---
title: "New Humanist’s Summer 2026 issue is out now!"
date: "2026-05-21T06:21:00+01:00"
modified: "2026-05-21T12:38:02+01:00"
url: "https://newhumanist.org.uk/2026/05/21/new-humanists-summer-2026-issue-is-out-now/"
post_id: 10430
categories: ["Uncategorised"]
---

# New Humanist’s Summer 2026 issue is out now!

![](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/2605-01-Cover-1-819x1024.avif)If you feel pressure about your body, you’re not the only one. Women have always had it bad – but now the health and beauty industries are coming for men, too. And the pressures are constantly deepening.

In the Summer 2026 issue of *New Humanist*, we explore how we can reclaim our agency.

We unpick the truth from the lies in the **new testosterone craze,** reveal **Epstein’s obsession with eugenics**, and celebrate the **real power of ageing**.

Keep reading for a peek inside…

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***The Summer 2026 issue of New Humanist is on sale now!*** [**Subscribe today**](https://newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe) **to get a print and digital bundle for just £2.65 per month.***

*Just want this brilliant issue? [Order one online](https://humanists.uk/shop/product-category/new-humanist/) or [find your nearest stockist](https://services.marketforce.co.uk/storelocator/search.aspx?magCode=10822&showmap=1).*

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Are we pushing our bodies too far?
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Five experts explore the pressures we’re putting on our bodies, and where we should draw the line.

- Olympic swimmer Ryan Pini tells us why he’s wary of the Enhanced Games, a new billionaire-backed event that **encourages athletes to take performance-enhancing drugs**
- Amid the rise of cosmetic surgery, cultural historian Fay Bound-Alberti reminds us that **our faces aren’t commodities**
- With people turning off the apps, social psychologist Viren Swami explains **how to fix our toxic dating culture**
- Feminist activist Natasha Walter examines the **“cult of youth”** and how it hurts us all
- Writer Juliet Jacques says **the freedom to reinvent our bodies is vital** – for trans people and everyone else

Measuring masculinity
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![](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/NewHumanistTestosterone-1024x921.avif)Have you seen them too? Adverts for products and services related to testosterone suddenly seem to be proliferating, promising everything from more muscle to improved focus – and men are becoming increasingly worried about their hormone levels.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Ball goes inside this **new testosterone craze** – and even gets his own “t-levels” tested in his bid to uncover what it’s all about.

While hormone treatment can help some, might it be harming others?

> > *“On one level, testosterone replacement therapy feels like another in a long line of overhyped cures … But testosterone also carries so much more, in terms of societal hopes and expectations.”*

A twisted breed of man
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Geneticist Adam Rutherford shines a light on Jeffrey Epstein’s fixation with eugenics – a recurring interest among the US’s wealthiest men – and **how he courted scientists** in pursuit of this.

> *“Epstein sought improvement of the human species through selective reproduction of a particularly narcissistic kind. According to the New York Times, he told scientists he wanted to re-seed humankind with his own DNA.”*

Also in the Summer 2026 issue:
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![A main painted in green, with his head covered in foliage, takes part in the Jack in the Green parade](https://newhumanist.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/05/2J6JF30-1024x683.avif)A May Day parade in Hastings- **Iranian atheists** and religious minorities on what people really believe, behind the Islamic regime’s propaganda
- Nick Lowles of Hope Not Hate on **why Britain is embracing the far right**
- Two novelists on why **the desires of midlife women are suddenly in the spotlight**
- A battle over **ancient bones at Winchester Cathedral**
- Two experts debate: **Should we ban social media for under-16s?**
- Professional skeptic Deborah Hyde asks: **Have AI agents really created their own religion?**
- A Leibniz expert on the revelations of **magic mushrooms**
- Bunting, blossoms and paint missiles at a **mad** **May Day ritual**
- An astronomer reviews **hit sci-fi film *Project Hail Mary***
- Marcus Chown on why **we should be grateful for the greenhouse effect**
- After the Baftas controversy, a **Tourette’s activist talks art, offence and humour**

Plus insights from our brilliant columnists **Michael Rosen, Samira Ahmed and Shaparak Khorsandi**, book reviews and our regular cryptic crossword and brainteaser.

[**Subscribe to the print edition now to get a beautiful copy of the magazine delivered to your door, or choose a digital subscription to read it on the app.**](https://newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe)