We unpick the lies behind the health and beauty industries and ask: Are we pushing our bodies too far?
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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Are we pushing our bodies too far?
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
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
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:
- 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.
