Regulars p. 3 Editor’s Note p. 6 The Q&A Syria expert Robin Yassin-Kassab p. 9 Witness Contributions on the Brexit referendum p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin p. 74 Endgame I’ve got that shrinking feeling By Laurie Taylor Contents Autumn 2016

p. 72 The Big Question Is eternal life possible, or even desirable?

p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka columns p. 8 Cosmos Why is the Sun hot? By Marcus Chown p. 16 History Who gets to feel guilty? By Reni Eddo-Lodge p. 70 In a Word “Crisis” By Michael Rosen

Toby Lichtig on “effective altruism”, page 18

“Instead of being a pleasure, eating has become an elaborate ritual” Sally Feldman, page 52

Features p. 18 Ethics Should your decision to give to charity be led by the head or the heart? By Toby Lichtig p. 22 Reportage How Pakistan’s madrasas became incubators for extremism – and the fight to win them back By Samira Shackle p. 26 Technology Don’t put your trust in Big Data By James Bridle p. 32 Cover story Why American-style protest tactics are coming to an abortion clinic near you By Rosa Ellis p. 36 Justice On the US Supreme Court, conservatives have the upper hand – for now By Richard Scorer p. 40 Rights The dangerous myth of the “self-hating” homophobe By Alex Macpherson t z r e iswi vo n n i e

: st e pha p. 44 Science The 100-year story of how gravitational waves were discovered By Tosin Thompson co t io n t ra i l lus v e r

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New Humanist | Autumn 2016