Never before have there been so many private collectors making extensive acquisitions of contemporary art. Are they the real key figures of a global art business?...
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"I don't understand why, in my work, writing is always so dangerous. It's very destructive. People who write books are destroyers," novelist AS Byatt tells Sam Leith. She then goes on to speak about the state of contemporary British literature: "If you notice, all the authors I like write also about ideas. You know, there's been that sort of clonking account of what was good about British writing which was McEwan, Amis, Graham Swift and Julian Barnes - but there's all sorts of other things going on. In fact I admire all four of those writers . . . and they don't only do people's feelings but nevertheless it's become ossified."
Sociologist, political scientist and economist Ralf Dahrendorf makes some well considered comments on the brutal collapse of credit-based capitalism and appeals for a new relationship to time and a responsible capitalism. "Mid-term thinking at top-management level necessarily results in better planning and beyond that, to more predictability for employees as regards the flexibility demanded of them by modern economies. And this also is a good time to reintroduce to the centre of decision-making, a concept which lost currency during the years of extreme credit-based capitalism, that of the 'stakeholder'. These are people that might not own a share in the firm, they are not 'shareholders', but they have a vested interested in its thriving. The stakeholders include suppliers and customers but above all the residents in the communities where the companies do business."
Talking about his new book "You must change your life", philosopher Peter Sloterdijk explains why he'd like to see the term religion lose currency. And why he'd like to intone "practice makes perfect" with Richard Sennett: "Of course Sennett has the zeitgeist against him when he reminds people that to become a passable craftsman or musician you generally need to put in at least 10,000 hours of practice. Understandably no one wants to hear this. People today think that you have a right to be able to learn how all the main buttons function within a couple of minutes." 
The percentage of sharia-compliant banks in the global financial system is low but rising rapidly. Jeremy Harding explains their appeal to practising Muslims: "They admire what they see as a promise to achieve stability and transparency, and a sense of proportion about money: look it in the eye, tell it you like it, but admit that you have lingering doubts about the transcendent value of paper. That's an unsophisticated position, but since the credit crunch not many people trust the sophisticated keepers of the modern money culture; in this sense the rise of sharia-compliant products is also a challenge to the unofficial, polytheist faith of offshore Britannia: the worship of markets in general and financial markets in particular."
With an eye on the rising numbers of Slovakian politicians who play the anti-Hungarian card and use it to fan fear – as in the recent presidential elections, Slovakian literary academic, Rudof Chmel, protests against the growing nationalist ideology in his country. "If politicians can foment fear and lead the population astray, incite panic, impose their own fears and complexes onto others and then package it as a nation-defining idea – this more that just rumour mongering. Spreading anguish about another country's nationalism, is, on the one hand, evidence of low self-esteem at civic, national and state level. On the other hand it does little to recommend politicians who claim to be capable of leading the nation out of crisis – and not only the financial crisis. Why should these people be paid for summoning the spirit of the Cold War and excluding people from society, when they should be working to create an atmosphere of neighbourliness, cooperation and understanding?"
Theatre critic Nehad Selaiha was impressed by actor Nora Amin's incredible powers of transformation. Playing alongside the musician Mohamed Hosni, Amin becomes all the "Women in his Life" in a string of biographical sketches about actual women who made an impression on him. Among them "two pop singers, one American whom he met during a spell in the States, the other Egyptian, working with a humble band and dreaming of stardom and money; a veiled, aggressive bourgeois woman who demands a fat fine when his small car bumps into her big and sturdy Mercedes which is hardly scratched while his own car is reduced to a mass of twisted metal; a vampirish and vulgar middle-aged showbiz star who promises him wealth and fame in exchange for betraying his integrity as an artist; and a former, gifted colleague who let her talent and voice go rusty after marriage and lives to repent it."
April 24 is the anniversary of the beginning of the Turkish genocide of the Armenians. Taner Akcam, a sociologist and historian who teaches in the US, is the first Turkish scholar to broach the subject and not shy away from calling Turkey to account. In an interview he briefly expounds the central thesis of his book, which has just come out in France: "Un acte honteux. Le genocide armenien et la question de la responsabilite turque" (Denoel). It links the Turkish denial of the crime with the transition from Ottoman era to Kemalist republic and. According to Akcam, many of those who were involved in the genocide were the first to join Kemal and help found the Turkish state. This fact is still largely unknown in Turkey, where Akcam is branded a liar. "One of the reasons for this 'blank spot in the memory' is undoubtedly the fact that the ruling elite has not changed since the state was founded. Only since the Islamic AKP has been in office are we starting to see positive changes. Another critical reason is that no nation readily admits that their founding fathers were murderers and thieves."
