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Age of Anger

Save the children

The far-right conspiracy QAnon is threatening vital child protection work, as Richard Scorer reports.

In July 2020, KidSafe felt compelled to issue a public statement. Headed “Not in Our Name!” the statement read: “The conspiracy theory and cult movement known as QAnon is attempting to hijack the good names of organisations leading the fight against child abuse and sex trafficking. We cannot let this happen.”

Can we love our enemies?

In our polarised political landscape, understanding our opponents is harder than ever. Nicola Cutcher asks why the left appear to suffer from an empathy gap.

The idea of the “intolerant left” is so often voiced by right-wingers that it has become a trope – but let’s put the messenger aside and consider the message. Within my own social circle, it certainly seems that those on the left think those on the right are “worse people”. Not evil necessarily, but morally inferior.

Controversy on campus

Evan Smith investigates how far-right speakers have successfully exploited the debate over free speech to propagate hateful ideas.

Free speech is a value worth defending. But if the phenomenon is being blown out of proportion, who stands to benefit?

The Q&A: Charlie Kaufman

J.P. O’Malley talks to the writer, producer and director of such mind-bending films as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation about his process, his obsessions and the publication of his first novel, Antkind.

The dreaminess in my work is an attempt to explore the world as it is experienced. It’s not an attempt to be purposely weird, eccentric or silly. I don’t think the world has become more surreal, although it does feel like the veil has been lifted in the last few years.

The winter 2020 issue of New Humanist is on sale now! Subscribe here for as little as £10 a year.

brazil
As Lucinda Elliott reports, abortion is becoming increasingly hard to access in Brazil.

Also in this issue:

  • Michael Rosen returns with a reflection on the etymology of the now horribly familiar word “quarantine”
  • Reporting from Brazil, Lucinda Elliott investigates Bolsonaro’s crackdown on abortion
  • Samira Ahmed on the importance of remembrance
  • Does the tiny world of microbes hold the answer to vast global challenges like climate change and Covid-19? Peter Forbes explores
  • Zoe Holman reports from Greece on the Orthodox Church’s battle against cremation
  • What can we learn from ancient cynicism? Ansgar Allen shares some lessons
  • Daniel Sitole on the forgotten kings of Africa
  • Why is ASMR so popular? Huw Lemmey looks into strange, wildly popular YouTube subculture
  • When did the devil get so sexy? Ralph Jones on the Netflix series Lucifer and the evolving depiction of Satan
  • Caroline Crampton on the new Death on The Nile movie and the history of the "impossible crime"
  • PLUS: Columns from Laurie Taylor and Marcus Chown, book reviews, the latest developments in biology, chemistry and physics; cryptic crossword and Chris Maslanka's quiz

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