New Humanist

🚨 Our Spring 2026 issue is out today! In a new era of brazen propaganda, we're celebrating the heroes of free thought on the frontlines of the battle against dogma and ideology. Let's take a look inside... 🧵 newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6513/…

Genetic data collected in hospital rooms, wastewater, prisons, care homes and detention centres can and is being used for people’s benefit. But what if it’s used against them? newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6529

"Parasocial relationships are the most normal thing in the world" newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6525

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In 1831, Aurore Dupin moved from the countryside to Paris, adopted a male name, gained permission to wear men’s clothing in public, and eventually became one of France's first great women writers under the nom de plume George Sand. This is her extraordinary story newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6532

Why comedy is the best tool for education newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6525

George Sand is synonymous with the 19th century, France and the extraordinary written culture of that time and place. But how did she become such a literary giant? newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6532

From "moral climate" to "climate action", poet and author @MichaelRosenYes digs into the changing use of the word "climate", and what it tells us about the world, in the latest edition of his language column for New Humanist: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6534

Exciting developments in genomics are helping us curb disease outbreaks. But the same science could be used for genetic surveillance or discriminatory practices. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6529

“A group of British International Socialists smuggled alcohol into one camp, got drunk, held an impromptu sing-song, and then got into a fight with a group of British Maoists.” Such was the life of a "revolutionist" in the 1970s: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6526

When Olga Koch started gaining a profile as a stand-up comedian, she noticed she was becoming the object of parasocial relationships. Intrigued by this weird phenomenon, she ended up going to Oxford to study it. This is what she found: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6525

Independent, ethical, evidence-driven journalism is needed more than ever. If you enjoy what you read in New Humanist, please consider supporting us with a subscription. They start from just £10 a year. Every single one helps us to continue our work: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

With rapid advances in pathogen genomics, how do we leverage this technology to prevent disease while simultaneously protecting people from privacy violations, unfair discrimination, and other moral wrongs? Read a bioethicist's take: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6529

"In Russia, money is luck; in America, money is hard work; and in the UK, money is something you get from your dad" newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6525

How George Sand - one of France’s first great women writers - became a trailblazing rule-breaker and a literary giant newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6532

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The therapists helping people break free from cults newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6528

Meet the women fighting back against Europe's "last dictator" newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6522

"There is a difference between revolutionaries and revolutionists. Revolutionaries are zealous, but also organised and methodical, which is why they sometimes win. Revolutionists, by contrast, are essentially grandstanders and cosplayers, vastly more interested in means than ends" newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6526

A digital subscription to New Humanist includes access to our 140-year archive, with exclusive contributions from some of the greatest thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries - including Iris Murdoch, George Bernard Shaw and Amartya Sen. All that for £10. Join us today newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

“In a situation of absolute control, where people are reduced to the status of animals, the very fact of preserving one’s dignity is an act of resistance." Hear about life for political prisoners inside Belarus's penal colonies - and how they refuse to back down newhumanist.org.uk/articles/6522