ontents Autumn 2014

Regulars p. 5 Editor’s Note p. 7 Letters p. 8 The Q+A Author Carys Bray on her strict Mormon upbringing and her debut novel p. 11 Witness Dispatches on culture,

science and politics p. 72 The Big Question Is pacifism a humanist value?

p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka columns p. 10 Politics The enduring appeal of conspiracy theories By Andrew Mueller

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Tan gS an p. 18 Music The rise and fall of Robin Thicke By Reni Eddo-Lodge p. 71 Football The ethics of being a fan By Juliet Jacques p. 74 Endgame Who’s the man with the knife in his back? By Laurie Taylor

Climbing the Shard, p. 38

The Americans, p. 54

‘‘It’s easy to talk about victimhood when you’ve never been a victim”

oby Lichtig, page 34

Features p. 20 Society Extremism or backlash: what really happened in Birmingham’s schools?

By Samira Shackle p. 24 Cover story

Ten cosmic myths exploded By Marcus Chown p. 30 Interview How actor and comedian Tim Minchin conquered the world By Ariane Sherine p. 34 History What does it mean to mark the Holocaust, as it slips from living memory?

By Toby Lichtig p. 38 Environment Are we more awestruck by human achievements than we are by nature?

By Alice Bell p. 40 Rituals Non-belief is changing the way we handle death – but there’s still something missing By Sally Feldman ulture p. 44 Ideas Remembering Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggart By Caspar Melville p. 50 Literature The work of Muriel Spark

By Fatema Ahmed p. 54 Television A Cold War thriller has us cheering for the Soviets

By Mark Fisher p. 58 Travel The occult economy is thriving in South Africa

By Sarah Emily Duff

Books p. 62-69 Reviews Jonathan Rée on the secular debt to Christianity; David Wearing on the global

South; Yo Zushi on Dylanology; Andrew Copson on the trouble with Islamophobia; Lee Rourke’s fiction round-up p. 70 The arts interview

Isabel Allende poetry Kim Moore (p. 49); Ruth Fainlight (p. 53); Lars Palm

(p. 57); Leah Fritz (p. 61)

New Humanist | Autumn 2014

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