January - February 2020

January - February 2020 issue

A pint with Mr Wetherspoon, the wisdom of Clive James, inside the new arms race. Plus: Margaret Atwood on priceless presents, and the new ideas for 2020

Past issues

Essays

The best history books of 2019

The best science books of 2019

New decade, new ideas: Prospect's writers look forward to 2020

From rats to crumbling stonework, Parliament is no longer fit for purpose. Photo: Prospect composite

This house is no longer a fit home for British democracy

The impeachment threat to Donald Trump could possibly strengthen the president. Photo: Getty/Shutterstock/Prospect composite

The circus trial of Donald J Trump

Margaret Atwood considers Lewis Hyde's "The Gift." Photo: Prospect composite/Arthur Mola/Shutterstock

Margaret Atwood on The Gift that keeps on giving

Margaret Atwood

Children hold a 'stop smacking us' banner during a march to Downing Street in 2000. Photo: PA/Prospect composite

Should smacking children be made illegal? Our contributors debate

Can veganism really save us? Illustration: Simon Golob/Rex Shutterstock/Prospect composite

Green new meal: the unpalatable truth about veganism and climate change

Hephzibah Anderson

Tim Martin is an arch Brexiteer—but his Wetherspoon pub chain is adored across the political spectrum. Photo: Paul Black

The nation's landlord

Environmental protesters pictured chained outside the Grace Gates at Lord's cricket ground in central London for a demonstration against carbon emissions. The cricket ground is the venue for the Coal UK Conference 2008.

How Britain beat Germany in the race for green energy

Prospect's best "ideas" books of 2019. Photo: Prospect composite

The best books of bold ideas in 2019

The social mobility trap

Prospect's best books about lives—biographies or otherwise—from 2019. Photo: Prospect composite

The best biographies and memoirs of 2019

ALL PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PETER POMERANTSEV

I never thought I could be English. Now I am not sure if I want to be

Peter Pomerantsev

The last nuclear weapons treaty between the US and Russia is about to fall—and no one seems to care

The best politics books of 2019. Photo: Prospect composite

The best politics books of 2019

Warren t-shirts say "She Has a Plan For That". Photo: PA

The top five things that Elizabeth Warren has a plan for

Prospect's best economic reads of 2019. Photo: Prospect composite

The best economics books of 2019

"I have a plan for that": US presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren is making a case for optimism

Clive James—a tribute

Regulars

The front cover of Prospect's new issue. Photo: Prospect composite

The Prospect editorial: 2020 vision

Hannah Berry's cartoon: Ducks on steroids

Prospect puzzle and crossword: Jan/Feb 2020

Photo: ILLUSTRATION BY NICK TAYLOR

James Lovelock: "All species are doomed. They are obliged to evolve and change"

Click to enlarge

Stephen Collins's cartoon: VacBot

Stephen Collins

A cropped shot of our December cover

Letters: January/February 2020

Opinions

Middle-age is getting longer—and giving us a chance of a better world

Camilla Cavendish

Economics and investment: What opportunities lie in the decade ahead?

A member of staff observes George Philip and Son Ltd's 'Navy League Map of the British Empire at a 2015 Tate exhibition. Photo: PA

It's time to be honest about Britain's story—and come to terms with the reality of empire

Economics and investment: Venture Capital Trusts—navigating complex terrain

We need to get children off their phones. (Image posed by models). Photo: PA/Prospect composite

Want to know what your child is doing on WhatsApp? Nothing good

Katharine Birbalsingh

Economics and investment: Safe as houses?

Economics and investment: Why your conscience need not damage your returns

The scale of the potential threat demands careful preparation. Photo: Prospect composite

We live in the age of the pandemic. This is what we need to do about it

Peter Frankopan

A globalised world need not be an impediment to proper taxation. Photo: Prospect composite

How to tax business in a global world

Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman

Photo: Wang Ye/Xinhua News Agency/PA Images

What does the next decade hold for investors?

