---
title: "Jenny Diski, the cities of the future, and the rationalist way of death"
date: "2015-09-29T11:27:35+01:00"
modified: "2015-09-29T11:27:35+01:00"
url: "https://newhumanist.org.uk/2015/09/29/jenny-diski-the-cities-of-the-future-and-the-rationalist-way-of-death/"
post_id: 6442
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# Jenny Diski, the cities of the future, and the rationalist way of death

1\. [A planet on the move](/articles/4930/a-planet-on-the-move)

The tension between order and chaos has always guided urban life, writes Douglas Murphy. But what will happen as cities conquer our planet?

2\. [Jenny Diski’s brave scepticism](/articles/4924/jenny-diskis-brave-scepticism)

Fatema Ahmed examines the work of Jenny Diski, concluding that her essays, fiction and non-fiction break down the idea of genre itself.

3\. [Reaching rock bottom](/articles/4935/reaching-rock-bottom)

The meaning of “alcoholism” is disputed. But seven years ago John Doran realised he had a choice: to drink and die, or to stop drinking and live.

4\. [The rationalist way of death](/playdice/4155)

Given that it has historically been annexed by religion, how should the non-believer mark death? In this archive piece from 2013, Jonathan Rée dons his weeds and joins the procession.

5\. [The devotion of the tennis fan](/articles/4932/the-devotion-of-the-tennis-fan)

Elizabeth Wilson notes that sports fans have echoes of religious devotion. To his admirers, Roger Federer represents the ideal of perfection in bodily form.

*[August’s top long-reads.](/articles/4922/the-death-of-british-satire-the-right-to-offend-and-cinematic-dystopia)*

*[More on our Autumn issue – out now.](/articles/4916/the-autumn-2015-new-humanist-is-out-now)*