Regulars

p. 3 Editor’s Note

p. 6 The Q&A Geneticist Adam Rutherford

p. 9 Witness Compiled by Samira Shackle

p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin

columns

p. 18 Inheritance The dangerous trend for using DNA to explain our successes and failures By Angela Saini Contents Winter 2018

p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka

p. 16 Cosmos How solar flares could send us back to a pre-electrical age By Marcus Chown

p. 74 Endgame Over-the-hill professor seeks similar By Laurie Taylor

Features

4

Charlotte L. Riley on Niall Ferguson, page 66

“I felt now more than ever the need for art – not as an escape but as nourishment” Samira Ahmed, page 46

p. 22 History The complicated relationship between communism and religion By Mike Makin-Waite

p. 26 Ethics As the west wages war on opiates, the rest of the world cries out for relief By Niki Seth-Smith

p. 34 Cover story Archaeology shows that the future is in our hands By David Graeber and David Wengrow Culture

p. 30 Ideas Does philosophy help us reach a more rational and tolerant way of living? By Julian Baggini

p. 46 Now playing How social turmoil is leading to a flourishing of the arts By Samira Ahmed

p. 50 Education The excuses for why men dominate maths simply don’t add up By David Berry

p. 54 Outdoors Mountain rescue groups are an inspiring example of human cooperation in action By James Poulter

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New Humanist | Winter 2018