The rise of the right has been enabled by a crisis in liberal democracy. Photo: Prospect composite

The real threat to liberal democracy isn't the right. It's the ideological vacuum at its own heart

Arts & Books

Must-see Classical and Opera—recommendations for the months ahead

Alexandra Coghlan

Must-see Classical and Opera—recommendations for the months ahead

Alexandra Coghlan

Photograph by Jerry Hardman-Jones reproduced with permission of the Henry Moore Foundation

Three art exhibitions to look out for early next year

Emma Crichton-Miller

How to tell the story of the modern-day Catholic Church

Ben Lerner's "The Topeka School" sees violence everywhere

László Krasznahorkai Credit: Wikipedia

A Hungarian master writes his final novel

Theatre recommendations for early 2020, from Chekhov to the court of the Virgin Queen

Michael Coveney

A mansion in Colombo, modern Sri Lanka Photo Photo by Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne/Wikipedia Commons

Friendship and rivalry in 1960s Sri Lanka

Elizabeth Strout Credit: Wikimedia commons

The welcome return of Olive Kitteridge

Hugh Quarshie as Othello and Lucian Msamati as Iago in the RSC's 2015 production. Photo: Alastair Muir/Shutterstock

In the publishing world, Shakespearean biography is a well that never seems to run dry

Dev Patel as David Copperfield.

Book your tickets now—these are the best three upcoming films in cinemas

Author Ann Patchett poses with her Orange Prize for Fiction after an award presentation ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London.

Ann Patchett's fairy-tale family drama has a darker side

Alex Peake-Tomkinson

Claes Bang plays the Count in BBC One's Dracula.

Highlighters out: this is the TV to watch over Christmas and the New Year

Claes Bang plays the Count in BBC One's Dracula.

Highlighters out: this is the TV to watch over Christmas and the New Year

John le Carré's post-Cold War vision is shot through with a sense of longing

Deborah Levy forces you to confront the things you don't want to know

Author Bernardine Evaristo attending a photocall for the 2019 Booker Prize shortlisted authors, at the South Bank centre in London. Picture date: Sunday October 13, 2019. Photo credit should read: Matt Crossick/Empics

Bernardine Evaristo's Booker Prize-winning hymn to togetherness

Anthony Cummins

The best new podcasts to listen to now. Photo: Sascha Kohlmann

Why "How Do You Cope...?" is a mental health podcast actually done right

Charlotte Runcie

The best new podcasts to listen to now. Photo: Sascha Kohlmann

Why "How Do You Cope...?" is a mental health podcast actually done right

Charlotte Runcie

DTYF8G Police hold back crowds at the first remand appearance of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, Dewsbury Magistrates Court 1981

Remembering Gordon Burn's serial killer imagination

Clive James—a tribute

Society and Culture

The way we were: Random acts of kindness from the past

Middle-age is getting longer—and giving us a chance of a better world

Camilla Cavendish

Joe DiMaggio and Mariyln Monroe. DiMaggio was tktk. (Photo from the cover of the January 1954 issue of Now magazine.)

Why we need sporting heroes—and how they change our childhoods

Benjamin Markovits

Illustration: Kate Hazell

What writing about myself has taught me about who I am—and why it's time to stop

Cathy Rentzenbrink

“It is hard not to see in Medusa’s snaky, phallic locks an implied claim on male power.” Illustration by Kate Hazell

Why do we still depict Medusa as a monster?

Charlotte Higgins

Illustration: Kate Hazell

We moved to a remote island—when will it feel like home?

Too much housework is still done by mothers. Illustration: Kate Hazell

How feminism forgot motherhood—and why fathers don't mind

Hephzibah Anderson

The best new podcasts to listen to now. Photo: Sascha Kohlmann

Why "How Do You Cope...?" is a mental health podcast actually done right

Charlotte Runcie