019

Michael Coveney

Michelle Obama at the Royal Festival Hall in London © Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images

Prospect's books of the year 2018: politics

Part of the front cover of Sarah Perry's Melmoth

Sarah Perry's new novel Melmoth ties itself in knots

Pierre Bonnard's Dining Room in the Country

Pierre Bonnard and John Ruskin: the best art and exhibitions in January 2019

Emma Crichton-Miller

Is it possible to find specific attributes that make a work of fiction "good"? Photo: Prospect composite

What makes fiction good?

Benjamin Markovits

Taken from the cover of Cassandra Darke. Photo: POSY SIMMONDS/PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE

The alluring discontent of Posy Simmonds

Society and Culture

Robert Louis Stevenson, taken by the Australian photographer Henry Walter Barnett in 1893

The way we were: losing my religion

An image of CB Fry, taken form an 1896 book called Famous Cricketers (Wikimedia Commons)

How to write poetically about sport

Benjamin Markovits

Illustration: Kate Hazell

Deliveroo, Double Deckers and the dangers of dieting

Cathy Rentzenbrink

Illustration: Kate Hazell

How the Ancient Greeks (sort of) invented robots

Charlotte Higgins

Illustration: Kate Hazell

"I began to fear we'd made a fatal mistake": the dangers of a 'white out' on a mountain

D I V O R C E. Illustration: Kate Hazell

Why I'm glad my parents got a divorce

Hephzibah Anderson