November 2014 issue
How to fix Britain by Peter Kellner and Jim Gallagher, Justin Welby on ISIS, Sam Tanenhaus in defence of Obama, China's health crisis, Clive James on Martin Scorsese and John Lydon.
Past issues
Essays
Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator. © The Kobal Collection (Warner Bros)
Martin Scorsese: American god
Clive James
“Many have thought that if the physics of our world is deterministic, free will is impossible whatever the details of brain activity prove to be.” © lillisphotography
Are we free?
Daniel Dennett
© duncan1890
The English question
Jim Gallagher
A British soldier murdered by a mob during a republican funeral in Belfast, 19th March 1988. © Dario Mitidieri
Northern Ireland: No more answers
John Ware
A child plays along a railway in a shanty town in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Millions of migrant workers live in shacks in China’s cities. © China Photos/Getty Images
China nearly killed me
Daniel Wolf
The Queen addressing the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff in 2006. Devolution is now a “settled and accepted feature of Welsh life.” © POOL/Reuters/Corbis
Give the Welsh more power
Kenneth O Morgan
Politicians know there are calls for redistribution of power in Britain, but exactly how much is being called for? © Birmingham News Room
What do voters want from devolution?
Peter Kellner
Has Obama really made the world safer? © JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images
In defence of Obama
Sam Tanenhaus
Regulars
Photo by Katherine Price
How to cook... Catalan cuisine
Prospect Team
© paul Heartfield
If I ruled the world: John Lydon
John Lydon
The painting in which the artist RB Kitaj fired back at his critics. © Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo, Norway. © The R. B. Kitaj Estate, courtesy Marlborough Fine Art, London
The way we were: bitterness
Ian Irvine
Mark Ferguson (yes, left) and Nick Carn (no, right).
Duel: should we introduce a mansion tax?
Mark Ferguson & Nick Carn
Opinions
ECB President Mario Draghi. © World Economic Forum
Quantative easing: better late than never
Gavyn Davies
Harold Macmillan understood that politicians couldn't anticipate every event. © Vivienne (Florence Mellish Entwistle) (Active 1940, died 1982)
Must politicians think they are right?
AC Grayling
© paul Heartfield
If I ruled the world: John Lydon
John Lydon
© duncan1890
The English question
Jim Gallagher
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde. © Laura Lean/PA Wire/Press Association Images
The deficit: the unspoken truth
Bronwen Maddox
William Hague is heading up the government's commission on English Votes for English Laws. © Chatham House
Why I got sacked from the Shadow Cabinet after six days
James Gray
Mark Ferguson (yes, left) and Nick Carn (no, right).
Duel: should we introduce a mansion tax?
Mark Ferguson & Nick Carn
A Syrian Kurdish militia fighter at Shahid Khabour hill in June. © James Harkin
Justin Welby: what should we do about ISIS?
Justin Welby
An anti-occupy protestor appears to express her disdain for Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists. © Kin Cheung/AP/Press Association Images
Hong Kong protests: democracy doesn’t fill your rice bowl
Helen Gao
Arts & Books
Martin Scorsese directs Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator. © The Kobal Collection (Warner Bros)
Martin Scorsese: American god
Clive James
For Hannah Arendt politics was essentially a creative activity in which citizens are free to resolve their differences through negotiation. © Fred Stein/DPA/Press Association Images
Hannah Arendt: she couldn't stop chuckling
Jonathan Rée
Review: The Quantum Moment by Robert P Crease & Alfred Scharff
Philip Ball
Copenhagen: "How do we get to Denmark?" © Mstyslav Chernov
The best-run states in the world
Adam Kirsch
Tim Parks brilliantly skewers the pieties of the literary world. © Alex Macnaughton/REX
Novels are luxuries, not necessities
Lionel Shriver
Portrait of Orleans by Edward Hopper: The protagonist of Lila “is uncomfortable with the stable world her husband wishes to provide her.” © bridgeman images
Kierkegaard in Iowa
Thomas Meaney
The painting in which the artist RB Kitaj fired back at his critics. © Astrup Fearnley Collection, Oslo, Norway. © The R. B. Kitaj Estate, courtesy Marlborough Fine Art, London
The way we were: bitterness
Ian Irvine
A plate from William Blake’s The First Book of Urizen, 1794. image courtesy of the british museum
Prospect recommends: Things to do in December
Prospect Team
Book review: The Game of Our Lives by David Goldblatt
Jonathan Derbyshire
Society and Culture
Photo by Katherine Price
How to cook... Catalan cuisine
Prospect Team
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Life of the mind: seeking safety
Anna Blundy
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Leith on Life: nothing to fear but fear itself
Sam Leith
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Wine: decisions, decisions
Barry Smith
Henri cooking razor clams at his restaurant. © Laurent Van Der Dtokt
Matters of taste: why do you cook?
Wendell Steavenson
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