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• Is empathy the hidden motor of human history?

  Often depicted as a feel-good emotion and “soft” skill, empathy can be a powerful secular force for social and political transformation

• Murder in Bangladesh, cyborgs and gender, and an interview with Lisa Jardine

  The best long-reads from the New Humanist this month.

• In a word: reform

  Michael Rosen's column on language and its uses.

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

  The best long-reads from the New Humanist this month.

• A planet on the move

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

• What is wrong with the way we think?

  A Q&A with social psychologist Richard Nisbett, who researches the processes of reasoning and decision-making.

• The death of British satire, the right to offend, and cinematic dystopia

  The best long-reads from the New Humanist this month.

• Can non-Europeans think? An interview with Hamid Dabashi

  A Q&A with Hamid Dabashi, whose new book examines knowledge, power, and European dominance.

• Arab atheism, identity and work, and the meaning of forgiveness

  The best long-reads from the New Humanist this month.

• In a word: fix

  Michael Rosen's column on language and its uses.