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Prospero | The Economist
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Review our <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/cookies-info" target="_blank">cookies information</a> for more details</div> <div id="columns" class="clearfix"> <div id="column-content" class="grid-10 grid-first clearfix"> <!-- Create left column on search pages --> <div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <div class="blog-title prospero"> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_blog_logo" width="236" height="95" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/images/blog_sites/_0000s_0007_propero.png?1328719155"/> <div> <h1><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero">Prospero</a></h1> <h2>Books, arts and culture</h2> </div> </div> <div class="view view-blog-site-attached-view view-id-blog_site_attached_view view-display-id-default view-dom-id-1"> <div class="view-content clearfix"> <div class="item-list"> <ul> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Public Christmas trees</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/public-christmas-trees">Symbols of celebration</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 25th 2012, 8:37 by L.F. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p><!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser --><div class="ec-gallery-gallery"> <div class="ec-gallery"> <ul> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="The Bradesco Seguros Christmas Tree, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/1brazil_rio_de_janiero.jpg?1355848563"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> The Bradesco Seguros Christmas Tree, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Divulgaçao</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="Martin Place Christmas Tree, Sydney, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/6sydney.jpg?1355848672"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> Martin Place Christmas Tree, Sydney, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>City of Sydney</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, London, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/11london.jpg?1355853390"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree, London, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>PA</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="St Peter's Square Christmas Tree, the Vatican, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/2stpeters.jpg?1355848631"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> St Peter's Square Christmas Tree, the Vatican, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>AP</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="National Christmas Tree, Washington, DC, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/10nattree.jpg?1355852542"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> National Christmas Tree, Washington, DC, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>EPA</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="The first Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree, New York, 1931" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/7rockplaza1931_tree.jpg?1355848687"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> The first Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree, New York, 1931 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Tishman Speyer</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="The Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/5the_rockefeller_cente.jpg?1355848658"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> The Rockefeller Centre Christmas Tree, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>AFP</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="Galeries Lafayette Swarovski Christmas Tree, Paris, 2012" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/9swarovski.jpg?1355849465"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> Galeries Lafayette Swarovski Christmas Tree, Paris, 2012 </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Swarovski</span> </div> </li> </ul> <div class="ec-gallery-controls"> <div class="page"></div> <div class="arrows-nav"> <span class="ec-gallery-prev"></span> <span class="ec-gallery-next"></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser-end --></p><p>EVERGREEN trees were once a pagan symbol of life brought inside the home to celebrate the winter solstice. During the Renaissance, in Latvia and Germany, it became a Protestant tradition to decorate evergreen trees for Christmas. The modern Christmas tree, festooned with lights, ornaments and presents evolved around 200 years ago; the centrepiece of the family-orientated Dickensian Christmas so familiar in popular culture.</p><p>In the 1870s, as Adam Gopnik recounts in his new book, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21567038-gorgeous-meditation-snow-and-ice-music-and-history-aching-shaking-crazy-cold" target="_self">“Winter”</a>, the domestic celebration transitioned into something more secular and commercialised, shifting from “the Christmas of the heart and hearth, to the department-store Christmas, the Christmas of the city street.” Nearly 150 years later, enormous and elaborate Christmas trees are the focal point of festive celebrations in cities and towns across the Christian world.</p><p>In today’s materialistic society, many public Christmas trees lay claim to be the tallest, the wackiest or the most beautiful. Some are victims of diplomacy, carrying a political burden as well as their thousands of baubles. Others have been scorned by environmentalists or met with disapproval from those who should adore them. Each has a story to tell. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/public-christmas-trees">Continue reading "Symbols of celebration" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568706/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (30)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/public-christmas-trees#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (6)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-2 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Financial board games</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/financial-board-games">Playing the markets</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 24th 2012, 11:28 by J.K | WASHINGTON, DC </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121222_bkp501.