18 September 2006

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

Shopping: How it became our national disease

We are rapidly turning into a nation of continuous shoppers, unable to walk the streets without making purchases, however trivial. Somehow we have come to believe the marketers' hype: we must always treat ourselves - we're worth it

By Lynsey Hanley

Features

Socialism: the new divide

By Jack Straw

Fifty years ago, a book regarded as a seminal text for Labour was published. In an exclusive essay, Jack Straw argues that The Future of Socialism has vital lessons for Blair, Brown and the government's warring factions

Blairism: an apology

By Nick Cohen

Many on the left see Tony Blair as an aberration, a cuckoo in their nest, writes Nick Cohen, who used to think that way. This is a mistake: the government is far more old Labour than you might think

Interview

Tea with the messiah

By Michela Wrong

Yoweri Museveni was once hailed as a model for African leaders, but they don't say that any more. When Michela Wrong suggested he was clinging to power, he invited her in for a chat

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

A full-scale war and a first foreign policy test for Premier Brown

The Politics Column

That other, more important, vote

By Martin Bright

With unions and party members convinced that the top job is already assigned, the battle for Labour's future is over who will get to be Brown's deputy

Commons Confidential

His other car is a limo

By Kevin Maguire

Competitions: Colour coding No. 3646

Set by Dipak Ghosh According to Channel 4 News the Tories are thinking of changing their symbol. We asked for the reasons behind the change and your suggestions for the new logo

Culture

Decoding da Vinci

By Michael Bywater

He was the original Renaissance man: master painter, an inventor of flying machines and weapons of war. But Leonardo's genius is misunderstood

Loud, lewd and nasty

By Peter Conrad

Forget the liberal blather: the makers of Gaddafi are as cynical as Simon Cowell

Theatre

Chattering classes in need of a plot

By Rosie Millard

There's sex, alcohol, arguments and cancer, yet what this show lacks is drama Rabbit Trafalgar Studios, London SW1

Film

A right royal failure

By Ryan Gilbey

Drama based on the death of Diana lacks analytical rigour The Queen (15) dir: Stephen Frears

Television

California dreaming

By Andrew Billen

An update of an old format obeys all the rules of sitcom with a watchable style Entourage ITV2

Radio

That back-to-school feeling

By Rachel Cooke

As summer draws to a close, the airwaves are just hotting up

Album Reviews

Bringing it all back home

By William Skidelsky

Modern Times Bob Dylan Sony BMG

Hip-hopping theatrics

By Sophie Heawood

Idlewild OutKast LaFace Records/Sony BMG

Best of the rest

By Daniel Trilling

Mistress of disguise

By Peter Conrad

I Let the Music Speak Anne Sofie von Otter Deutsche Grammophon

Books

Clear and present danger

By John Gray

Heat: how to stop the planet burning George Monbiot Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 304pp, £17.99 ISBN 0713999233 It may be too late to do anything about global warming. So, rather than pretending it can be stopped, shouldn't we concentrate on coping with the disruption?