New Humanist ##

CONTENTS

124 (2009)/4 (July/Aug.)

REGULARS
5 Editorial Support Singh
6 Yours sceptically Readers' letters
8 Parish news
49 Chris Maslanka's Quiz
50 Endgame Laurie Taylor ruffles a few feathers
FEATURES
13 Prometheus bound Paul Kurtz, pioneer of American humanism, has been ousted from the organisation he founded. R Joseph Hoffman, a former colleague, traces the origins of the split
16 Interview
Laurie Taylor meets the Marxist critic gunning for the New Atheists
22 Pimping Ida
The real missing link in the Ida story is that between modern science and PR, says Kenan Malik
25 What kind of humanist are you? Are you hardline or happy, hedonist or hounded? Try our quiz
28 Liberty, the Left and Lolita
Great liberal or shallow dilettante? Jonathan Rée assesses the legacy of Isaiah Berlin
30 Rhythm rites
Crispin Robinson explains why he has become initiated in an Afro-Cuban drumming cult
34 Truth, hope and light
The language of morality has been hijacked by the Right, argues Susan Neiman
37 A gospel of our own
How does humanism go down with the kids? Danny Postel reports from the front line of the dogma wars
40 Shock and bore
Cult rocker, provocateur and now "living work of art". Fiona Russell Powell tracks down her old friend Genesis P-Orridge
43 What kind of humanist are you?
Answers to the quiz
COLUMNS
9 Diary
Dawkins and Dylan Thomas made a fitting funeral for the late Sir John Maddox
11 Opinion
The child abuse scandal has finally opened Irish eyes, says Newton Emerson
BOOK REVIEWS
44 Michael Bywater takes on the corporations with Douglas Rushkoff
46 Philip Womack praises a formidable Egyptian novel
46 Nina Power on a good Dark Ages argument made for the wrong reasons
48 Louise Foxcroft is perplexed by a book that squeezes the life out of the Black Death
48 Andrew Mueller appreciates a note-perfect history of recorded music

124 (2009)/3 (May/June)

REGULARS
3 Editorial
Faith in freedom
6 Parish news
8 Yours sceptically
Readers' letters
49 Hell's kitchen
Chris Maslanka's quiz
50 Endgame
Laurie Taylor sees his name in lights
FEATURES
10 Not all that is solid
Is the cloth-cap economy really a thing of the past? asks Kevin Doogan
14 Mills and minarets
Can the government prevent radicalisation? Paul Sims investigates
18 Growing minds
New Humanist Visits the Mustard Seed Secular School in Uganda
21 Yield of dreams
Embrace GM food and we can help fight hunger, says Angela Saini
24 Sphere of influence
Owen Hatherley stands up for blogging
26 Freedom's foghorn
Roger Davidson raises a glass to Tom Paine
31 Red alert
Sally Feldman uncovers the myriad shades of lipstick
34 Shadow boxing
It's time to regain faith in universal values, says Kenan Malik
37 Not with a bang but a simper
Michael Neumann laments the death of English liberty
40 Gothic revival
Edgar Allan Poe has much to teach humanists, says Nick Mamatas
28 Free market faith
God's back, deal with it. Caspar Melville hears the Economist line on belief
COLUMNS
7 Diary
A 52-year-old reservist on serving in Afghanistan
13 Opinion
Why do we love conspiracies? David Aaronovitch has a theory
43 The art of phwoar
Online porn is tragic in a less than classical way finds Michael Bywater
BOOK REVIEWS
44 Stephen Howe on a monumental, snarling study of South Africa
46 Benjamin Noys discovers the modern mutations of eugenics
46 Nina Power tires of Slavoj Zizek and his monstrous essays
48 Marcus Chown learns how the Catholic Church silenced Galileo
49 Philip Womack is blown away by Hilary Mantel's historical epic

124 (2009)/2 (Mar./Apr.)

REGULARS
3 Editorial
Puzzling history
6 Parish news
7 Diary
Natalie Haynes finds even geeks can be offended
8 Yours sceptically
Readers' letters
49 Bonus balls
Chris Maslanka's quiz
50 Endgame Laurie Taylor is standing up for himself
FEATURES
11 In praise of the coup
African tyrants are only afraid of their own armies. It's a threat we can use, says Paul Collier
14 Hatefest
Ian Williams looks ahead to the UN's big anti-racism jamboree
16 Red pilgrims
Michail Ryklin talks to Caspar Melville about the faith at the heart of communism
21 The unlovable press
Is tabloid muck-raking really important to democracy? asks Julian Petley
241 Nick Cohen
visits liberal Britain on its sickbed
25 God Trumps Part II
We bring you 12 more faiths and their foibles in our fabulous parlour game
28 Fault lines
Twenty-five years ago the strike began that changed everything. Francis Beckett reports
30 Bad vibrations
From Guantánamo to next door, music can be torture. Martin Cloonon on the abuses of sound
36 Moral dilemmas
Steven Lukes on the secular basis for judging others
39 Lost in the maelstrom
Fifty years on, CP Snow's vision for the humanities lives on, says Eliane Glaser
42 Blog standard
What kind of books do online pundits write? Stephen Howe reports
33 Green-eyed monster
Is Jealousy an intrinsic part of human nature?asks Sally Feldman
BOOK REVIEWS
44 AC Grayling wants religion out of science for good
46 Bill Thompson finds out what Google would do
47 Philip Womack grapples with a controversial epic
48 Lindsay Johns is impressed by Kenan Malik's take on Rushdie and race
49 Jenny Bunker never quite learns what really killed Socrates

124 (2009)/1 (Jan./Feb.)

