Scientists are making huge advances in understanding black holes - but key research is at risk from Trump's cuts

✨New online: As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically - and Finnish schools are leading the charge. @zionlights.bsky.social digs into the details

Drunkenness, debauchery, death and destruction - and at the centre of it all, a strong, morally ambiguous woman who contrives to be the master of her own fate

How can we keep our minds sharp as the world changes around us? In our new edition, we enlist the brainpower of @drkatedevlin.bsky.social , @naomialderman.bsky.social , Martha Nussbaum and more to find out:

✨New online: Nia DaCosta's "Hedda" courts controversy with a fresh, bold take on Ibsen's classic

A good time to revisit @jamesrball.com's provoking piece on why the child benefit cap strikes at the heart of the big questions: who are the Labour party, and what is politics for?

Admit it – you're glued to your phone, like everybody else. Literacy is plummeting, and universities are under attack. Are we all getting dumber? Or is society transforming, discovering new ways to be smart? Find out in our latest issue:

Give us your nominations: We want to interview the *freethinkers of today*, people cutting through the swamp of propaganda and standing for truth and integrity. We've recently spoken to @naomialderman.bsky.social and @petertatchellfdn.bsky.social and @stephenfry.bsky.social ... who next?

Science today is plagued by fake papers, profit incentives and unreliable studies. Meet the science sleuths bringing the truth to light

Get your weekend reading sorted - pick up a copy of the brand new edition of New Humanist today! Available at all good newsagents - find your nearest retailer here: services.marketforce.co.uk/storelocator...

What is cyberchondria?

🧠Remember, our brand new Winter issue - "How to stay smart in a changing world" - is out now! Read it this weekend by subscribing to the digital edition for just £10:

Two massive black holes have collided in a merger so big that it was, by our current models, theoretically impossible. Marcus Chown explains this "spectacular cosmological event"

Who really runs Britain?

We have to now make a choice to “work the muscle” of our brains, just like we hit the gym where once we laboured in the fields. Beat the brainrot! Start by buying this issue on our website or at the shops 🧠

🚨 Our Winter 2025 issue is out today! It's all about how to stay smart in a changing world. Let's take a look inside... 🧵

Country music has long shed its Bible-bashing image. Today, bluegrass is helping to heal America’s deep divides

Are we all getting stupider, or discovering new ways to think? Our "intelligence" edition brings together neurobiologists, philosophers, tech experts and more to discuss and debate how to stay smart in a changing world. OUT TOMORROW

A new novel probes identity, asking whether it is tied to place, biology, “spirit” or the people who raise us

"It is only through analysing the stories that shape our world that we can control them and retain agency"

✨ New online: We must save black hole research from Trump's cuts, writes @marcuschown.bsky.social

Letters from Palestine

The "open science" movement is about more than access to papers - it demands deep, cultural change throughout the research process #science #stem

Admit it – you're glued to your phone, like everybody else. Literacy is plummeting, and universities are under attack. Are we all getting dumber? Or is society transforming, discovering new ways to be smart? Find out in our new issue, out this week! newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

Morgan Talty's debut novel is a powerful exploration of family, heritage and identity

Are you constantly monitoring your body? Two books explore the drivers of health anxiety

It's almost here... Our Winter 2025 edition is out next week! Make sure you're subscribed - from just £10 - to get your hands on it: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

On Nasa's sexist history and how to talk to aliens

Last year, the UK opened the world's first government metascience unit. What's it all about?

"We Are Still Here" is an anthology of writing from Gaza's university students. This book review is a preview from our Winter 2025 issue, out next week:

"The stories we tell have huge power over us, allowing the weakest individual to stand up against impossible odds - or leading whole nations into darkness"

Every subscription to New Humanist includes access to our 140-year archive, featuring original contributions from such iconic thinkers as Iris Murdoch, Bertrand Russell and Philip Larkin. Subscribe today, from just £10: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

"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" #astronomy #nasa

"As the culture wars intensify, maybe playing music with people we might otherwise never encounter is exactly what we should be doing" #music #bluegrass #countrymusic

As flu and Covid season strikes again, two books have lessons on how to navigate health anxiety

The scientific method is in trouble. Can meta-research save it? #science #stem #academia

🤫 Pssst! Want a sneak peek at the cover of our next issue? It's out soon - make sure to subscribe now to get a copy delivered to your door: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

Two memoirs, from Basra and Ukraine, chronicle the lives of ordinary men pulled into war

Are you constantly monitoring your body? Two books explore the drivers of health anxiety

The new politics of bluegrass

In his latest book, Julian Barnes reminds us to keep asking ourselves: What if I'm wrong?

We're going to press with the Winter 2025 issue of New Humanist, jam-packed with insights into how to stay smart in a changing world. Take a sneak peek at the cover and sign up now to get a copy delivered to your door: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe

Can the tragedy of the commons be averted in space?

Rise of the science sleuths

Complex family dynamics and identities that are difficult to define are the primary themes of Morgan Talty's debut novel

Why the oft-repeated observation that the Labour Party owes “more to Methodism than Marxism” annoys Neil Kinnock

Inside the world of health anxiety

We're always hearing about the "elite", but what does the data tell us about who runs Britain?

Did you know that New Humanist has been dedicated to publishing independent, evidence-driven, non-profit journalism since 1885? Join the ranks of the incredible free thinkers who have supported our work for 140 years. Subscribe now, from just £10:

Who really runs Britain?