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p>During the recent trial of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/11/ubs%E2%80%99s-rogue-trader">Kweku Adoboli</a>, a former trader with UBS, the prosecution described his trades that saddled the Swiss bank with a $2.3 billion loss as “unprotected, unhedged, incautious and reckless”. Sound like fun? Now there is a way to channel your inner rogue, without the seven-year prison sentence.</p><p>The makers of “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.clarendongames.com/product.php?xProd=19" target="_blank">Market Meltdown</a>”, a new board game, enable rampant speculation with borrowed money to play a role in family gatherings during the upcoming holiday season. In the game, you are a trader facing severe market turmoil. As your piece (a private jet) moves around a Monopoly-style board, instead of collecting money when you pass “Go”, nervous depositors withdraw funds from your bank in sums that double with each revolution, simulating an unstoppable bank run.</p><p>To keep your firm afloat you need to borrow liberally and play the market, which is represented by a roulette wheel. As loans come due and the bank run accelerates, increasingly desperate bets are required. The winner is the last player not to miss a loan repayment or deposit withdrawal. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/financial-board-games">Continue reading "Playing the markets" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568685/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (47)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/financial-board-games#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (3)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-3 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Mo Yan’s new novel</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/mo-yan%E2%80%99s-new-novel">A Peter Pan tale</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 22nd 2012, 11:01 by L.M. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <div><p> <div class="content-image-float"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121222_bkp504.jpg" alt="" title="" width="290" height="416"/> </div></p><p><strong>Pow!</strong> By Mo Yan. <em>Seagull Books; 386 pages; £18. To be published in </em><em>America</em><em> in January; $27.50</em></p><p>“WISE MONK, where I come from people call children who boast and lie a lot ‘Powboys’, but every word in what I’m telling you is the unvarnished truth.” The unreliability of the narrator in “Pow!”, Mo Yan’s first new book since <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/news/china/21564894-prestigious-award-chinese-writer-sparks-debate-about-literary-freedom" target="_self">winning the Nobel prize in literature</a> in October, is established in its epigraph. So too in the opening pages is the structure of the novel: a roguish boy, Luo Xiaotong, sits in a crumbling temple on a stormy night recounting the story of his life to an unspeaking monk. The ordinariness of the setting only heightens the extraordinary narrative told from within it. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/mo-yan%E2%80%99s-new-novel">Continue reading "A Peter Pan tale" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568807/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (91)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/mo-yan%E2%80%99s-new-novel#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (1)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-4 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">New film: “West of Memphis”</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-west-memphis">Miscarriage of justice</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 21st 2012, 10:11 by F.S. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p class="Body1"> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp514.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p class="Body1">THE plight of the West Memphis Three—three teenagers convicted for murder and <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21526910" target="_self">released in 2011</a> after 18 years in prison (albeit with an unusual plea bargain which allowed them to maintain their innocence while pleading guilty)—makes for a fascinating story. It has spawned four documentaries, and a feature film, “The Devil’s Knot”, is in the works. Like the "Paradise Lost" documentaries before it, “West of Memphis”, a new documentary produced by Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and “The Hobbit”, raises serious questions about the American criminal justice system. It shines a light on issues such as police misconduct and an institutional bias in favour of the state prosecution that extends beyond the case itself.</p><p class="Body1">In the summer of 1993, West Memphis in Arkansas was ripped apart by the brutal murder of three eight-year-old boys found naked in a ditch, limbs tied and genitals mutilated. The gruesome nature of the crime prompted observations that it resembled a satanic ritual. Damien Echols, a local outcast known to hold an interest in the occult, and his friends Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley junior, were arrested. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-west-memphis">Continue reading "Miscarriage of justice" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568710/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (83)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-west-memphis#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (80)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-5 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Magazine illustrators</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/magazine-illustrators">A twilight art</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 20th 2012, 10:16 by E.H. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p><!