12 April 2004
Become a subscriber and save £££
Subscribe to the New Statesman for just £87 and receive a free gift.
From the Editor…
Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly
Cover story
Is fascism behind the terror?
Islamist extremists believe in a worldwide conspiracy not just of Jews, but also of Freemasons. They thus echo the rantings of Europe's extreme right in the 19th and 20th centuries
Features
When men have lost their reason
Is the war on terrorism working? A scientific analysis suggests that it is not and that it has succeeded only in keeping us scared and compliant
Grade expectations at the BBC
Auntie's new chairman may be very popular, but he won't be able to choose the next director general
This man has been called Zimbabwe's Che Guevara. Did Mugabe have him murdered?
In a divided land, Josiah Tongogara is a hero claimed by both sides. Mark Olden traces an inspirational life and mysterious death
Panic on the beaches
Fears that the Maori own New Zealand's seashore by law have rocked the Labour government
Essay
NS Essay - Babies have now to be trained in the Protestant work ethic
As parents claim the credit if their child succeeds and professionals say there's something wrong with the family if the kids do badly, Suzanne Moore explores the implications of not trusting children to exercise free will
Regulars
The Politics Column
Politics - John Kampfner learns of Tony Blair's nightmare
Terrorism, race and asylum have combined to become the most potent mix in modern politics. But Blair cannot, even if he wanted to, pull up the drawbridge
Mark Thomas starts his own think-tank
My new think-tank will cure voter apathy: we will offer prizes and air miles and allow you to swap your vote here for one in America, so you can have a say in British foreign policy
Darcus Howe thinks multiculturalism is a white term
Multiculturalism? The term was foisted on us by bureaucrats of the British state
Competition
Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store
Culture
Back to the future
The 1960s architectural collective Archigram had a vision of transforming Britain's drab postwar landscape into a technological wonderland, but it never actually built anything. Thanks to retro-chic, its ideas are now enjoying a revival
The eternal woman
Opera - Peter Conrad marvels at the many incarnations of the divine Renee Fleming
Surveillance culture
Art - Richard Cork is unsettled by the bleak reflection of our times at "Beck's Futures"
Theatre
Michael Portillo - Secrets and lies
Theatre - A superb domestic drama takes us to the depths of depravity Festen Almeida Theatre, London N1
Film
Mark Kermode - Video nasty
Film - A documentary of a family so dysfunctional you wouldn't believe it if it weren't true Capturing the Friedmans (15)
Television
Andrew Billen - The failed fascist
Television - An unexpectedly fascinating portrait of a far-right bully England Expects (BBC1)
The Fan
The fan - Hunter Davies thinks he may stay at home
If you support an unsuccessful team, at least the parking's easier
Books
Twelve Steps to Enlightenment. Westerners are increasingly turning to Buddhism as an antidote to the stresses of modern life. But there is more to it than meditation. For many of us, the prospect of renouncing greed, hatred and delusion is more terrifying than liberating
Going Buddhist: panic and emptiness, the Buddha and me Peter J Conradi Short Books, 183pp, £9.99 ISBN 1904095631
The drawing-room philosopher. Isaiah Berlin was distrusted as an establishment snob and an intellectual dilettante. But his letters reveal him to be modest, witty and wickedly entertaining. By Edmund Fawcett
Flourishing: letters (1928-46) Isaiah Berlin; edited by Henry Hardy Chatto & Windus, 755pp, £30 ISBN 070117420X
Back in the USA
The Beatles Come to America Martin Goldsmith John Wiley, 196pp, £13.50 ISBN 0471469645
Mind tricks
Opening Skinner's Box: great psychological experiments of the 20th century Lauren Slater Bloomsbury, 276pp, £16.99 ISBN 0747563179
Letter from a lost world
Scouting for Boys Robert Baden-Powell Oxford University Press, 382pp, £12.99 ISBN 0192805479
Fiction - A golden age
The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst Picador, 616pp, £16.99 ISBN 033048320X
Fiction - Boy trouble
Bad Influence William Sutcliffe Hamish Hamilton, 163pp, £10 ISBN 0241141400
