Regulars

p. 3 Editor’s Note

p. 6 The Q&A Journalist and author Nesrine Malik

p. 9 Witness Compiled by Samira Shackle

p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin

columns

p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka

p. 18 Rights The abuse scandal that has rocked Poland’s Church By Madeline Roache Contents Winter 2019

p. 16 Cosmos The alien creatures that live in our bodies By Marcus Chown

p. 69 In a word “Will” By Michael Rosen

p. 74 Endgame Not to be continued By Laurie Taylor

Features

Richard Smyth on the nature cure, page 34

“The classroom became a mirror for the politics of wider society” Antonia Dawes, page 60

p. 22 History How nostalgia and mythmaking shape both sides of the Brexit debate By Charlotte Lydia Riley

p. 26 Medicine A revolutionary new gene therapy could help us – as long as we get the economics right By Peter Forbes

p. 30 Cover story The conventional model of rational debate is broken, and here’s how to fix it By Eleanor Gordon-Smith

p. 34 Outdoors Why do we so often turn to the natural landscape when we want to be cured of our ills? By Richard Smyth

p. 38 Reportage Is Uzbekistan’s thaw the real deal, or just a show for tourists? By Marc Bennetts

p. 42 Ideas How the illusion of a borderless world masks the violence of our age By Achille Mbembe Culture

p. 48 Music In praise of the trailblazing elder stateswomen of rock By Samira Ahmed

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New Humanist | Winter 2019