05 September 2005

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

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

Ground zilch: how Al-Qaeda defeated New York

America's enemies must be laughing. Four years after 9/11, the failed Ground Zero project exposes the United States at its most politically inept, cripplingly litigious and corrupt

By Nicholas Wapshott

Features

Nigella and the myth of the new housewife

By Viv Groskop

Are women all over Britain giving up their careers for a more fulfilling, fragrant life at home? Don't believe it, writes Viv Groskop - even Nigella meant it as a bit of a joke

1 comment

Essay

NS Essay - 'The place where we live can unite us, wherever we initially came from, whatever our politics, class or religion'

By Paul Kingsnorth

If we don't fight to protect the landscapes we live in, we will find ourselves in a world without colour and distinctiveness, writes Paul Kingsnorth. It is the one form of patriotism we should engage in

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Few lessons learned from Beslan

Darcus Howe dances in the street

By Darcus Howe

Carnival - lewd, suggestive, bawdy and a target for both jihadists and bureaucrats

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Baltic blunders

By William Varley

The Baltic gallery was supposed to be the north-east's answer to Tate Modern. At a cost of £33.4m of Lottery money, this flagship for contemporary art was opened in 2002 in an old Gateshead flour mill, with much fanfare. Since then, as William Varley comments, it's been downhill all the way

An invented reality

By Aleks Sierz

Political drama - Aleks Sierz meets Martin Crimp, a political playwright who doesn't depend on reportage

The stuff of life

By Richard Cork

Visual art - Richard Cork slows down at the National Gallery's still-life show

Theatre

Michael Coveney - All sing together

By Michael Coveney

Theatre - An inspired revival draws magic from tales of island grief, writes Michael Coveney The Synge Cycle King's Theatre, Edinburgh

Film

Mark Kermode - Rock'n'roll suicide

By Mark Kermode

Film - A self-indulgent Kurt Cobain biopic makes brainless viewing Last Days (15)

Television

Andrew Billen - Reality check

By Andrew Billen

Television - As TV takes stock of itself, Big Brother's future starts to look shaky, writes Andrew Billen The MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival

The Fan