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser --><div class="ec-gallery-cover"> <div class="ec-gallery"> <ul> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/nydrawings_pg79.jpg?1355486459"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Missed Connection" </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Adrian Tomine</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/nydrawings_pg119.jpg?1355486478"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Read-Handed" </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Adrian Tomine</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/nydwinterbreakpge131.jpg?1355486519"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Winter Break" </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Adrian Tomine</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/nydrawings_pg141.jpg?1355486499"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Double Feature" </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Adrian Tomine</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/nyd_pg45.jpg?1355486439"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Pacific Street Station" </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Adrian Tomine</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/s20.b.jpg?1355413538"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Peter Campbell </span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/s11.b.jpg?1355415494"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Peter Campbell </span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/s17.b.jpg?1355413575"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Peter Campbell </span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/s9.b.jpg?1355413587"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Peter Campbell </span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="375" height="490" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/campbells2bb.jpg?1355414118"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Peter Campbell </span> </div> </li> </ul> <div class="ec-gallery-controls"> <div class="page"></div> <div class="arrows-nav"> <span class="ec-gallery-prev"></span> <span class="ec-gallery-next"></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser-end --></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.faber.co.uk/catalog/new-york-drawings/9780571289059" target="_blank"><strong>New York Drawings.</strong></a> By Adrian Tomine. <em>Faber and Faber; 176 pages; £16.99</em></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.lrb.co.uk/artwork-peter-campbell" target="_blank"><strong>Artwork.</strong></a> By Peter Campbell. <em>Profile; 192 pages; £30</em></p><p>ADRIAN TOMINE and Peter Campbell are not household names. But there is a good chance, if you have been in a newsagent’s over the past ten or 20 years, that you have seen their artwork or bought something they have done. Both illustrators, Mr Tomine creates covers for the <em>New Yorker</em> and Campbell (who died in 2011) drew the covers for the <em>London Review of Books</em> (LRB). Their trade is, in a sense, a twilight art: their work is seen by many thousands of subscribers and ordinary punters, but it is also ephemeral, appearing on magazines that can be thrown away.</p><p>Now, two books collect their work in a more permanent format—Mr Tomine’s in “New York Drawings” and Campbell’s in “Artwork”—and showcase them alongside their rough sketches and early drafts. The results are enlightening. “New York Drawings” gathers together everything Mr Tomine has created for the <em>New Yorker</em> over the past decade. It includes his early illustrations for books reviews and film reviews (“Mulholland Drive”, “8 Mile” and “Underworld”) inside the magazine, and all his covers, starting with his first which pictures two people reading the same book in different subway carriages. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/magazine-illustrators">Continue reading "A twilight art" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568699/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (60)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/magazine-illustrators#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (2)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-6 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Danish culture</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/danish-culture">Taking over the world</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 19th 2012, 9:41 by A.W. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-float"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121222_bkp502.jpg" alt="" title="" width="290" height="423"/> </div></p><p><strong>How to be Danish: From Lego to Lund, A Short Introduction to the State of Denmark.</strong> By Patrick Kingsley. <em>Short Books; 191 pages; £9.99</em></p><p>“IN DANISH with English subtitles”. There was a time when this phrase was the kiss of death for television programmes. Today it is the best sort of advertising. “The Killing” set new standards for murder thrillers and created a huge British audience for Danish television. And the pattern has been repeated with a succession of Danish blockbusters—two more series of “The Killing” (the last episode of which was broadcast in Britain on December 16th to universal lamentation), “The Bridge”, another murder story, and “Borgen”, a political thriller. The same pattern has been repeated around the world (though America has been treated to an inferior English-language version of “The Killing” because Americans apparently won’t read subtitles.) “Borgen” has been particularly popular in South Korea.</p><p>Patrick Kingsley, a journalist for the <em>Guardian</em>, has come up with the clever idea of using this fascination with Danish television to write <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://shortbooks.co.uk/book/how-to-be-danish" target="_blank">a short book on Denmark</a>. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/danish-culture">Continue reading "Taking over the world" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568680/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (66)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/danish-culture#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (17)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-7 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Visual art</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/visual-art">Of wool, silk and swings</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 18th 2012, 17:24 by C.B. | NEW YORK </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp519.