In praise of meddling kids
The intrepid debunking teens – and a dog – make Scooby Doo ideal rationalist TV, says Myra Zepf
Culture
He’s sorry he hasn’t a clue
Laurie Taylor tries a bit of brain training
The Soviet Union, my part in its downfall
How did a mild-mannered British businessman find himself dodging Soviet agents to smuggle dissident Andrei Sahkarov's banned memoirs into Moscow in 1989? Bryan Hamlin confesses all
No bright side of life on Good Friday
A German secular group is sued for breaking the ban on showing the Life of Brian on Good Friday. Anna Vesterinen reports.
Art review: Saints alive
Not mockery but twisted devotion. Aaron Rosen enjoys Michael Landy's crack-pot saints at the National Gallery
Life on fire: images from the Jharia coalfields
The people of Jharia struggle to live on top of a toxic open cast mine that is permanently ablaze. Words & Images Isabell Zipfel
Book review: Goldblatt’s Descent by Michael Honig
Inhumane doctors in a conformist system. Theodore Dalrymple reviews a satire of the NHS.
Man of Zeal: Studio urges churches to use new Superman film as preaching resource
Warner Bros set up special website with tips on how Man of Steel can help spread the good news
Iain M Banks’ Universe
The Scottish novelist was one of our greatest writers of science fiction, says Francis Spufford
Faster for the master
More than 30 years after it started, is Christian metal still a thriving underground scene or a decaying corpse? Keith Kahn-Harris goes looking for signs of life amongst the devout…