Pierre Heumann shakes his head over the naivete of Swiss Finance Minister Hans-Rudolf Merz and Federal Councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey, who walked into the PR trap laid by President Ahmadinejad at the recent UN Conference against Racism. "Neither of them seem to understand how the world works. Neither of them has lived abroad or gathered any international experience. One has seldom left Geneva and the other has seen little outside Herisau. This naivete became particularly clear this week. Calmy-Rey, an energetic champion of the UN conference should have known better than to put her name to such a flop. Merz also wasted his time. Less than 24 hours passed between his business talk with Ahmadinejad and the Iranian president's invective against Israel. Lots of delegates left the room in protest. The Swiss delegation stayed put."
David Kushner writes about the latest methods used by Columbian drug cartels to shift their merch – they are building a fleet of submarines: "Four were intercepted in January alone. But because of their ability to elude radar systems, these subs are almost impossible to detect; only an estimated 14 percent of them are stopped. And perhaps as many as 70 of them will be made this year, up from 45 or so in 2007, according to a task-force spokesman. Made for as little as 500,000 dollars each and assembled in fewer than 90 days, they are now thought to carry nearly 30 percent of Colombia's total cocaine exports."
RSS
The New York Times investigates the new hunger for reality. In Salon, Andrzej Stasiuk sees only individual realities. In the Gazeta Wyborcza, the ethnologist Tomasz Rakowski describes the reality of the Polish poor mines. Sometimes you can turn reality on its head, El Pais reads in the Financial Times. Le Monde diplomatique gives the low-down on the ACTA talks. And the New Yorker dreams of less polish and a bit more grit.
In Magyar Narancs Agnes Heller demands more civil courage of the Hungarians. Mohammed Ali Atassi explains in Qantara, why conservatives in Egypt see women as candy: either wrapped or covered in flies. Oliver Roy outlines in Resetdoc, why's there not so much as a hair's breadth between the Christian right and the secular left. In Magazin, the philosopher Ludwig Haslar tells the Swiss that if they want mediocrity today, they cannot expect the superman tomorrow. Jonathan Safran Foer tells Prospect why he neither wants a chicken in his bed nor on his plate. The NYT embarks on a human-flesh search and finds a kitten killer.
The New Yorker tells the story of how corrupt podiatrists almost brought down the US health system. In Polityka, the Kapuscinski biographer Artur Domoslawski explains how he thinks the legendary reporter should be read. In Tygodnik, Zygmunt Bauman calls for more understanding for Kapuscinski. Magyar Narancs celebrates the ban on Holocaust denial in Hungary. In Le Point, Jorge Semprun asks whether Claude Lanzmann is the only person who's allowed to talk about the Holocaust. Wired describes how Google learned how to tell the difference between a hot dog and a poached pooch.
In Eurozine, the Transylvanian-Hungarian-Armenian writer Kinga Kali tells the story of a "virgjinesha". Prospect celebrates the next art superstar, Argentinian painter Guillermo Kuitca. The Gazeta Wyborcza explains how young people use the web. The New Yorker sends out a message to the depressed: stay away from psychiatric literature. Outlook Indian learns to play Carnatic music online. The London Review swims with the salmon sages.
The Atlantic finds out why the Chinese are not enemy number one in cyberspace. Elet es Irodalom asks why no one in Hungary is interested in former informers. In New Statesman, Tariq Ramadan can't tell us what a moderate Muslim is. The Guardian hearkens to the ticking bomb in Emily Dickinson's bosom and links it to the shards of crockery on the floor. And if it can't smoke, El Pais Semanal wants everything painted black.
In Prospect, Tim Berners-Lee invites the world to play with the British government's data. England, not Nigeria belongs on the terrorist list, literary Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka informs The Daily Beast. In Rue 89, Beppe Grillo explains why Sarkozy is more dangerous than Berlusconi. In Tygodnik Powszechny, Stefan Chwin mourns for the Polish idealist. Polityka reveals where a Pole turns to when he's not allowed to marry. Olga Tokarczuk walks her Polish tangle around Amsterdam for Salon. And the Guardian thinks about Armenian women rubbing their soft breasts on a stone.
