21 April 2008
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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
How the rich starved the world
World cereal stocks are at an all-time low, food-aid programmes have run out of money and millions face starvation. Yet wealthy countries persist with plans to use grain for petrol. Plus Iain Macwhirter on how food prices are rocketing
Features
The trading frenzy that sent prices soaring
Iain Macwhirter on why the price of basic foodstuffs rocketed, from London to Haiti
So, is it all right to be an English nationalist?
England is losing its pubs, its post offices and its basic culture. Those on the left should stop being so ashamed of their own nationality
President McCain? It could happen
The Republican candidate has been the "forgotten man" of the race. Yet there is a good chance he will emerge the winner.
Treat with extreme caution
Homoeopathic medicine is founded on a bogus philosophy. Its continued use is a drain on NHS resources and can endanger the health of patients
Regulars
The Politics Column
A week to remember?
Faced with an almost unprecedented drop in popularity, some in the Labour Party are starting to think the unthinkable: what would follow election defeat?
Under oaths No 4023
Set by Hank T Romein The medical profession has the Hippocratic Oath. We asked you to think up oaths for other professions - cab drivers, archbishops, editors, plumbers . . . the choice was yours
Culture
Painting by numbers
Howard Hodgkin's latest work is as vibrant as we have come to expect, yet there is a sense that he is reprising what he has done many times before
Keeping it real
Modern theatre is all about stripped-back, empty spaces. But is naturalism, with its clutter of teacups and French windows, making a comeback?
Performance
Battle of the petty bourgeoisie
A satire on middle-class niceties works well as both comedy and philosophy God of Carnage Gielgud Theatre, London W1
Film
An incorrigible state of bliss
Mike Leigh's Poppy is on a happy pill that, unfortunately, doesn't wear off Happy-Go-Lucky (15) dir: Mike Leigh
Television
Death by "dramedy"
US series aiming for kooky charm comes across as cloying instead Pushing Daisies ITV1
Radio
The perfect interruption
Evan Davis brings sunshine to Today, but The Now Show is still in the Dark Ages
Books
Written in the sand
Observations on Abu Dhabi
What Islam did for Europe
The conflict between Islam and the west can be traced back to a myth that inaccurately painted Muslims as the killers of a Christian hero. Now, scholars are beginning to reassess the fundamental role that Muslims played in shaping western civilisation. God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe (570-1215) David Levering Lewis W W Norton, 384pp, £17.99
A mover and a shaker
Bloomsbury Ballerina: Lydia Lopokova, Imperial Dancer and Mrs John Maynard Keynes Judith Mackrell Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 496pp, £25
Terror in the east
The Bloody White Baron James Palmer Faber & Faber, 272pp, £18.99
The lives of others
Playing Cards in Cairo: Mint Tea, Tarneeb and Tales of the City Hugh Miles Abacus, 288pp, £10.99
Rock 'n' roll dreams
I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay Toby Litt Hamish Hamilton, 288 pp, £12.99
