House

By Julia Raeside, Will Hodgkinson, Andrew Mueller, Phelim O'Neill Children in Need 2009 | Unreported World | Don Carlo from the Royal Opera House | Animate TV Children in Need 2009 7pm, BBC1 Unreported World 7.30pm, Channel 4 Don Carlo from the Royal Opera House 8pm, BBC4 Animate TV 12midnight, Channel 4

By Michael White But I sense growing detachment, alienation, indifference, among my children's generation, affecting all social classes too. The old ruling class has scattered, Labour's half-reform of the House of Lords furthering that process significantly.

By Mark Lawson Comedians have expressed similar fears. Frankie Boyle was censured for jokes about the appearance and sexual prowess of the Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington on Mock the Week, a series he has now left. David Mitchell, who suffered substantial complaints but no discipline for a joke abou...

By Brad Friedman Its a breath of fresh air to see a White House finally willing to offer an official definition of what the Fox News Channel actually is and, in turn, to witness the nattering nabobs of nincompoopery waste their time by spinning viewers with tales of yet another imaginary war – this one where...

And that means that politicians must learn the right lesson from this episode. It is that we must always be bold enough to champion freedom – of the individual, of the press, of institutions – and resist the temptation to meddle, and to jerk the knee every time there is a critical headline.

By Paul Harris But out in the crowd the ugly face of some modern conservatives was not hard to find. There were 12 arrests. One protester wore a mask of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with handfuls of bloody foetuses. Another protester held up a picture of piles of Jewish corpses from Dachau concentration camp. "...

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By Stuart Jeffries Do you feel as though you've grown up in the last few years? " I'm definitely more – what's the word? – considered and I'm definitely happier. Not just because of my wife and son, which is amazing. The best thing is I'm doing stuff. I put a lot of effort into the show, which means that I can sleep at ni...