Fabulous acting, an evocative set and an even better script make Abnormal Loads – a dark comedy set in a rural Zulu town – one of those rare productions where even the ever-discerning LESLEY STONES can’t figure out which bit of it she liked best.

The response to the attack on Pearl Harbor was something new. It was the first aircraft carrier-based, strategic air raid, designed to attack a distant nation’s homeland from the sea. In effect, it was the birth moment of strategic air power and doctrine. J BROOKS SPECTOR explores its meaning for its own time and for today.

You’ve forgotten how brilliant it was last year, but you’ve been reminded by the cover on the newsstand. Thankfully, Time is back with its 2012 list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. Always ahead of the pack, this year the influential magazine has chosen as its focus the Internet and social media. By KEVIN BLOOM.

It takes a special kind of person to turn mathematics into a theatrical experience. It takes a special kind of audience to appreciate it too, judging by the small gathering of ticket holders for Powerbrain, The Mentalist Sequel. By LESLEY STONES.

The land of the free and the home of the brave is witnessing a systematic attack on sexual liberties, says American sex therapist and public policy analyst, Dr Marty Klein. He believes that if this war isn’t fought, it will have a disastrous effect on secular pluralism in the US. We could do well to watch and learn. By MANDY DE WAAL.

The first episode of international whistle-blower Julian Assange’s new talk show, The World Tomorrow, aired on Tuesday night on Russian TV. REBECCA DAVIS watched it and was underwhelmed.

It’s rare in the modern publishing world to come across a tale of such epic dedication and achievement, but then Robert Caro, the multi award-winning biographer of Lyndon B. Johnson, is no ordinary writer. He’s spent almost 40 years on his subject, and when the fourth volume in the series is released in May, he still won’t be done. Does the word “obsession” apply? By KEVIN BLOOM.

The country’s tertiary learning systems are in a mess. They haven’t been upgraded since the 1970s. Rather than leaving the problem to the politicians, Gossy Ukanwoke is creating an online university called Beni American University for Nigeria. By MANDY DE WAAL.

Talha Ahsan is suspected of being a terrorist. He has languished in British custody since 2006. He has Asperger’s syndrome and he is fighting extradition to the US, where he could be sentenced to 70 years’ solitary confinement. The extradition treaty says US authorities don’t need to give proof of their suspicions to get their suspect. By KHADIJA PATEL.

Why do South African English-speakers say “now-now”, or “rock up”, or the ubiquitous “shame”? Rajend Mesthrie has the answers in Eish, but is it English? By REBECCA DAVIS.

Do we judge people by their personalities or by their appearances? This is the question that award-winning US playwright and film-maker Neil LaBute tries to address in his 2004 play. By LESLEY STONES.

Isobel Dixon’s virtuoso collection of poems, The Tempest Prognosticator, finds the measure of “multispecies knots” in human-animal relations, writes WENDY WOODWARD.

If he is not evading the possibly imagined dark forces of the Czech Republic, then he is battling with the South African judicial system. In fact, his life sounds as persecuted as that of another imaginative Czech, Franz Kafka, except that Krejcir almost always has a ready smile. And a battery of lawyers. By KARYN MAUGHAN.

The Democratic Alliance ’s messaging still exhibits the same tone-deafness that keeps a key demographic wary. The best example of this must be the  “Eish, Thabo” campaign introduced by the party’s Gauteng legislature leader. By OSIAME MOLEFE.

After felling global media conqueror Rupert Murdoch and making world history with Wikileaks, The Guardian faces its biggest challenge yet: being the good media folks who actually make money. By MANDY DE WAAL.

One hundred years after the sinking of the Titanic, the event’s principal tragedy – the more than 1,500 people who died that icy night notwithstanding – is the boat’s cultural legacy. In particular, the song that closed the James Cameron movie of the same name. The ship did not go on, but that song sure has. RICHARD POPLAK is still haunted by it.

Monday sees the start of the trial of Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing terrorist who killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting spree in Norway’s capital last July. REBECCA DAVIS looks at the intersection between Scandinavia’s hugely popular crime fiction and its right-wing underworld.

“Scathing” is how the government described Media Monitoring Africa’s assessment that reporting on the Protection of State Information Bill has been poor and one-sided. Unsurprisingly, that was taken as an affirmation that media in this country operate with an anti-government bias. OSIAME MOLEFE takes a more in-depth look at the issue.

The Nineties in South Africa witnessed a musical explosion that saw alternative, indie and goth bands cut through bubble gum pop to forever redefine local music. Cape Town group Fetish was at the forefront of that musical revolution, but faltered in a market that was too small to support them. Ten years later they’re back to chase the dream. By MANDY DE WAAL.

It’s early April and the height of the Broadway theatre season. Very quietly, a lion has run down a phantom – at the theatrical box office, that is. According to newly released figures, The Lion King had officially become the highest grossing show on Broadway, nosing ahead of The Phantom of the Opera. But these shows are starting to resemble fast-food production lines. By J BROOKS SPECTOR.

Once again, it’s the anniversary of the Swazi constitution, which allows King Mswati III to rule by decree. Protests are gathering momentum and 15 unionists affiliated to the Trade Union Congress of Swaziland  have been arrested. South African unions have spoken out in solidarity with the protestors. The government has not. By GREG NICOLSON.

We all know who killed AWB leader Eugene Terreblanche, but what we don’t know is why. Was it a case of sexual provocation? Was it straightforward revenge? Was it racial? Will we ever know? Probably not. By Karyn Maughan.

The German Nobel laureate last week published a poem, which rallied thousands of Germans to the cause of Israel-bashing and revealed what may be his anti-Semitic tendencies. Unsurprisingly, the reaction from the Netanyahu administration was just as void of class. By KEVIN BLOOM.

Well, well, well. Right on cue, the SABC has enmeshed itself in ANC intra-party politics. The head of news, Phil Molefe, has been suspended for apparently granting too much airtime to Julius Malema. The ANC Youth League’s response to the statement indicates that they enjoyed the attention. It all has a very familiar ring to it. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

From a small space in Hillbrow, Blessing Ngobeni is producing award-winning work reminiscent of the style of Miró, but it’s work that is fiercely critical of South Africa’s political elite. This year’s winner of a major art award, Ngobeni now has the opportunity to ensure his work reaches a broader canvas in his quest to open people’s eyes to South Africa’s lived reality. By MANDY DE WAAL.

On the face of it, it was just another small-town murder. But even after policeman William Nkuna was convicted for killing Frances Rasuge and his sangoma, Madimetja  Kutumela, was exonerated, the fear remains. Kutumela was run out of town and people of Themba still fear the imprisoned Nkuna. Why? KARYN MAUGHAN reports.

On eve of the 19th anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani, Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi tweeted: “[His] passion & hatred of injustices serves [sic] as a great inspiration. Strongly believe that SA would be a better place if he was around”. It’s part of a trend to acclaim the former SACP general secretary as the eternal champion of South Africa’s disenchanted. By RANJENI MUNUSAMY.

As the furore over the shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin shows no sign of dying down, there’s every indication that America is engaging in the kind of national conversation about race that hasn’t been seen for years. By REBECCA DAVIS.

In Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (Harvard University Press, 2011), Rob Nixon performs a dense but stylish call to activism, writes HEDLEY TWIDLE.