Summer lethargy is not a good look for Labour right now | A stitch in time | Is there ever a right time to have a baby?

Weekly Online Newsletter 01 August 2013 HOME EDITOR'S CHOICE ECONOMICS POLITICS WORLD AFFAIRS BLOGS JOBS SUBSCRIBE If you were forwarded this by a colleague please click here to subscribe Editor's Choice Five must-read pieces from the magazine A stitch in time There are many sudden enthusiasms, many sudden madcap ideas that are best slept on and then discarded. By Alexander McCall Smith It's no wonder sport fans are angry so often, they're the victims of a massive con You'll be aware by now that of all the frenzied crowds that trouble my uneasy sleep, sporting ones bother me the most. By Will Self Editor's Note: Test Match Special, Lake Como with George Plimpton and Hugh Trevor-Roper's Peterhouse blues Jason Cowley reviews the current line up on the Test Match Special, remembers a discussion on the greatest essayists with George Plimpton, and speaks at the famously right-wing Peterhouse College in Cambridge. By Jason Cowley The Divine Comedy translated by Clive James: Writing as reparation Dante turned his non-relationship with Beatrice into a story of passionate significance in La Vita Nuova. Likewise, Clive James is paying tribute to his Dante scholar wife, from whom he is estranged. By Fiona Sampson Generation Peak-Teen The global peak year for births was 1990. Now the number of babies being born is falling. What does this mean for the world as we know it? By Danny Dorling Five must-read blogs Is there ever a right time to have a baby? If the media is to be believed, the answer is no. But do the casual assertions that fly around about women's reproductive choices have any basis in fact? By Sian Lawson Summer lethargy is not a good look for Labour right now Silly season can be a time of opportunity for dynamic politicians. Where is the opposition's fighting spirit? By Rafael Behr Thirty new peers to enter House of Lords A former New Statesman blogger, the first Green peer, and a fridge magnate are amongst those ennobled. By Alex Hern Why isn't the Government's School Direct scheme attracting enough schools? In principle, it's a good idea, but the Government's School Direct scheme isn't attracting enough schools. Are we heading for a shortage of teachers? By Steven Baxter July 2013: most read on newstatesman.com What you've been reading in the last month. By Caroline Crampton Promotion The New Statesman Century The New Statesman Century celebrates one hundred years of the finest cultural and political commentary written in the English-speaking world. This perfect-bound, 244-page collector's edition of the magazine brings together a selection of work from former New Statesman contributors including George Bernard Shaw, Virginia Woolf, Edward Said, Rebecca West and Julian Barnes. This limited edition of the New Statesman is now available. Click here to buy a copy now (UK). For order of multiple copies or for overseas delivery contact Stephen Brasher by email or on 44 0207 936 6459. Sponsored Advertorial   Subscribe Kindly note that if you receive this e-mail your e-mail address is being held by us for the purpose of communicating with you on New Statesman related matters. If you do not wish us to e- mail you, please unsubscribe from this list. New Statesman Limited is a Data Controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. © New Statesman Ltd. 2009. The above information may be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient of this email please destroy it. As Internet communications are not secure please note that the New Statesman does not accept legal responsibility for the content of this email message.