November 2015

November 2015 issue

Peter Kellner asks if Corbyn could win. Philip Collins tells Labour how to attack the government, Alex Perry writes about the myths of Africa, John Harris explains how to make a hit, Sam Tanenhaus writes about the US Republicans

Past issues

Essays

Aid is distributed in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. © Warsame, Omar B/ICRC

What Africa is really like

Corbyn celebrating his leadership victory; but what of the next general election? © Stefan Rousseau/ Press Association Images

What Labour should be saying

(Left to right) Robert Murphy, Richard Nixon, Averell Harriman and Henry Kissinger at the Pierre Hotel, New York, 1968

Henry Kissinger: every President's guru

Ferdinand Mount

© Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Could Jeremy Corbyn ever win?

Hundreds of migrants are pressed against a barrier, erected by Hungarian police, blocking the main highway between Serbia and Hungary. REUTERS/Marko Djurica - RTS16QJ

Niall Ferguson: The degeneration of Europe

Redwood trees in a forest grove. © Michael Schweppe

Cop21: can you put a cost on climate change?

Frances Cairncross

© C Flanigan/WireImage for KAABOO Del Mar via imageSPACE

Max Martin: the Swedish svengali with a formula for the new pop age

A man holds portrait of Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (L) during a rally in support of Syrian regime in front of the US Embassy in Moscow, on October 19, 2012. Moscow has defiantly refused to take sides agai

Putin’s plan for Syria

Rachel Polonsky

Regulars

Our combatants David Goodhart (left, Yes) and Cathryn Costello (right, No)

Duel: is our definition of 'refugee' too wide?

Cathryn Costello & David Goodhart

What gives horror films the fear factor?

Margaret Thatcher In London On February 11th 1975. © Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

How to be leader of the opposition

Enigmas and puzzles by Barry R Clarke: issue 236

If I ruled the world: John Browne

Opinions

Chancellor George Osborne speaking during a meeting with Chinese investors in Chengdu ©Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Will the next financial crisis be Made in China?

Anatole Kaletsky

Is privacy a thing of the past?

© Gage Skidmore

Why Donald Trump is not a joke

The answer to the mess of property tax

Chancellor George Osborne addresses the Conservative Party conference in Manchester ©Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/Press Association Images

George Osborne stands above his rivals

© Gage Skidmore

Talking trash with the republicans

Stephen Collins on Trident

Arts & Books

Woody Allen in New York in 1977. © AP Photo/Jerry T. Mosey

Woody Allen: laughter in the dark

Book Review: Music, Sense and Nonsense by Alfred Brendel

Alexandra Coghlan

Book Review: Hope Without Optimism by Terry Eagleton

Jonathan Derbyshire

Book Review: The Blue Touch Paper by David Hare

Michael Coveney

Book Review: Why the Dutch are Different by Ben Coates

Book Review: Kid Gloves by Adam Mars-Jones

Serena Kutchinsky

Book Review: A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk

Book Review: The Audacious Ascetic by Flagg Miller

David Patrikarakos

Book Review: No More Champagne by David Lough

An English-teaching robot stands in front of children at an elementary school in Daejeon, South Korea. © AFP PHOTO / HO / Knowledge Economy Ministry

Why evolution is better than design

Iris Murdoch breakfasting at home with her husband John Bayley. © Photo by Terry Smith/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Iris Murdoch: the sovereignty of love

Iris Murdoch breakfasting at home with her husband John Bayley. © Photo by Terry Smith/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

Iris Murdoch: the sovereignty of love

©Schiffer-Fuchs/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Orhan Pamuk: “Erdogan wants to control everything”

Society and Culture

Is this the world's best chocolate bar?

Wendell Steavenson

Psychoanalysis is not a quick fix

Investing is always a risky business

Can music alter the taste of wine?

What gives horror films the fear factor?