REGULARS
3 Editorial
Fine lessons
6 Parish news
7 Diary
Christina Martin traces the reaction to our godbashing card game
8 Yours sceptically
Readers' letters
49 You're fired!
Chris Maslanka's quiz
50 Endgame
Laurie Taylor is running on empty
FEATURES
10 Unsafe havens
A reliance on faith groups endangers trafficked women, says Rahila Gupta
14 Power struggle
Angela Saini meets the greens finally coming round to nuclear
18 In the burning house
Artist Anna Alchuk was destroyed by state-sponsored religious fanaticism, says her husand Michail Ryklin
22 Before the dawn
Could the blogosphere herald an end to Iranian apathy? asks Nasrin Alavi
26 Bad Faith Awards
Find out which deluded fantasist walked away with our prestigious annual prize
28 True disbelievers
There's no excuse for a New Atheist revision of history says Theodore Dalrymple
30 Days of atonement
Religious bigotry is blocking Israeli hopes of peace, finds Sally Feldman
34 Darwin's journey
For poet Ruth Padel the great man's 200th birthday is a family celebration
36 Muslim metal
Mark LeVine visits the hard rockers of the Arab world
39 Space invaders
New towns could transform the future, says Owen Hatherley
42 Chasing shadows
For photographer Santu Mofokeng, the ghosts of apartheid are everywhere
BOOK REVIEWS
44 Brenda Maddox enjoys some Renaissance history
45 Philip Womack barely survives the tedium of a new Chinese novel
46 Bill Thompson gets down with the teenagers
46 James Randerson encounters a strange legend of physics
48 Andrew Mueller enjoys some journalism with a human touch
48 Nina Power considers complicity in Iraq

123 (2008)/6 (Nov./Dec.)

REGULARS
3 Editorial
Viva la Revolucion
6 Parish news
8 Yours sceptically
Readers' letters
49 Negligent angels
Chris Maslanka's quiz
50 Endgame
Laurie Taylor puts his foot in it
FEATURES
10 Zero confidence
Will crunch lead to punch? asks Steven Lukes
12 Deep trouble
Kerem Oktem visits a Turkey caught between theocracy and fascism
16 Nine lessons and carols for godless people
Ricky Gervais, Robin Ince, Phill Jupitus, Natalie Haynes, Darren Hayman and many more...
24 Changing our minds
The brain is far more flexible than we thought, says Norman Doidge
26 God trumps
Which religion is simply the best? Find out by playing our exclusive festive card game
28 Uncertainty principle
Alexei Sayle tells LaurieTaylor why he no longer needs to be right
32 Something to declare
Human rights means favouring the downtrodden, says Conor Gearty
35 Hingland flings
Sally Feldman finds out what's under the kilt
39 Dangerous mind?
Edward Said has been subjected to a torrent of accusations. Stephen Howe fillets the facts
42 All that is solid melts into art
Damien Hirst is the artist we deserve, says Daniel Miller
18 Fifty years of solitude
After Castro, what will the Cuban people believe? Roger Davidson reports from Havana
COLUMNS
7 Diary
Ariane Sherine invites you on board the Atheist Bus Campaign
15 Opinion
Rabbi Jonathan Remain makes the religious case against faith schools
38 Thinker
Thomas Aquinas was no man of reason, argues Shadia Drury
BOOK REVIEWS
44 Michael Binyon is impressed by Gilles Kepel's analysis of Jihad
45 Philip Womack finds redemption in a Norwegian classic
46 Nina Power takes philosophy lessons from a wolf
46 James Crabtree is not quite convinced by Jeff Sharlet's family
48 Jenny Bunker rues a missed opportunity
48 Stuart Sim visits George Pelecanos's mean streets

123 (2008)/5 (Sep./Oct.)

REGULARS
3 Editorial
Something to believe in
6 Parish news
8 Yours sceptically
Readers' letters
49 Court logic
Chris Maslanka's quiz
50 Endgame
Laurie Taylor takes a stroll
FEATURES
10 Faith Healers
Edna Fernandes explores the interfaith business
13 Unmasked
Who's behind the anti-Scientology protests? Paul Sims finds out
16 Sex appeal
The Religious Right has discovered the joys of the flesh, says Dagmar Herzog
20 How do I look?
We can't see what we don't understand, explains Richard Gregory
22 Fathers under fire
Elizabeth Wilson unveils this season's scapegoat
27 Origin of the specious
AC Grayling wades into Intelligent Design
30 Speak Up
Sally Feldman explores the sexual politics of the voice
34 Without illusions
Doug Ireland talks to Ronald Aronson, author of Living Without God
38 What lies beneath
Even the godless need spirituality says Paul Heelas
42 Cold flesh
Owen Hatherley on Francis Bacon's chilly humanism
24 'Follow God, work and provoke no one'
Richard Dowden meets the Mourides of Senegal
COLUMNS
7 Diary
Comedian Nick Doody dusts off his death penalty gags
37 Opinion
Martin Rowson sums up the history and future of the world, in one word
BOOK REVIEWS
44 Jenny Bunker is at ease with a secular conscience
44 Natalie Haynes is not amused by a new study of humour
46 Caroline Moorhead reviews an impressive new series on censorship
48 Philip Womack wonders why Peter Ackroyd has meddled with a classic
48 Stephen Howe on a new history of Cromwell's Irish adventure