The rationalist way of death
Given that it has historically been annexed by religion, how should the non-believer mark death? Jonathan Rée dons his weeds and joins the procession. Illustration Jessica Chandler
Ideas
Time to rethink physics?
In his new book the theoretical physicist Lee Smolin calls for a major shift in the discipline and a recognition that rather than a relative value or an effect of…
Tech heretic
Jaron Lanier is a digital pioneer who has collaborated with Microsoft and Google. So why is he warning that technology is making us dependent and redundant? JP O’Malley logs on
Gagging for God
The capitulation of the Danish left drew Frederik Stjernfelt into the battle to defend free speech. A string of recent attacks have convinced him that it’s a battle that is…
Video: “Learning about philosophy is learning about yourself”, Jonathan Rée on Ludwig Wittgenstein
Watch the philosopher and critic Jonathan Rée talk entertainingly about the unique life and thought of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
What is at the end of the tunnel?
Do the thousands of reports of spiritual near death experiences prove the existence of the soul, as some psychologists claim? Dale DeBakcsy burrows into the science
RA Podcast March 2013
Islam's evolution problem, Jim Al-Khalili on humanism, the merits of interfaith, Stewart Lee on faith schools – it's all there for your listening pleasure in our latest podcast
Beyond black and white
Are religion and humanism really opposites, as AC Grayling suggests in his new book? Tony McKenna sees some grey areas
Book review: Frantz Fanon, A Biography
More than fifty years after his death revolutionary Frantz Fanon continues to inspire and perplex in equal measure. Stephen Howe welcomes a new edition of the definitive biography
The fiction of humanity: An interview with John Gray
John Gray is one of our most celebrated contemporary thinkers, and an atheist. So why is he in constant, tetchy, conflict with prominent humanists – are their arguments really so…