The generalist by Didymus

New year, old wisdom

In Chris Morris’s 1990s news satire, The Day Today

Letters

In June 2016 voters had two choices, but one of them

Park life

The 13 national parks in England and Wales could soon grow in number

Is it time to ban internet porn?

YES Because the practicalities of porn are so unpleasant

David Neuberger Learn the rule of law

All modern civilised societies are built on two pillars:

Melvyn Bragg No more referendums

Beware of holding another Brexit referendum. The first

Cathy Newman Set the giants on the trolls

Not so long ago I posted an innocuous tweet about the

Justin Welby Recall how to forgive—and disagree

We need to learn to forgive. Especially we need to

Hannah Fry Beware the robot takeover

After two full decades of our data being harvested

Bernie Sanders Aim for full employment

During my campaign for president in 2016, I stated

Niall Ferguson Respect natural monopolies

Is big tech too big? In the past year, interest has

Lisa Appignanesi Build a new sexual morality

I have now lived through three generations of feminism.

Michael Lewis Break your promises, trash your currency

Trust is everything. Donald Trump is going to teach

Angela Saini Fight the DNA determinists

One idea to have pushed its way back on to the scientific

England’s dreaming

Brexit and one nation’s bewildering battle to wake from the nightmare of history

The Nixon playbook

Forget Watergate. In the second half of Trump’s term, there are other lessons he could learn from the Nixon years. Like reaching out across the centre-ground to strike deals— and do something practical for forgotten America

Get real

As Washington gears up for a new conflict with China, the US needs to stop and reflect on how its efforts to spread liberal democracy through bombs and bombast have led to nothing but ruin

All the dirt on Britain’s waste

We worry about plastic and anguish over what goes in which bin. But as China refuses to take our waste, recycling is in crisis. Can it be saved?

THE FINAL FRONTIER

Man’s first steps on the Moon seemed like the beginning

Drinking is (probably) bad for us. Should we stop?

There is no safe level of drinking, according to a major new study. But who’s to say the very small risks of moderate drinking aren’t worth it?

A life more ordinary

Philip Larkin’s correspondence with his mother put him in touch with the precious texture of the everyday, which he transformed into some of the most sublime poetry since Donne and Marvell

A new direction

Soap actor, serious playwright, and now artistic director. How Kwame Kwei-Armah broke through barriers to become theatre’s leading man. By Lyn Gardner

Kurt Gödel and the romance of logic

The great theory of this emaciated genius of philosophy defeated the finest minds of the 20th century—and rescued the idea that there are truths that humans can never prove

Ode to the nose

We are often embarrassed by the protruding olfactory equipment on our faces. But noses shape our loves, lives and memories like no other part of the body

Prospect’s books of 2018

In 2018, much ink was spilled over Donald Trump’s car-crash

Turbulence

When Ursula discovers her daughter Miri is engaged to a Syrian man living in Budapest, she is torn between generosity and fear. Miri, returning to London to visit her sick father, would rather be with her fiancé than in a city she no longer recognises

Alluring discontent

The late style of the graphic novelist Posy Simmonds is both enticingly accessible and disturbingly perceptive, says Jane Shilling

Marks out of ten?

Can we grade works of fiction? Novelist and short story prize judge Benjamin Markovits thinks we can—and tells us how

Trumped-up tales

A US novelist stands up for decency in the face of an indecent president— and asks tough questions about her country’s origins, finds Diane Roberts

All finished

The struggles of Karl Ove Knausgaard— and those of his readers—are finally over, says Anthony Cummins

Fiction in brief

Sarah Perry’s bestselling second novel The Essex Serpent

Recommends

After Pierre Bonnard’s death in 1947, one critic said

The good divorce

My parents had to get divorced. That was the conclusion

White out

Two years ago, I had an unnerving experience while

The sporting rhymes

Inspector Morse thought that the saddest lines in the

Metal morphoses

The Greeks are well known for inventing a bunch of

Don’t diet

Oh, the misery of January! It’s so cold and we feel

More than money

Tom Clark Editor, Prospect

Accidents and emergencies

Jon Ashworth Shadow Health Secretary and Labour MP for Leicester South

A community problem

Nigel Crisp Former NHS Chief Executive and permanent secretary at the Department of Health

Global outlook: it’s not all gloom

Global economic momentum at the start of 2018 was good—at

Three trends and three opportunities for 2019

Andy Davis Associate Finance Editor, Prospect

Events

The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of

Enigmas & puzzles

The competition consists of five puzzles in logic and mathematics. A possible solution (a), (b), or (c) is given below each puzzle. Entries must give the correct sequence of five letters.

Simon Schama Historian

The sinking of the Flying Enterprise, January 1952.