Prospect Magazine Aug/Sep 2020 Retour à l'édition précédente

In Prospect's Summer double issue we salute the top 50 world thinkers shaping the age of Covid-19. These are scientists and historians and writers whose work is responding to the shifting contours of the landscape—from the search for the virus, to the battle to save the economy and the explosive movements for justice that have sprung up during lockdown. Readers can vote for their favourite and suggest names we missed.

Elsewhere in the magazine, Miranda France's opening opinion piece argues that we should stay friends with people we disagree with. That is the guiding principle of this issue: we have Sarah Churchwell arguing that the felling of statues is not about destroying the past but challenging the myths of white supremacy; Kenan Malik argues against the efficacy of all identity politics--including white identity politics; Paul Collier chides economists for ignoring the cultural concerns of Britons rooted in long-standing communities; while Chris Mullin write an appreciation of the patriotic Labour Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin.

On the cultural side Will Self tackles the humiliations of Zoom culture; Sam Leith praises the marvels of Marvel and Barbara Speed asks whether foreign holidays are a thing of the past.

Plus a memoir from Sameer Rahim about his time as Saddam Hussein's prisoner and raw new fiction from Gabriel Krauze.