Tribune – Comment, news and reviews from Britain's democratic left

Why Poetry Matters
Looking For John Donne: Simon Schama
Armando Ianucci: Milton’s Heaven And Hell
BBC 2

HOW do you present poetry on television? It’s much easier on the radio, you might think, but the BBC has been determined to have a bash at it by including its digital and terrestrial television channels in its Poetry Season. Kicking off the main gigs on BBC 2 was Griff Rhys Jones as frontman for Why Poetry Matters – a lively effort involving schoolkids, rap artists and our favourite Welsh windbag scampering through a field of daffodils. Someone behind the camera obviously had an electric cattle prod in hand to ginger him up should enthusiasm flag, but he made a pretty good fist of it.

Afghanistan: The Mirage of Peace
by Chris Johnson and Jolyon Leslie
Zed Books, £14.99

With President Barack Obama announcing a drawdown of US troop numbers in Iraq and more boots on the ground for the war in Afghanistan, it is more important than ever to understand this long-running and often confusing conflict.

Iya-Ile (The First Wife)
Soho Theatre, London

Power breeds contempt and contempt spawns revenge. Set in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1989, Oladipo Agboluaje’s new drama, Iya-Ile (The First Wife), explores the naked abuse of power by focusing on the 40th birthday celebrations of Toyin, the wife of Chief Adeyemi. However, there is a problem that threatens this joyful day. Chief Adeyemi wants his wife’s help in some crucial political networking. But her price – for him to refrain from infidelity – is too high.

The Uses and Abuses of History
by Margaret Macmillan
Profile, £11.99

This is a magnificent book, wise and timely; a must read for world leaders who hold our futures in their hands, and for all of us who care about the future. It tells, in clear, non-academic prose, how politicians have manipulated history down the ages for their own ends. And when they get the history wrong, they tend to get the politics wrong, too.

Angels & Demons
Director: Ron Howard
Imagine an episode of 24 in which, instead of acting swiftly to prevent a major catastrophe, Jack Bauer paused to show off his erudition. This is the experience of watching Angels & Demons, the second film to feature Dan Brown’s educated alter ego, Dr Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks). This time, the distinguished academic is tasked with saving four cardinals in four hours and then locating a vial containing a virus that could destroy the Vatican, which is on the brink of electing a new pope. Langdon spends a good portion of vital time explaining stuff for our benefit.

Why is There No Labor Party in the United States by Robin Archer
Princeton University Press, £24.95

Obamamania has taken over the USA. A commitment to change – including better healthcare, reforms in favour of organised labour and state intervention to invest in jobs and skills to grow the economy out of recession – suggest a new era for ordinary working Americans. Obama’s new emphasis on tackling climate change and creating new green jobs into the bargain seals the deal on this new tomorrow which rather begs the question is there a need for a Labor Party in this new era for union-backed Democrats?

Neil Young at the recent Linz Film Festival saw one movie outshine all the competition

Dispatches: Britain’s Bankers – Still Cashing In
Channel 4

Tears, Lies and Videotape
ITV 1

REMEMBER “the politics of envy”? That useful little phrase parroted by politicians, broadcasters and broadsheet columnists of left and right during the Tony Blair years? It used to be so “old” Labour to criticise the antics of the fat cats in the City of London and Parliament. Well, now it’s the latest craze. Self-styled pundits everywhere, who have dusted off words such as “greed”,“morality” and “fairness” are indulging in orgies of furious finger-wagging at the people they once admired.

England
Whitechapel Gallery, London

IS NATIONAL identity some kind of disease? Described as a play to be performed in galleries, Tim Crouch’s England looks at the relationship between three types of spaces: the art gallery, the church and the hospital. As we literally move across one of these spaces, and traverse the others in our imaginations, we get the sense of how a brush with death can lead us to question our privileged lifestyle.

TO MARK world press freedom day this month PEN, the international writers’ organisation, focused on Mexico. Around the globe, the day is used to remind governments of the importance of a free press and to highlight the risks of imprisonment and death faced by many journalists while attempting to practise their profession.