Second week of the new-look magazine, and what a combination.

Noam Chomsky, an exclusive interview, a brilliant piece by Elizabeth Kolbert on whether America can go green, an angry missive by John Pilger on the 'war on children' in Iraq and Palestine... and Julian Clary. I particularly liked the bit about the NS and botox...

No, seriously, the Chomsky piece is a great read. This is neither a hatchet nor hagiography, but good old fashioned journalism by one of our most experienced, Andrew Stephen. So we heare that the invasion of Iraq "was an enormous stimulant for terrorism". Chomsky goes on to say about Srebrenica: "Not only did Milosevic not order it, but he had no knowledge of it. And he was horrified when he heard about it." On Afghanistan: "I think Afghanistan, if we look at it, is one of the most grotesque acts of modern history." On Bush and Blair: "I want their crimes to be fully understood, to be in elementary school textbooks, to ensure that those of our countries which tolerated these crimes should look themselves in the eye."

Elsewhere, we publish previously unseen letters written from the young Tony Blair to Michael Foot in 1982, revealing the Prime Minister's radical roots, his views then on the Conservative party, Karl Marx and the achievements of socialism. Plus: Zoe Williams finds a link between the World Cup and Men's Mental Health Week; Miranda Sawyer on the revolutionary aesthetic of Factory records; Janine di Giovanni on watching Orthodox Jews wading into the sea in fur hat, wool coat, shoes and socks, while Mark Lynas on how a green can sometimes be tempted to turn blue...

The plaudits for our new columnists have been great, and we have more good reads in store in coming weeks.

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