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p>THE Park Avenue Armory seems to be crazy for cloth. In 2009, <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/7879954" target="_blank">Ernesto Neto</a>, a Brazilian artist, hung an otherworldy web of Lycra filled with the aroma of spices from the ceiling. In 2011, the American Folk Art Museum displayed 650 red-and-white quilts, a dream-like celebration of American stitching. This month it is home to "the event of a thread" a new large-scale installation by Ann Hamilton, an American visual artist. At its centre is a stunning floor-to-ceiling sail of white silk. Something about a space as big, empty and hard as the Armory must inspire an urge to hang soft cloth.</p><p>The cavernous space, formerly a drill hall in the 20th century, was transformed into a cultural centre five years ago. The hall is nearly a city block in size and several stories high—its emptiness is its singularly impressive offering. Ms Hamilton has thrown open the shutters on the many windows and doors, letting light pour into this dark interior, and created an ode to reading, writing and weaving. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/visual-art">Continue reading "Of wool, silk and swings" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568602/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (63)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/visual-art#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (2)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-8 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Books of the year</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/books-year">Page-turners</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 18th 2012, 10:55 by Economist.com </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p>OUR correspondents discuss a selection of The Economist's best books of 2012</p><p><object id="myExperience_2035061303001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"/><param name="isUI" value="true"/><param name="isVid" value="true"/><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"/><param name="includeAPI" value="true"/><param name="autoStart" value="false"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="templateLoadHandler" value="onTemplateLoaded"/><param name="templateReadyHandler" value="onTemplateReady"/><param name="linkBaseURL" value="http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero"/><param name="iid" value="27520"/><param name="vid" value="2035061303001"/><param name="pid" value="1425961410001"/><param name="key" value="AQ~~,AAABDH-R__E~,dB4S9tmhdOo20g03jDsDgNBGDcclfHEU"/><param name="width" value="595"/><param name="height" value="400"/><param name="playerID" value="1425961410001"/><param name="playerKey" value="AQ~~,AAABDH-R__E~,dB4S9tmhdOo20g03jDsDgNBGDcclfHEU"/><param name="@videoPlayer" value="2035061303001"/></object> <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/books-year">Continue reading "Page-turners" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568674/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (47)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/books-year#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (4)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-9 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">The Q&A: James Balog</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/qa-james-balog">Disappearing ice</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 17th 2012, 10:27 by G.D. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p><strong> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp505.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></strong></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.jamesbalog.com/" target="_blank">JAMES BALOG</a>, a photographer and avid mountaineer, used to believe that climate change was over-hyped and over-politicised. But after visiting the Arctic to photograph glaciers in 2005 he was convinced that the impact was undeniable. “You could see landscapes that physically evoked a sense of mortality, retreat and change,” he says. “I had looked at a lot of glaciers for a lot of years before that but I had never seen places where it was quite so expressive.”</p><p>In 2007, he founded the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.extremeicesurvey.org/" target="_blank">Extreme Ice Survey</a>, a long-term visual art and science project to record the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/06/daily-chart-9" target="_self">shrinking of the Earth’s glaciers</a> using dozens of time-lapse cameras placed in 16 glacial locations around the world, such as in Alaska, Greenland and the Himalayas. “Chasing Ice”, a new film directed by Jeff Orlowski, documents this project. It follows Mr Balog and his team across the Arctic as they collect the photo and video data, and illustrates the dramatic changes in the landscape over the last five years.</p><p>Mr Balog spoke to <em>The Economist</em> about the challenges of the project and why we should confront climate change.</p><p><strong>“Chasing Ice” makes clear that the Extreme Ice Survey was an act of faith. You had no idea if it would work.</strong></p><p>I look at the idea now—the equipment, the location—and I think, “it seems perfectly simple”. But it was not in the least bit obvious when we started that whole exercise five and a half years ago. It was a gigantic act of faith. And a really big deal to fund and build all of the cameras. To turn these basic off-the-shelf cameras into systems that could withstand minus-40 degree temperatures, hurricane-force winds, torrential rain and blizzard conditions.</p><p><strong>There is a moment in the film when you discover one of the cameras in Alaska is malfunctioning and you literally weep in frustration.