Volume 126 Issue 6 November/December 2011

Cover Story

Q&A: Al Murray: The Oxford-educated, history-loving comedian behind the hugely popular Pub Landlord tells New Humanist what it’s like living with the nation’s favourite guv’nor

Chown's Cosmos: Hoag's Object: A spiral galaxy has Marcus Chown's head spinning
What are they teaching my kids?: Rob Deering is unimpressed by his local primary school's reliance on lazy, default Christianity
Dawkins' new book impresses the kids: With his new book The Magic of Reality, Richard Dawkins wants to introduce children to the wonders of science. He gets a resounding thumbs up from Manjit Kumar's resident young experts
Censorship on the terraces: Legislation aimed at football chants will not tackle Scotland's sectarian violence, argues Padraig Reidy
The rise of the female suicide bomber: Al-Qaeda leaders are increasingly in favour of using women in terrorist attacks, reports Mia Bloom

Last post: While serving in Afghanistan, Petty Officer Chris Holden has attended numerous memorials to honour the dead. This is what they look like to an atheist
Crossing the line?: Did the Met’s anti-terrorism unit end up in bed with Muslim extremism? Paul Sims meets Robert Lambert, the ex-Special Branch man fighting accusations of collusion
The revolution is coming: Can orgasms change the world? Sally Feldman revisits the politics of the climax
Heavenly host: Caspar Melville interviews Rev Richard Coles: Former popstar, BBC presenter and parish priest Reverend Richard Coles talks to Caspar Melville about faith, doubt and dachsunds
Walk the tightrope: We don’t need religion, but mystical traditions still have a lot to teach us, says John Burnside
Bad Faith Awards 2011: place your vote now: Who has been this year's leading enemy of reason?
The cutting season: Female Genital Mutilation and the UK: Over the school holidays hundreds of British girls are taken abroad to undergo a procedure that is internationally recognised as a violation of their human rights. Alice Onwordi reports
The last Crusade: The claim that Christianity provides the bedrock of Western culture might serve the interests of extremists, but it is a betrayal of a far more complex history, argues Kenan Malik

New Humanist Cartoons Nov/Dec 2011: Cartoons from the November December issue of New Humanist
Endgame: Ex con: Laurie Taylor side-steps a scam
Quiz: do bears sit in the woods?: Chris Maslanka challenges you to work out the Three Bears' exam results

Nine highlights from Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People: The best bits and the inside scoops from three years of our seasonal rationalist jamboree
Dissing God: Long before the New Atheists, believers – from Job to Heinrich Heine – were picking fights with the Almighty, says Jonathan Rée

Book review: The Pursuits of Philosophy by Jenny Bunker: Jenny Bunker enjoys an unusual introduction to Hume
Book review: What it Means to be Human by Joanna Bourke: John Appleby explores the meaning of humanity
Book review: The Secrets of Pain by Phil Rickman: Natalie Haynes endures a painful crime novel
Book review: Religion in Human Evolution: Where did religion come from? Keith Kahn-Harris reviews a monumental study
Book review: The Viral Storm by Nathan Wolfe: Mark Pagel faces the threat from pandemics