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Contents Autumn 2021 REGULARS p. 3 Editor’s Note p. 6 The Q&A Jonathan Franzen p. 10 Witness Compiled by our team p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka COLUMNS p. 8 Soapbox Why we need statues By Samira Ahmed p. 16 Cosmos Robots on Mars By Marcus Chown p. 70 In a word "Cancel" By Michael Rosen p. 74 Endgame An index of ageing By Laurie Taylor FEATURES p. 18 Education The case for free speech in Alice Bell on the history of the climate crisis, p.26 “The meaning of sacred texts and profane cartoons is open to interpretation" Emma Park, page 18 the classroom By Emma Park p. 22 Psychology Electroconvulsive therapy has a bad reputation. Is it time for a rethink? By Alex Riley p. 26 Climate The long history of links between colonialism and climate change By Alice Bell p. 30 Reportage Is the tide turning on assisted dying? By Jem Bartholomew p. 34 History At 50, Bangladesh is still fighting extremism By Joseph Allchin 4 p. 38 Society The unintended consequences of banning sex workers from advertising online By Ray Filar p. 42 Cover story Why women need more control over their birthing choices By Zoe Holman CULTURE p. 48 Film What Cruella tells us about the nostalgia-industrial A L A M Y ST O C K P HO T O New Humanist | Autumn 2021
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Contributors complex By James Robins p. 52 Philosophy Arthur Schopenhauer's doctrine of pessimism By Tom Whyman p. 56 Travel An atheist joins a Ramadan fast By J. R. Patterson p. 60 Ideas Paul B. Preciado's controversial "autotheories" By Kaya Genç BOOKS I F E R TA P IA S D E R C H J E N N I L LU ST R AT IO N B Y C OV E R p. 64 Reviews Nadine El-Enany on an intimate biography of Edward Said; Mathew Lyons on God; Rhian E. Jones on Japanese science fiction; Andrew Mueller on statues; Christopher Shrimpton on revolutionary Cairo; Lucy Popescu on travel writing POETRY p. 51 Sean O’Brien p. 55 Menna Elfyn p. 59 Gerard Smyth p. 63 Alexander Shurbanov Samira Ahmed is a BBC presenter and visiting professor of journalism at Kingston University Joseph Allchin is the author of Many Rivers One Sea: Bangladesh and the Challenge of Islamist Militancy (Hurst) Jem Bartholomew is a freelance reporter based in London Alice Bell is co-director of the climate charity Possible. Her latest book is Our Biggest Experiment: An Epic History of the Climate Crisis (Bloomsbury) Marcus Chown's latest book is The Magicians: Great Minds and the Central Miracle of Science (Faber & Faber) Nadine El-Enany is a reader in law at Birkbeck, co-director of the Centre for Research on Race and Law, and author of (B)ordering Britain (Manchester University Press) Ray Filar is a writer and performance artist, writing a PhD on contemporary challenges for the UK sexworker movement. They are a member of SWARM Kaya Genç is based in Istanbul and is the author of The Lion and the Nightingale, Under the Shadow and An Istanbul Anthology (Bloomsbury) Zoe Holman is an Australian journalist, author and poet based in Athens Mathew Lyons is a historian, writer and author of The Favourite: Ralegh and His Queen (Constable) Andrew Mueller is the author of I Wouldn’t Start from Here: A Misguided Tour of the Early 21st Century (Portobello) Emma Park is a freelance writer, podcaster and former teacher J. R. Patterson is a writer and former farm labourer and musician Lucy Popescu is editor of the anthology A Country to Call Home (Unbound) and a literary critic Alex Riley is an awardwinning science writer and the author of A Cure for Darkness: The Story of Depression and How We Treat It (Ebury) James Robins is a journalist and the author of When We Dead Awaken: Australia, New Zealand, and the Armenian Genocide (Bloomsbury) Michael Rosen is a poet and broadcaster. His latest book is Many Different Kinds of Love: A Story of Life, Death and the NHS (Ebury) Christopher Shrimpton is a writer with an interest in censorship and blasphemy issues Laurie Taylor is president of the Rationalist Association and the presenter of Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4 Tom Whyman is a writer and philosopher. His first book is Infinitely Full of Hope (Repeater Books) New Humanist, ISSN 0306-512X, is published four times a year by the Rationalist Association © 2021 New Humanist Printed by Blackmore Ltd, Dorset The views expressed in New Humanist are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Rationalist Association New Humanist | Autumn 2021 5

Contents Autumn 2021

REGULARS

p. 3 Editor’s Note p. 6 The Q&A Jonathan Franzen p. 10 Witness Compiled by our team p. 71 Crossword Set by Chaliapin p. 73 Quiz Set by Chris Maslanka

COLUMNS

p. 8 Soapbox Why we need statues By Samira Ahmed p. 16 Cosmos Robots on Mars By Marcus Chown p. 70 In a word "Cancel" By Michael Rosen p. 74 Endgame An index of ageing By Laurie Taylor

FEATURES

p. 18 Education The case for free speech in

Alice Bell on the history of the climate crisis, p.26

“The meaning of sacred texts and profane cartoons is open to interpretation" Emma Park, page 18

the classroom By Emma Park p. 22 Psychology Electroconvulsive therapy has a bad reputation. Is it time for a rethink? By Alex Riley p. 26 Climate The long history of links between colonialism and climate change By Alice Bell p. 30 Reportage Is the tide turning on assisted dying? By Jem Bartholomew p. 34 History At 50, Bangladesh is still fighting extremism By Joseph Allchin

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p. 38 Society The unintended consequences of banning sex workers from advertising online By Ray Filar p. 42 Cover story Why women need more control over their birthing choices By Zoe Holman

CULTURE

p. 48 Film What Cruella tells us about the nostalgia-industrial

A L A M Y ST O C K P HO T O

New Humanist | Autumn 2021

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