</strong></p><p>The thing that is not evident in the film is that the majority of the tension there was because we already had a dozen cameras, of the same system, on a US airforce plane flying up to Greenland. We had a six-figure financial commitment in the field deployment of those cameras over the coming weeks, and half a dozen people involved in the field programme.</p><p>All those expenses and all those helicopters—as I stood there at the edge of that glacier, it was not at all clear that I was going to be able to succeed. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/qa-james-balog">Continue reading "Disappearing ice" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568328/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (84)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/qa-james-balog#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (63)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-10 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Photography from the Middle East</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/photography-middle-east">Camera tricks</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 14th 2012, 11:07 by G.M. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p><!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser --><div class="ec-gallery-gallery"> <div class="ec-gallery"> <ul> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/1middleeastva.jpg?1354718527"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Spring" (Sham el Nasseem) from the series “Upekkha” 2011, by Nermine Hammam </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/2middleeastva.jpg?1354718656"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> “The Break” from the series “Upekkha” 2011, by Nermine Hammam </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/3middleeastva.jpg?1354718690"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> “Who will make me real” by Raeda Saadeh </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/4middleeastva.jpg?1354718720"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Halabche 2003" by Abbas Kowsari </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/5middleeastva.jpg?1354718746"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> “Wonder Beirut #13, Modern Beirut, International Centre of Water-Skiing”, from the series “Wonder Beirut” 1997-2006, by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/6middleeastva.jpg?1354718785"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> From the series “Qajar” 1998, by Shadi Ghadirian </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/7middleeastva.jpg?1354718817"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> "Magnetism 1" 2012, by Ahmed Mater </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/8middleeastva.jpg?1354718837"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> From the series “Watchtowers, West Bank, Palestine” 2008, by Taysir Batniji </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/9middleeastva.jpg?1354718869"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> “Airmail”, from the series “Out of Line” 2008, by Jowhara AlSaud </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/10middleeastva.jpg?1354718903"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> “Au seuil du temps (On the threshold of time)” from the series “Le retour imaginaire” 2002, by Atiq Rahimi </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> <li> <img class="imagefield imagefield-field_gallery_image" width="595" height="335" alt="" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/11middleeastva.jpg?1354718936"/> <div class="ec-gallery-info"> <div class="ec-gallery-caption"> From the series “Mothers of Martyrs” 2006, by Newsha Tavakolian </div> <span class="ec-gallery-credit"><span class="source">Source: </span>Art Fund Collection of Middle Eastern Photography</span> </div> </li> </ul> <div class="ec-gallery-controls"> <div class="page"></div> <div class="arrows-nav"> <span class="ec-gallery-prev"></span> <span class="ec-gallery-next"></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- exclude-from-automated-teaser-end --></p><p>PHOTOGRAPHS of the Middle East regularly make the front pages of newspapers. But photography by contemporary artists from the region is woefully under-represented in Western galleries. An exhibition at the Victoria and Albert museum in London is an attempt to address this imbalance. “Light from the Middle East” is the first major show of contemporary photography by artists from the region which explores ideas of politics, culture and religion from North Africa to Central Asia.</p><p>The exhibition is small, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in irreverence. In one self-portrait, Raeda Saadeh lies on her side, wrapped in Palestinian newspapers; she is at once seductive and restrained. In a photograph by Abbas Kowsari, a <em>peshmerga</em> (Kurdish combatant) wears a Bryan Adams rock-concert T-shirt framed by a weapon-belt; there are shots of postcards from pre-civil war Beirut that have been burned to look like war-torn debris. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/photography-middle-east">Continue reading "Camera tricks" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568311/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (94)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/photography-middle-east#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (3)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-11 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Remembering Ravi Shankar</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/remembering-ravi-shankar">The godfather of world music</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 13th 2012, 11:46 by S.A. | DELHI </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp509.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p>AT A music festival in California in June 1967, a middle-aged sitar player watched Jimi Hendrix set his guitar on fire. The crowd cheered. Ravi Shankar was horrified.