Democracy is under attack worldwide. From the prophets and televangelists guiding Trump to the divides that threaten the anti-racist movement, our new issue explores what's at stake and how we can fight back

–   by Editorial Staff    –

The cover of New Humanist's spring 2025 issue is an illustration of the US Capitol building against the backdrop of an orange sun, emblazoned with the words 'The fight back begins'

The Spring 2025 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! This issue is all about the fight to save democracy.

Subscribe now from just £10 or buy a single issue online and in all good newsagents. Read on for a peek inside the magazine.

Trump’s second coming

To many evangelicals, the new US leader is not just a president but a messiah. How did he gain such mythic power, and where will it lead? Matthew D. Taylor, an expert in Christian nationalism, introduces us to the wild characters behind Trump’s return who now have a hotline to the presidency.

“Eclectic groups of big-haired televangelists, self-described prophets, mega-church pastors and Messianic rabbis would gather with Trump in New York, listening to the real-estate mogul’s agenda, laying hands on him and – crucially for what was to come – offering prophecies about him.”

What’s the point of politics?

Some of the questions about the future of democracy point to the fundamentals: What do we even want from our politicians? James Ball explores an age-old debate between idealism and pragmatism and how it’s showing up in British politics today.

“After two decades of relentless financial shocks – the subprime loans crisis, austerity, Brexit, Trump, the pandemic and more – the public is tired of the art of the possible. It is looking to the dreamers, and historically, dreamers don’t deliver, at least not within democratic systems.”

The age of the narcissist

Narcissists seem to be all around us, but is this psychological disorder really on the rise – and are our politicians particularly prone? Journalist Bethany Elliott untangles the science from the pop psychology.

“Amateur diagnosing can have troubling consequences, and not only for the people who stand falsely accused.”

The Spring 2025 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! Subscribe or buy a copy here.

A man asks for money outside a cathedral in Salta, Argentina

Also in the Spring 2025 issue of New Humanist:

  • Keith Kahn-Harris on how to keep the anti-racist movement united
  • Danny Sriskandarajah on what citizens’ assemblies can do for democracy
  • Sam Meadows on Javier Milei’s gamble with the lives of Argentinians
  • Michael Rosen on the history and meaning of the word “coup”
  • Andrew Mueller on how to topple tyrants
  • Nicola Cutcher speaks to Syrian human rights defender Mansour Omari about the search for justice after Assad
  • Zoe Holman on the death of a Palestinian poet
  • Stephen Fry on doubt, masculinity and why it’s hard to be a woolly liberal
  • Alex Niven on the dead malls of the north
  • Durdana Bhat and Kamran Yousuf meet India’s revolutionary gender fluid dance troupe
  • David McAllister on digital art through the ages
  • Martin Cohen on the growing evidence that animals enjoy a good laugh, and what we can learn from it
  • Why Shaparak Khorsandi is proud to be friends with her ex-husband’s new wife
  • Marcus Chown on the greatest astronomy PhD ever written

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 Humanists UK.