Issue 117, February 1999
Culture Wars
Dumbing Down, Wising Up?
All the fuss about 'dumbing down' appears to assume that people are becoming more stupid. On the contrary, says Frank Furedi; it is society's elites that have lowered their standards and embraced the banal
Mark Ryan surveys the degradation of art and culture
Death to the cancer column, argues Jennie Bristow
Sandy Starr on 'modernising' Shakespeare
The world of real-life soap
Richard Kilborn and James Heartfield on the rise of docusoaps
Dr John Maddicott finds Oxford's new history syllabus fragmented, incoherent and confused
asks teacher Joanna Williams
4 Mick Hume: Kick against the pricks
6 LM Online
8 Big sister is watching you Erin Pizzey
10 Stop crucifying queers Peter Tatchell
11 Students afraid of the dark Ellen Raphael
12 Taboos: Abortion for abnormality is not a Nazi business Ann Furedi
14 Confessional writing: enough said Jennie Bristow
16 Sleaze: labouring under an illusion James Heartfield
19 LM Mail
20 Iraq: war without end Brendan O'Neill
21 Opinion: Seriously sick of animal rights Ann Bradley
22 A culture of low expectations Frank Furedi
24 Culture Wars conference
26 The tyranny of relevance Mark Ryan
28 The Bard should be hard Sandy Starr
30 Pieces of history Dr John Maddicott
31 Ahistorical imagination Louise Fahey
32 'Welcome to the world of real-life soap' Richard Kilborn
33 Kitchen-sunk drama James Heartfield
34 Levelling children down Susan Gregory
35 Why scrap grammar schools now? Joanna Williams
36 Practising 'safe' music Simon Napier-Bell
37 Steve Ignorant of Crass talks to Gal détourN
38 alt.culture.lm Should Britain's most prestigious cinema be staging a festival of Carry On films?
41 Second Opinion: NHS crisis - what crisis? Dr Michael Fitzpatrick
42 LM Classified
43 Reading between the lines Mick Hume on John Simpson; Dumb animals and clever science