</p><p>Mr Shankar, who died in San Diego on December 11, aged 92, was an Indian classical musician who brought the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w74ftXbQqo4" target="_blank">sounds of the sitar</a> and the raga into Western pop music. From the 1960s onwards, by collaborating with and influencing musicians such as John Coltrane and George Harrison (pictured with Mr Shankar above), he engendered the kinds of fusions that have since become more common. Harrison once called him "the godfather of world music". <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/remembering-ravi-shankar">Continue reading "The godfather of world music" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568442/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (123)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/remembering-ravi-shankar#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (25)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-12 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">The Irish famine</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/irish-famine">Opening old wounds</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 12th 2012, 15:38 by Y.F. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp501.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://us.macmillan.com/thegravesarewalking/JohnKelly" target="_blank">The Graves are Walking: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People.</a></strong> By John Kelly.<em> Henry Holt; 416 pages; $32. Faber and Faber; £16.99</em></p><p><strong><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=485515" target="_blank">The Famine Plot: England’s Role in Ireland’s Greatest Tragedy.</a> </strong>By Tim Pat Coogan.<em> Palgrave Macmillan; 288 pages; $28 and £17.99</em></p><p>IN 1997 Tony Blair, the British prime minister, made the first formal apology for Britain’s role in the Irish famine. Between 1845 and 1855 Ireland lost a third of its population—1 million people died from starvation and disease and 2 million emigrated. Mr Blair regretted a time when those who governed in London had failed their people. Two new books explore Britain’s role in the famine and rekindle the debate about whether its misdeeds can be considered genocide.</p><p>“The Graves are Walking” by John Kelly, a historian and popular science writer, is an engrossing narrative of the famine, vividly detailing Victorian society and the historical phenomena (natural and man-made) that converged to form the disaster. The decimation of the potato crop in the 1840s brought on the danger of mass starvation, but it was the British response that perpetuated the tragedy. The hand of nature, as illustrated in both books, caused only part of the problem. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/irish-famine">Continue reading "Opening old wounds" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568263/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (124)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/irish-famine#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (89)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-13 views-row-odd"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Thomas Heatherwick on design</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/thomas-heatherwick-design">Opportunities not to be missed</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 12th 2012, 4:26 by Economist.com </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p>THE designer and author of "Making Ideas" discusses his new book, a seed cathedral in Shanghai, redesigning London's iconic bus and building the Olympic cauldron</p><p><object id="myExperience_2028833545001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF"/><param name="isUI" value="true"/><param name="isVid" value="true"/><param name="dynamicStreaming" value="true"/><param name="includeAPI" value="true"/><param name="autoStart" value="false"/><param name="wmode" value="opaque"/><param name="templateLoadHandler" value="onTemplateLoaded"/><param name="templateReadyHandler" value="onTemplateReady"/><param name="linkBaseURL" value="http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero"/><param name="iid" value="27071"/><param name="vid" value="2028833545001"/><param name="pid" value="1425961410001"/><param name="key" value="AQ~~,AAABDH-R__E~,dB4S9tmhdOo20g03jDsDgNBGDcclfHEU"/><param name="width" value="595"/><param name="height" value="400"/><param name="playerID" value="1425961410001"/><param name="playerKey" value="AQ~~,AAABDH-R__E~,dB4S9tmhdOo20g03jDsDgNBGDcclfHEU"/><param name="@videoPlayer" value="2028833545001"/></object></p><p> <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/thomas-heatherwick-design">View full post »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568319/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (79)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/thomas-heatherwick-design#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (5)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-14 views-row-even"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">New film: “The Hobbit”</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-hobbit">An unexpected disappointment</a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 11th 2012, 13:36 by A.C. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-full"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121215_bkp503.jpg" alt="" title="" width="595" height="335"/> </div></p><p>TO MOST fans of <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/904518" target="_self">J.R.R. Tolkien</a>’s Middle Earth books, “The Hobbit” always felt like a bit of throat-clearing before the epic quest of “The Lord of the Rings”. Published in 1937, it was his first stab at describing his invented world. Not to Peter Jackson, apparently. In the hands of the director of the wildly successful <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/1610125" target="_self">Lord of the Rings film trilogy</a>, Tolkien’s shorter, picaresque tale takes on the bloated dimensions of a mountain troll.</p><p>The story takes place 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings” begins, in a “brighter, happier Middle Earth.” Yet the film staggers under the weight of all the menacing material that Mr Jackson has injected in an effort to tie it to his darker sequels. Equally menacing, perhaps, is the fact that this film, subtitled “An Unexpected Journey”, is the first of another long trilogy that Mr Jackson plans to pump out of this slender novel. