Niki Seth-Smith

I feel strongly about giving more space to dissident voices, especially from Russia and China. This edition brings together UK and global perspectives on how we can stick to our guns in this new age of propaganda. It’s an inspiration 🔥 Read it today!

Just became part of the Women in Journalism network. There’s still so much to be done, supporting and empowering each other www.womeninjournalism.co.uk

Hugely excited to take New Humanist into a bold new era as Editor, supported by this phenomenal group

Joe Biden is a robot (and other cyber myths) The digital world is a playground for the tinfoil hat brigade. But now they are turning on the internet itself

Just realised we’re spreading a thought experiment that panicked so many people it was banned… go on, read and doom yourselves! newhumanist.org.uk/articles/649...

Surviving the Third Information Crisis Writer Naomi Alderman gives us tips and tricks on how to stay sane in a maddening world

The beginning of Jan has been brutal, but here’s your reminder, from @naomialderman.bsky.social, not to burn anyone at the stake today. I interviewed her on how we can draw on the lessons of history to get some perspective. It’s an unexpectedly heartening read! newhumanist.org.uk/articles/649...

“Atheists, bohemians and the children of stray Russian intellectuals.” Yes, this was my school (as a day child with a small music scholarship). Now I need to start a band named Children of the Louche

My most loyal of friends nearly died this year.. Pericles the dog heroically survived cancer and was zooming along the beaches with me today to see off 2025! 🐾🙏

This is a wonderful gift, beautifully designed and full of thought-provoking articles, and a steal at £21. Give a gift that lasts all year!

I endorse performative reading. Please feel free to read New Humanist as shamelessly and publicly as you like, particularly this latest issue: newhumanist.org.uk/articles/647...

What’s the point of politics? Labour’s feud over child benefits points to a deeper question: how to balance strategy with doing the right thing

Finally, the two child benefit cap is scrapped. A good time to revisit James Ball’s reflections on why the policy has proved so central to the fight over the soul of the Labour Party

newhumanist.org.uk/articles/639...

I often pass Lindisfarne island, on my way from London to my mum’s in Scotland. This charming piece is a guide to walking there (you can!) and an exploration of what it means to be an “atheist pilgrim”.

Read more and buy the issue at newhumanist.org.uk

Give me your ideas, which people make you feel inspired - or at least keep you sane?

Stay smart in a changing world! New Humanist's Winter 2025 edition is out now From the rise of AI to attacks on universities, are we all getting dumber? Or is society transforming and discovering new ways to be smart?

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 🧠

The word of the year is “Parasocial”. Perhaps not unrelated to last year’s “Brainrot”? 🧐

Look out for the *How to Stay Smart* issue of @newhumanist.bsky.social, OUT TOMORROW

Subscribe to New Humanist A beautiful, thought-provoking magazine delivered to your door every quarter.

Buy the issue here, or a digital subscription for only £10 a year (for now). That’s insanely affordable

Sexism in space How should we represent humankind to aliens? With Pioneer 10 and 11, Nasa fell short. Next time, we must do better

It’s your last chance to buy our “Battle over Space” issue, in your local shop or on our website. Here’s one of my faves, on NASA’s sexist history and how to talk to aliens

Inside the world of health anxiety It's Covid season again. Two books have lessons on how to navigate health anxiety

It’s flu and Covid season again, and many of us are guiltily avoiding each other. Read this about how normal it is to have health anxiety, it will make you feel (paradoxically?) better 🤧 newhumanist.org.uk/articles/647...

@siobhan.bsky.social Hi Siobhan, I’d like to contact you re a potential opportunity with New Humanist, could you email editor@newhumanist.org.uk if interested, thanks

I interviewed an expert on space warfare. We need more public awareness he says, “it’s a democratic issue”

A fascinating piece of reportage from Japan on the nuclear choices all countries must make

A last late summer trek along the river Ouse… farewell cerulean skies

Also enjoying Saskia Vogel’s luminescent prose

A lot of people telling me they’re bored of contemporary fiction. Check out the small indie Fly On The Wall Press. These novels are brave and tender, and definitely bucked the tendency towards flat, anhedonic prose

Any science feature writers? We pay £350-450, send your pitches today or tomorrow!

We pay £350-450, depending on the piece

Also just a bunch of other amazing pieces, including @jamesrball.com on Luigi Mangione and the “rationalist” murders, and @tedilta.bsky.social on health anxiety, and why we should all be less obsessed with monitoring our bodies

Look up! New Humanist's Autumn 2025 issue on the battle for space is out now How the battle over space affects all of us

This is out! A much-needed shot in the arm and antidote to space pessimism. With contributions on the African Space Agency, indigenous “Sky grief” and my interview with Mark Hilborne on the need for regulation in our age of space warfare

Minds in search of meaning Therapists need to do more to help the many people today who feel their lives lack purpose

"Existential psychotherapy rises to the challenge of finding something to live for." Author and clinical psychologist Frank Tallis writes clearly and powerfully on why therapists should take the quest for meaning more seriously:

Unmasking the mind “Psychology should be based on empirical evidence and scientific methods,” claimed the founder of its modern form, cognitive psychology.  Yet critics argue it's unknown whether psychology really has m...

How concerned should we be about our inability to consistently replicate studies? It’s an issue that cuts to the heart of our ideas about truth and science, as I discovered hosting this eye-opening debate:

Andrew Copson awarded OBE in first-ever UK award for ‘Services to the Non-Religious’ Humanists UK’s Chief Executive Andrew Copson has been awarded an OBE for ‘services to the non-religious’ in the UK national honours announced today. This is the first time an award has been made for s...

And congratulations to @andrewcopson.bsky.social for the much deserved recognition of his services to the non-religious

humanists.uk/2025/06/13/a...