Four Thought

Former England cricketer Ed Smith argues that too much professionalism in sport and in other areas of life spoils rather than promotes the chance of success.

Geneticist Prof Steve Jones reflects on the legacy of the father of eugenics, Francis Galton, and warns against the danger of overstatement by geneticists

Prof Felipe Fernandez-Armesto explodes what he sees as the newly revived myth of the Protestant work ethic and debunks cultural explanations for economic progress or decline in different parts of the world.

Author of "Gulag", Anne Applebaum, asks how governments can best compensate victims of former repressive regimes and turn secret police records into meaningful archives.

Political scientist Philip Cowley discusses how politicians have changed to reflect the political landscape around them. He uses letters from leading politicians to show how today's politicians compare favourably to those of the 1950s. And he has a small confession to make.

Writer Jake Wallis Simons describes how an ancient row within Tibetan Buddhism is causing a modern schism, and why it led him to give up Buddhism for good.

Writer Johann Hari argues that our demand for gadgets has helped to drive the war in the Congo. He says it is a resource war, being fought for minerals like coltan, which finds its way into everything from mobile phones to games consoles. He asks why our governments have not taken forceful action to stop the trade.

Judge and historian Jonathan Sumption discusses modern apologies for historical events. Starting with Tony Blair's apology for the Irish potato famine and Pope John Paul II's 94 such apologies, he argues that the trend is turning into a tide.

Columnist Christina Patterson discusses her own experiences of terrible nursing care. She asks why we keep making excuses for bad nursing when good care is so important, and maintains that whatever the pressures on them nurses always have a choice about how they behave.

Professor of social anthropology Tom Gill recalls some memorable and unsettling incidents he witnessed during his fieldwork with homeless people in Japan and explores their implications.

The Jewish psychotherapist and journalist Naomi Shragai discusses what she learned from marrying out, and what we all could. She describes how her mother's stories about returning from the concentration camps became embedded in her mind, and how years living in a Jewish neighbourhood in Los Angeles left her beliefs unchallenged.

Author and leading Egyptian intellectual Dr Ahdaf Soueif reflects on the Egyptian uprising and describes how the anti-Mubarak protests have allowed Egyptians to reconnect with thousands of years of history and regain their sense of self.

Photographer David Goldblatt argues that current models of urban redevelopment are broken, and need replacing. He draws a contrast between developments: the multi-million pound apartments of One Hyde Park in London, and Stoke's Croft in Bristol, with its 'don't develop Stoke's Croft, let Stoke's Croft develop' ethos.

Historian Lord Peter Hennessy discusses joining what he has spent a lifetime writing about: the British constitution. At a time of constitutional upheaval, what does the second house still provide?

Scientist and broadcaster Baroness Susan Greenfield discusses her life's ambition, and how stories develop our brains.