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-hobbit">Continue reading "An unexpected disappointment" »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21568302/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (114)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/new-film-hobbit#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (63)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> <li class="clearfix views-row views-row-15 views-row-odd views-row-last"><div class="node-blog-tpl" class="clearfix"> <h3 class="ec-blog-fly-title">Quick Study: Charles Morris on American industry</h3> <h4 class="ec-blog-headline"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/quick-study-charles-morris-american-industry">A case for optimism </a> </h4> <p class="ec-blog-info"> Dec 10th 2012, 11:53 by A.B. </p> <div class="ec-blog-body"> <p> <div class="content-image-float"> <img src="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158im_/http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/290-width/images/2012/12/blogs/prospero/20121208_brp506.jpg" alt="" title="" width="290" height="404"/> </div></p><p>CHARLES MORRIS, an American lawyer and business writer, has written 12 books on subjects ranging from financial crises to the future of Western technology and tycoons, such as J.P. Morgan, Warren Buffett, and John Rockefeller. His notable books include “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown” (2008) and “The Coming Global Boom” (1990). His latest book, “The Dawn of Innovation”, is about America's first industrial revolution. He is also a fellow of the Century Foundation, a public-policy think tank.<br> <br><strong>What lessons can America take from its first industrial revolution?</strong><br> <br>I thought I knew about the American industrial revolution until I started researching it. The emphasis had always been on machine technology, particularly gun manufacturing.<br> <br>In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in Britain, where it was found that we could mass-produce guns. The small-arms industry had previously worked with 48 different skilled trades making a gun. The military would put out orders to each of those trades and they would take all the parts to a fitter. It was felt that it wasn’t possible to mass-produce lock parts. But the American armouries proved you could do it. In 1763 the French gave America 30,000 muskets based on the Charleville pattern and that was the gun we used in the revolutionary war and the war of 1812. It then became the 1795 Springfield rifle. The gun that the Unionists used in the civil war was the same. The military made one gun for a century—they got good at it. <p class="more-link"> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/quick-study-charles-morris-american-industry">Continue reading "A case for optimism " »</a> </p> </div> <ul class="ec-page-tools ec-pt-expanded ec-pt-expanded-teaser clearfix"><li class="pt-recommend first"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/node/21567615/recommend" rel="nofollow" title="Recommend this blog post" data-ec-omniture="recommend_article">Recommend (103)</a></li> <li class="pt-comment even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2012/12/quick-study-charles-morris-american-industry#comments" class="view-comments" data-ec-omniture="go_to_comments">Comment (39)</a></li> </ul></div> <!-- /#node-blog-tpl --> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="pager clearfix"><div class="item-list"><ul class="pager"><li class="pager-current first">1</li> <li class="pager-item even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=1" title="Go to page 2" class="active">2</a></li> <li class="pager-item"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=2" title="Go to page 3" class="active">3</a></li> <li class="pager-item even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=3" title="Go to page 4" class="active">4</a></li> <li class="pager-item"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=4" title="Go to page 5" class="active">5</a></li> <li class="pager-item even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=5" title="Go to page 6" class="active">6</a></li> <li class="pager-item"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=6" title="Go to page 7" class="active">7</a></li> <li class="pager-item even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=7" title="Go to page 8" class="active">8</a></li> <li class="pager-item"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=8" title="Go to page 9" class="active">9</a></li> <li class="pager-ellipsis even">…</li> <li class="pager-next"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=1" class="active">next ›</a></li> <li class="pager-last even last"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero?page=71" class="active">last »</a></li> </ul></div></div> </div> </div> </div> <!-- /#main-area --> <div id="column-right" class="grid-6 clearfix"> <div id="block-ec_blogs-ec_blogs_block_bloginfo" class="block block-ec_blogs"> <div class="content clearfix"> <div class="title"> About Prospero</div> <div class="about"><p>Named after the hero of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", an expert on the power of books and the arts, this blog features literary insight and cultural commentary from our correspondents, and includes our coverage of the art market.</p> </div> <div class="links"> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121225185158/https://twitter.com/EconCulture" class="twitter-follow-button">Follow us on Twitter @EconCulture</a> <a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/index.xml" class="rss" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS 2.0">RSS feed</a></div> </div> </div><div id="block-ec_ads-top_mpu_ad" class="block block-ec_ads"> <div class="content clearfix"> <div class="ec-ads ec-ads-remove-if-empty"><p>Advertisement</p><!-- Site: Lifestyle. 