New Humanist's summer issue explores the rise of the religious right, from the US to Israel, and the growing influence of ideology on geopolitics

–   by Editorial Staff    –

The cover of New Humanist's summer 2024 issue shows a group of suited protesters waving flags and holding loudspeakers against an orange and red background. The cover line reads 'Rise of the fanatics'

The summer 2024 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! This issue we’re delving in to the rise of the religious right, from the US to Israel. Subscribe to the print edition for just £27 a year or buy a single issue online and in all good newsagents. Read on for a peek inside the magazine.

Trump’s bishops

Mary Jo McConahay explains how US Catholic bishops are working with evangelicals to re-install Donald Trump in the White House – and usher in a new era of Christian nationalism.

“Unless they change direction, the bishops along with other ultraconservatives, fuelled by dark money from super-rich donors, may take the US down the perilous road of extremism and autocracy in the coming national elections and beyond.”

Divided Israel

As the Gaza war deepens, divides within the Israeli Jewish population threaten to split the state, writes Alona Ferber.

“There is much to say about the unequal treatment by Israel of Palestinians, including those who are citizens of the state, and what it means for Israel’s future. But critical, too, are the deepening divides among Israeli Jews – secular and religious, Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox – and the strain this is placing on competing visions of what it means to be ‘the Jewish state’. Can Israel resolve its existential tensions and internal contradictions, or will they tear it apart?”

How to be a good citizen

Canadian political philosopher John Ralston Saul speaks to us about nationalism, the future of democracy in the US, and how to be a good citizen.

“We have the right to create disorder, intellectual and emotional disorder.”

The summer 2024 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! Subscribe here for as little as £10 a year for a digital subscription, or £27 for a print subscription.

Star trails from the Earth’s rotation captured using long exposure, above a cattle truck in the Western Australian Wheatbelt
Credit: Alamy

Also in the summer 2024 issue:

  • John Boyce on the remaking of Sinn Féin
  • Isabel Hilton on China’s bid to export its worldview
  • James Ball on why there’s no “wrong side of history”
  • Michael Rosen on the history and meaning of the word “extremism”
  • Broadcaster Chris Packham on what drives his eco-activism
  • Peter Ward on why space junk threatens humanity
  • Richard Pallardy on how viruses could save your life
  • Shaparak Khorsandi on the joys of being sober
  • Samira Ahmed on great thinkers and their clutter
  • Marcus Chown on the woman who discovered black holes – only to be forgotten
  • Marie Le Conte on why we all need to get out more

Plus more fascinating features on the biggest topics shaping our world today, and all our regular science columns, book reviews, original poetry, the cryptic crossword and brainteaser.

Subscribe to the print edition now to get a beautiful copy of the magazine delivered to your door, or choose a digital subscription to read it on the app.

New Humanist, a quarterly magazine of culture, ideas, science and philosophy, is published by the Rationalist Association, a 136-year-old charity promoting reason and free enquiry.