How the battle over space affects all of us
The Autumn 2025 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! This issue is all about how the battle over space – playing out unseen above us – concerns us all.
Read on for a peek inside!
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Space and society
In the latest edition of our “Voices” section, we ask five experts – from scientists to philosophers – how to protect space for the benefit of all of humanity.
“When people hear the term ‘space technology’, they tend to picture rocket launches, or maybe missions to the Moon … Other types of space activity with strong social impact tend to get less attention”
The satellite war
We speak to security expert Mark Hilborne about space warfare – and how it could be the deciding factor in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The public doesn’t understand how much we rely on space as a domain of warfare”
Sexism in space
When Nasa prepared a message to aliens with the Pioneer probes in the 1970s, sexism skewed how they represented humankind. Within the next decade, we may have another chance to send a message deep into space – and this time, we must do better, writes Jess Thomson.
“Only five objects we have crafted here on Earth are now drifting towards infinity, and four of them tell a lie about half of humankind”
American alien
The new Superman movie offers the vision of a kinder, more tolerant United States – saved by an immigrant, in this case a literal alien. But should we really pin our hopes on a superhero?
“Trump has even shared photoshopped images of himself as Superman. The idea that superheroes can save us all, if we just let them break all the rules, is one that the Maga followers find congenial”
The Autumn 2025 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! Subscribe or buy a copy here.
Also in the Autumn 2025 issue of New Humanist:
- James Ball on the spate of murders linked to a group who call themselves “rationalists”
- Veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell on free speech and Palestine Action
- Michael Rosen on the history and meaning of the word “drone”
- Dominic Hinde on what Japan’s experience of two very different nuclear disasters can teach us in an age of conflict and climate change
- Former party leader Neil Kinnock on Labour’s humanist roots
- Mary Jo McConahay on Pope Leo’s looming fight against Trump’s Catholics
- Euan Lawson on the science sleuths fighting to save research from bias and fakery
- Diletta De Cristofaro on the fascinating history of hypochondria and the rise of health anxiety
- Samira Ahmed on how generations of feminists are learning from each other
- Durdana Bhat and Kamran Yousuf meet the embattled hoteliers of beautiful Kashmir
- Andrew Mueller on what war does to ordinary men
- Sally Feldman on the magic of grandmas’ cooking
- Lois Pryce on how bluegrass is uniting America
- Shaparak Khorsandi on her misunderstood, muffin-making Iranian dad
Plus more fascinating features on the biggest topics shaping our world today, book reviews, original poetry, and our regular cryptic crossword and brainteaser.
New Humanist, a quarterly magazine of culture, ideas, science and philosophy, is published by Humanists UK.
