October 2020 issue
Twenty-five years on from Prospect's first issue, the world is a very different place. In 1995, the spread of democracy seemed inevitable but now it is under threat on many fronts. In this issue, Samira Shackle reports on Hungary's slide into autocrac...
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Essays
Illustration by Tim McDonagh. Photo:
David Frost: from mandarin to minister
Pupils at Williamwood High School sit prelim exams on February 5, 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Can strict schools save poor children?
Gaby Hinsliff
The world's top 50 thinkers 2020: the winner
Prospect Team
New cold war? Chinese soldiers march in Moscow on Victory Day, 24th June this year © PAVEL GOLOVKIN/​POOL/​EPA-EFE/​Shutterstock
How the west lost
Anatol Lieven
Lost in the post? American democracy will pay the price as Trump undermines and frustrates million of mail-in-ballets ©
What if Trump refuses to lose?
Dahlia Lithwick
© Myrna Suarez
George Soros: the great anticipator
Mario Platero
Big Brother vs China’s Uighurs
Darren Byler
© Carsten Koall/Getty Images, shutterstock
Flag, faith and fear for the planet—how the far right is exploiting climate change for its own ends
Daniel Trilling
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before the Visegrad Group (V4) summit on 11th June 2020 © MARTIN DIVISEK/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
How democracies die: the case of Hungary
Samira Shackle
Regulars
Letters: October 2020
Prospect Team
The Prospect editorial—Democracy on the ballot
Tom Clark
Hannah Berry’s cartoon: I’m busy!
Hannah Berry
Prospect puzzle and crossword—October 2020
Prospect Team
Climate under lockdown
David McAllister
© Nick Taylor
Michael Sandel: "I'm frightened of the possibility that Joe Biden will lose the November election"
Prospect Team
Click to enlarge
Stephen Collins's cartoon: The blame game
Stephen Collins
Photo: Dominic Lipinski/PA Archive/PA Images
The duel: are tax rises now inescapable?
Jonathan Portes vs Bill Mitchell
Opinions
Photo: Isabel Infantes/EMPICS Entertainment
As older consumers radically change their spending patterns, what do investors need to know?
Andy Davis
Photo: LAURIE DIEFFEMBACQ/Belga/PA Images
Why investors are going bullish on Europe
Megan Greene
Image: Pixabay
Policy report: The digital future
Tom Clark
The government aims for 100 per cent full-fibre broadband coverage by 2033. At present, only 8 per cent of households are covered. Photo: © Marcus Harrison-business/Alamy Stock Photo
The digital crossroads provides an opportunity to rethink how millions of people work—and live
Jo Stevens
Photo: Rui Vieira/PA Wire/PA Images
Build new digital networks—then get people using them
Julian Knight
Michael Stephens/PA Archive/PA Images
The government is bent on constitutional destruction. We should remember Lord Bingham now more than ever
Helena Kennedy
Photo: TopFoto/PA Images
George Orwell: political flake, towering moralist
Stephen Ingle
A worker collects shattered glass in Beirut Photo: PA/Xinhua News Agency
After the blast: how Beirut’s clean-up operation is exposing Lebanon’s wider state dysfunction
Lizzie Porter
Author JK Rowling has entered the fractious debate over transsexuality Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images
I’m a transwoman who signed the Harper’s letter with JK Rowling. Here’s why
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
Photo: Leon Neal/PA Wire/PA Images
The government must respect the autonomy of science to prevent future catastrophes like this one
Philip Ball
Arts & Books
The struggles of Martin Amis
Miranda France
Graham Greene was cold and clear Credit: Wikimedia commons
The true cost of Graham Greene's life on the run
Alexander Larman
Mosaic of Theodora in the Basilica of San Vitale Credit: Petar Milošević
A rich new history of Ravenna
Philip Wood
No longer ruling the waves: Last Night of the Proms Credit: Guy Bell/PA Wire/PA Images
Is this really a post-imperial age?
Tanjil Rashid
Singapore: a model for the west? Credit: Xinhua News Agency/PA Images
How the west can thrive in the 21st century
Kate Womersley
The best podcasts in October 2020—the Michelle Obama Podcast and the Missing Cryptoqueen
Charlotte Runcie
A law unto himself? Dominic Cummings explains why he defied his own government’s instructions to stay at home during lockdown. Photo: © JONATHAN BRADY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The Secret Barrister exposes how political and media charlatans have vandalised the rule of law
DAT Green
Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is, according to Kate Manne, an example of male entitlement Credit: KEVIN DIETSH/UPI/PA Images
Kate Manne's razor-sharp analysis of male entitlement
Jessica Abrahams
Even a meritocratic society isn't a fair one
Michael Sandel on why winners shouldn't take it all
Adrian Pabst
The best television in October 2020—Third Day on Sky Atlantic and BBC's Life
Chris Harvey
© Nick Taylor
Michael Sandel: "I'm frightened of the possibility that Joe Biden will lose the November election"
Prospect Team
The best films in October 2020—I'm thinking of Ending Things and Miss Juneteenth
Wendy Ide
Photo: Windrush lives matter: a march in 2018
How Britain's blundering Home Office built our immigration system on a foundation of cruelty
Amelia Gentleman
The best classical and opera in October 2020—La Bohème at Alexandra Palace and Oxford Lieder Festival
Alexandra Coghlan
The best theatre in October 2020—Jesus Christ Superstar and Beat the Devil
Michael Coveney
The best art exhibitions in October 2020—Tantra at the British Museum and Rodin at Tate Modern
Emma Crichton-Miller
A gallery assistant adjusts 'Reflection' by Lucian Freud during a press preview for 'Reflections on the Self', an exhibition of self portraiture at Christie's Mayfair.
The unrelenting vision of Lucian Freud
Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
Author JK Rowling has entered the fractious debate over transsexuality Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire/PA Images
I’m a transwoman who signed the Harper’s letter with JK Rowling. Here’s why
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey
Society and Culture
Pupils at Williamwood High School sit prelim exams on February 5, 2010 in Glasgow, Scotland © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Can strict schools save poor children?
Gaby Hinsliff
“Who is this moron, flying around?”: How we fell out of love with space travel
Caroline O'Donoghue
Horace and Me: The case for re-reading poetry
Charlotte Higgins
Letters and extracts throughout history: Going to school
Ian Irvine
"No-shows" are jeopardising restaurants—and demonstrate how alienated from one another we've become
Jonathan Nunn
A love letter to county recorders, the unsung heroes of Britain's countryside
Cal Flyn
How lockdown sparked a national love affair with pets
Hephzibah Anderson
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