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News is to be construed broadly; politics, finance, geography, language, fine art—all are fair game, in no particular order. We chose the name, which means "things gathered up" or "literary fragments" (and alludes to the title of a Confucian classic), to that end.">Analects<span class="description"> | China</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview" title="In this blog, our correspondents provide reporting, analysis and opinion on politics, economics, society and culture in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.">Americas view<span class="description"> | The Americas</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage" title="In this blog, our correspondents report on the intersections between science, technology, culture and policy. The blog takes its name from Charles Babbage, a Victorian mathematician and engineer who designed a mechanical computer.">Babbage<span class="description"> | Science and technology</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/banyan" title="In this blog, our Asia correspondents and our Banyan columnist provide comment and analysis on Asia's political and cultural landscape. The blog takes its name from the Banyan tree, under which Buddha attained enlightenment and Gujarati merchants used to conduct business.">Banyan<span class="description"> | Asia</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab" title="On this blog our correspondents delve into the politics, economics and culture of the continent of Africa. The blog takes its name from the baobab, a massive tree that grows throughout much of Africa. It stores water, provides food and is often called the tree of life.">Baobab<span class="description"> | Africa</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/blighty" title="On this blog, our correspondents ponder political, cultural, business and scientific developments in Britain, the spiritual and geographical home of The Economist. It takes its name from a fond but faintly derogatory name for the mother country often used among British expats.">Blighty<span class="description"> | Britain</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/buttonwood" title="In this blog, our Buttonwood columnist grapples with the ever-changing financial markets and the motley crew who earn their living by attempting to master them. The blog is named after the 1792 agreement that regulated the informal brokerage conducted under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street.">Buttonwood's notebook<span class="description"> | Financial markets</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2013" title=" This blog accompanies The World in 2013, our almanac of predictions for the year ahead. The blog is named after the mythological Cassandra, who was cursed by Apollo to make prophecies that were accurate, but disbelieved.">Cassandra<span class="description"> | The World in 2013</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne" title="In this blog, our Charlemagne columnist and his colleagues consider the ideas and events that shape Europe, and explain the quirks of life in the Euro-bubble. An archive of print columns can be found here.">Charlemagne<span class="description"> | European politics</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica" title="In this blog, our correspondents share their thoughts and opinions on America's kinetic brand of politics and the policy it produces. The blog is named after the study of American politics and society written by Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political scientist, in the 1830s">Democracy in America<span class="description"> | American politics</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches" title="Eastern approaches deals with the economic, political, security and cultural aspects of the eastern half of the European continent. It incorporates the long-running "Europe.view" weekly column. The blog is named after the wartime memoirs of the British soldier Sir Fitzroy Maclean.">Eastern approaches<span class="description"> | Ex-communist Europe</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/feastandfamine" title="On this blog, our correspondents report on and analyse matters relating to demography and development, including food production, public health and other factors that determine the wealth and poverty of nations">Feast and famine<span class="description"> | Demography and development</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange" title="In this blog, our correspondents consider the fluctuations in the world economy and the policies intended to produce more booms than busts. Adam Smith argued that in a free exchange both parties benefit, and this blog's aim is to encourage a free exchange of views on economic matters. ">Free exchange<span class="description"> | Economics</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory" title="On this blog, our correspondents analyse and report on sports minor and major, addressing the politics, economics, science and statistics of the games we play and watch. Send story ideas to gametheory@economist.com">Game theory<span class="description"> | Sports</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail" title="On this blog we publish a new chart or map every working day, highlight our interactive-data features and provide links to interesting sources of data around the web. The Big Mac index, house-price index and other regular features can be found on our Markets &amp; data page">Graphic detail<span class="description"> | Charts, maps and infographics</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver" title="In this blog, our correspondents inform and entertain business travellers with news, views and reviews that help them make the most of life on the road. Sign up for our weekly "Gulliver's best" newsletter to have the blog's highlights delivered to your inbox &raquo;">Gulliver<span class="description"> | Business travel</span></a></li> <li><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson" title="In this blog, named after the dictionary-maker Samuel Johnson, our correspondents write about the effects that the use (and sometimes abuse) of language have on politics, society and culture around the world ">Johnson<span class="description"> | Language</span></a></li> <li class="even"><a href="/web/20121225185158/http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington" title="In this blog, our Lexington columnist enters America’s political fray and shares the many opinions that don't make it into his column each week. 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