28 July 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
Cash and the class system
The old social markers are all redundant. British society is now a money nation shaped exclusively by wealth - airs and graces no longer matter
Features
It's all a question of balance
Introduction to the New Statesman's special supplement on schools and education
Time for a radical shake-up
Piecemeal change is not enough. The real need is still for a sustained, systemic shift to entirely new styles of education
Talent-spotting without CVs
Innovative recruiters are providing marginalised and disenfranchised youth with an entry pass to a productive future
Don't be afraid of failure
Former teenage dot-com entrepreneur Benjamin Cohen says to prepare pupils for business you must let them take risks and make mistakes
The unravelling of a cure-all qualification
Can diplomas, originally pitched at plugging the middle-range skills gap, really ensure high-quality practical learning for all? asks Yojana Sharma
A recipe for success?
There is an alternative to the regimentation of the national curriculum that promotes independent thinking and teamwork - and it works
No more cheap labour
Young people get a raw deal from work placements: they need to be given a vision for the future away from gangs and violence
Left out of breadth
A government manifesto promotes learning outside the classroom, but without funding the poorest children may not benefit
Catching Karadzic
How did one of Europe's most wanted men give the security forces the slip for so long? Because the Serbs didn't need to seize him until now
Labour's soppy love for America
The British government enthuses over US institutions and policies just when it is becoming clear that they are failing - as the Sats fiasco shows
Regulars
New Statesman Leader
How Labour's tough talk on benefits missed the point
The biggest fraud has been the manipulation of unemployment figures by successive governments
The Politics Column
When Marx met Mill
People just don't want to be told. Personal political responsibility, like virtue, is notoriously difficult to teach
The enduring appeal of Nazi chic
In the subculture of S&M, Nazi uniforms are an industry of their own
Bid on a kiss with . . . No 4037
Set by Joy Hosker At its second fundraising dinner on 10 July, Labour was offering more lots, including a tennis match with Tony Blair and a chance to be a character in Alastair Campbell’s new novel. We asked you for further (max: ten) money-raising suggestions
Culture
Edinburgh, open city
Every August, the Scottish capital plays host to the world's biggest season of arts events. Here, NS critics preview their highlights of this year's festival
Disorderly conduct
The drum'n'bass DJ Goldie has always found classical music elitist - yet it needn't be so. And then there's his thoughts on David Cameron and youth violence
Performance
Work hard, play hard
Violent sex games are a "metaphor for capitalism" - so says one young writer The Colorado Session 24:7 Theatre Festival, Manchester
Film
Dark was the knight, cold was the clown
Despite the presence of the Joker, this superhero franchise is grimmer than ever The Dark Knight (12A) dir: Christopher Nolan
Television
Three cheers for the X factor
What makes a man gay? The question, mercifully, is too complex to answer The Making of Me BBC1
Books
Still strung out
Doping scandals continue to tarnish the glory of cycling's top event - the Tour de France. A book by a disillusioned fan examines the sport's hard-to-kick drug habit
Death and the dark lady
Swimming in a Sea of Death: a Son's Memoir David Rieff Granta Books, 192pp, £12.99
Enthralling flatness
Manual Daren King Faber & Faber, 240pp, £10.99
Observations
Should we walk on by?
She had been stabbed in the hand and bludgeoned over the head with a crowbar and, bizarrely, a Hoover. Another passer-by tried to stem the blood while I phoned 999