In Wired, Chris Anderson celebrates the next industrial revolution - taking place in garages near you. The Boston Globe serenades the camel - Nabati style. In El Pais Semenal, the sociologist Edgar Morin complains about European lethargy. Outlook India asks why the Australians hate the Indians. Odra and Tygodnik are still debating the impact of freedom on literature. In OpenDemocracy, Salome Zourabichvili mourns for the wilted petals of the rose revolution. In Prospect, Martin Amis divides the literary sheep from the goats, according to the pleasure principle. The NYT profiles a dyed-in-the-wool jihadist from Alabama.
Das Magazin reports on the dramatic increase in the number of pupils who have threatened to gun down their classmates. The Spectator warns City bankers about gun-wielding dominatrices in Switzerland. In Sinn und Form, Marc Fumaroli remembers the man whose name shall not be mentioned: Mario Praz. In the New Humanist, Laurie Taylor remembers the holy men who sexually abused him as a child. The Guardian asks why Theo von Doesburg slipped into avant garde oblivion. And in the NYRB, Garry Kasparov asks why computer chess programmers are so uninspired?
OpenDemocracy explains why a novel called "Paranoia" suddenly disappeared from Belarussian bookshops. Prospect fears that a ban on Islam4UK could undermine British democracy. The Gazeta Wyborcza explores Polish-Jewish relations. Le Monde diplomatique watches the carving up of Africa. In El Pais Semanal, maths whizz Marcus du Sautoy explains the sex appeal of suduko. And Gerhard Richter manages to surprise the Nation.
The New Yorker buries itself in the Arab novel. In Le Monde, Bernard-Henri Levy heaps scorn on the state-run caricature of a debate. Qantara points to the person responsible for all the misery in the Arab world: Daddy. In L'Espresso, Umberto Eco takes a pin to the overblown daily paper. The Nation has earmarked 30 billion dollars to save journalism. In Tygodnik Powszechny, the writer Wojciech Albinski explains what makes Poland exotic. And the Spectator waves a tear-stained old hanky as shabby chic fades into the past.
In Merkur, art historian Wolfgang Ullrich defines a new type of artist: the contractor. In Nepszabadsag, writer Peter Nadas considers the crisis in Hungary and how it might end. In NouvelObs, Francis Ford Coppola explains why DVDs should be free. Eurozine introduces Lithuanian literature. In the New York Review of Books, Wyatt Manson asks why Pleiade is omitting Celine's anti-Semitic trilogy from the collected works. In Express, Philippe Gavi reminds us that Mohammed was not a crazed killer. A Californian marvels in NZZ Folio, at the reincarnation of an Indian factory worker. And confronted with the recent proliferation of literary cuddling, the New York Times yearns for a bit of Philip Roth.
Wired tracks James Cameron's 32-year quest to out-Lucas Lucas. In Nouvel Obs, Alain Finkielkraut and Alain Badiou tear each other apart over immigration and national identity. Tygodnik Powszechny introduces the pioneering artist Miroslaw Balka. Andras Bozoki asks why Hungarians are undermining democracy. In The New Statesman, Leo McKinstry explains why the bombing of Coventry was an inspiration to the British Air Staff.
Vanity Fair goes in search of a superpartner. Elet es Irodalom reads a new collection of essays by Imre Keresz. Outlook India complains about journalistic corruption. The New Yorker reads a new Koestler biography. Nepszabadsag foresees the next French revolution. Rue89 wonders about the provenance of prawns. And in the New Republic, Moshe Halberthal celebrates the sublime humility of Amartya Sen.
In Wilson Quarterly, the economist Tyler Cowen sings an ode to multitasking. Prospect has seen the monsters of the left. The Boston Globe follows James C. Scott to the new Shangri-La in the mountains of Tibet. Weltwoche is up in arms about the criticism of Switzerland's anti-minaret vote. In the Novel Obs, Pierre Nora applies his mind to the bestseller. New Criterion knows why the Pop art bubble won't pop. NZZ Folio examines the chicken nugget. Al Ahram asks what political Islam wants. The Walrus mourns for the first victim of the C-58. In Resetdoc, Joseph Massad explains why Arab homosexuals are an invention of the West.
Slovenian poet Ales Debeljak argues for a fusion of cultures in Eurozine. Umberto Eco agrees in Le Monde. The Nation portrays the Salvadorian author Horacio Castellanos Moya, who himself explains in Babelia why 200 years after independence there's nothing to celebrate in a number of Latin American countries. Polityka lies Poland down on the couch. La vie des idees reads a book on Jews and the resistance in France. Americans read more than Europeans, writes historian Peter Baldwin in Merkur. And in The New York Review of Books Robert Darnton makes two bold proposals for a new Book Settlement.