---
title: "The Autumn 2015 New Humanist is out now!"
date: "2015-08-19T11:41:51+01:00"
modified: "2015-08-19T11:41:51+01:00"
url: "https://rationalists.org.uk/2015/08/19/the-autumn-2015-new-humanist-is-out-now/"
post_id: 6427
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# The Autumn 2015 New Humanist is out now!

![Cover](https://rationalists.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/1508-Cover-web.jpg)

The Autumn 2015 issue of *New Humanist* is on sale now! You can find it in branches of WH Smith at mainline train stations, airports and selected high street stores.

**Live in the UK?** **[Subscribe now and get six months of New Humanist for just £1](/promo/NS6MWE15)! See below for details**.

Highlights include:

**Cover story – Murder in Bangladesh: Samira Shackle** investigates the killings of atheist writers. Four people have been killed this year, but these murders are only the latest violence against unbelievers,

> “These brutal crimes have gone unpunished; initial arrests have not led to prosecutions. The government appears unwilling, or unable, to stand with atheists. Instead, in an attempt to appease Islamists, it has ramped up its own actions against “blasphemous” bloggers. Secularists are terrified. Many have stopped writing altogether, some have left the country and others are desperately seeking an exit. Who is behind these attacks on atheists, a tiny subset of the Muslim-majority population? And can Bangladesh’s secular tradition survive in the face of such violence?”

**PLUS:**

- **Julian Baggini** goes to church: the philosopher reflects on giving an atheist sermon to Oxford’s University Church of St Mary the Virgin – and the possibility for common ground.
- “I have one choice left in this matter: to not drink and live or to drink and die”: **John Doran** on alcoholism.
- In the future, will we be cyborgs? Body modification has now entered the mainstream. **Ray Filar** asks whether this new technology could be the path to liberation.
- **Elizabeth Wilson** looks at the cult of Roger Federer and the devotion of the tennis fan.
- As the world’s population grows and becomes increasingly urbanised, how will we live? **Douglas Murphy** explores the city of the future.
- **Mark Fisher** on the strange death of British satire.
- **Agata Pyzik** talks to a new director exposing corruption, power and lies in turbulent post-Soviet Ukraine.
- Would a more careful reading of religious texts prevent violence? **Keith Kahn-Harris** reviews Jonathan Sacks’ new book.
- **Fatema Ahmed** surveys the unique, inquiring writing of Jenny Diski.
- Nobel Prize-winning scientist **Frank Wilczek** on the joys of physics.
- A new poem by **Ruth Padel**; columns from **Michael Rosen, Laurie Taylor, Marcus Chown**, and **Terri Murray**; cartoons by **Martin Rowson** and **Grizelda**; **Niki Seth-Smith** on the happiness industry; book reviews; cryptic crossword; and **Chris Maslanka**‘s quiz.

*Get [six months of New Humanist for just £1](/promo/NS6MWE15)! UK customers, direct debit only. After six months your subscription will continue at the annual rate of £27. You can cancel at any time. Overseas readers can [subscribe for £27 a year or take out a digital-only subscription for £10](/supportus).*