麻豆约拍

Andrew Marr is joined by four guests to talk about their predictions for 2008. What can we expect from the worlds of politics, culture and science?

JOHN MICKLETHWAIT, the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist magazine, argues that the world in 2008 will be watching eagerly both the US presidential election and the Olympic Games in Beijing.

How are we preparing for a possible flu pandemic? And what is the biggest challenge for the NHS at 60? SIR LIAM DONALDSON, Chief Medical Officer for England and the United Kingdom鈥檚 Chief Medical Adviser, discusses the key public health issues of 2008.

Social commentator POLLY TOYNBEE predicts 2008 will be a year of increasing inequality and calls on Gordon Brown to re-brand himself as a champion of fairness. She highlights Britain鈥檚 poor record on obesity and questions whether we can hit targets on reducing child poverty.

The novelist WILLIAM BOYD is the guest editor of the 100th issue of Granta magazine, which brings together the best of contemporary writing in English. He argues that in some cases events are outstripping the imagination and we may have to wait at least 20 years before the great novel about our times is written. For the moment we can enjoy the current boom in British poetry, and revel in great prose which he firmly believes is still the best genre for describing the human condition.