editor's pick

A collection of 29 posts

editor's pick

Kherson by night: On the frontlines in two worlds

Jonathan MS Pearce reports from Kherson, a frontline Ukrainian city that has borne the brunt of Russian aggression and is now suffering the consequences. There is no military benefit to assaulting Kherson. It is an act borne out of deep-seated vengeance. Hope is in short supply.

editor's pick

Crowdfunding a war against autocracy

War in the 21st century can look very different from wars of the past. Now, people can come together to crowdfund the defense of a nation. Jonathan MS Pearce reporting from Ukraine.

editor's pick

Gen Z views are rapidly splitting in half by gender—and the gap is not small

Today's young people (under 30) are going through a rather significant demographic and sociological shift. Young women appeared to be more concerned with and aligned to progressive values and issues, while young men are moving in a more conservative direction. This isn't just happening in the US.

Disinformation

Stoking division: How Putin is helping the rise of the right

The rise of the far right in Russia is deeply concerning for the global community. Is it organic, or is it covered with the dirty fingerprints of Vladimir Putin?

editor's pick

'Tell us where the Jews are': History coins a terrifying rhyme

Antisemitism is raising its ugly head again as the winds of discontent and prejudice circle the globe. A mob hunting for Jewish travelers at a Dagestan airport is just the latest incidence in a rising epidemic.

editor's pick

'Beheaded babies': Horrific atrocity or propaganda?

In the public discourse over the Hamas-Israel conflict, one claim has suddenly taken center stage: that babies not only died in the violence, but that some were beheaded by Hamas. The difference is everything. The former might be a tragic by-product of the indiscriminate violence of war. The latter

climate change

Climate change solutions: It's a voting thing, and that's a worry

In a summer of broken records, it is hard not to sound like a broken record, but... Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on this planet. That really is worth emphasizing, since we have had a number of record-breaking years and months over the last 20 years. To

community

What can the secular community learn from Black-majority churches?

As church attendance continues to plummet in the UK, Black churches buck the trend. Is there something seculars can learn from their success?

editor's pick

Analysis: Who blew up the Nord Stream pipelines?

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has stoked something of a hornets' nest with a recent Substack piece detailing how he thinks the US (together with Norway) was responsible for the explosion on the Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe in September 2022. If this is the case,

belief

'I want to believe what you believe, Daddy'

Being a secular, atheist parent, and also a philosopher, I take my parenting seriously in how my children's beliefs develop. The idea for me is that it is important to teach my children the methods and not the conclusion. I don't want to teach my children

church attendance

The illusion of choice in what we believe

There is a phenomenon that has been taking place, particularly in the US, with greater regularity over the last few decades—the behavior of "church shopping." The congregant attends a church and listens to the pastor making moral-political statements, and they think to themselves, "This pastor is

death

Death: Every year, the probability increases

I was fortunate enough to swan through most of my life only rarely coming into contact with death. My grandparents, eventually (while I was away from home, either abroad or at university), one work colleague...but I think that was about it. Over the last few years, that has changed,

editor's pick

Musk's Twitter polls: the slopey moral shoulders of deferring decisions

The Great Elon Musk Twitter Saga continues. Most recently, Musk reignited the culture wars with his decision to "temporarily suspend" a range of journalists for apparently doxxing his 2-year-old son. Except this is not what they did, and the screenshots of those banned showed it was meant to

editor's pick

He shouted too early: The impotence of Putin

The war in Ukraine is just about to have its terrible ten-month anniversary with no immediate end in sight. But even though it is not going to end in the coming weeks (absent a "black swan" event of Putin dying suddenly), there is still no chance of the

editor's pick

Brittney Griner and the comparative worth of humans

What we value and how much we value any given thing is a subjective affair. We might look at price tags on things, but they are for guidance only. If you aren't prepared to pay that much for a widget, you won't buy one. You can

editor's pick

Erdoğan uses smoke and mirrors in deadly strikes against Kurds

Although Turkey is a historically secular country, President Recep Erdoğan is an authoritarian leader who, not unlike Vladimir Putin, has curtailed freedom of speech and press to solidify his continued rule. And much like Putin (whom he still calls “dear friend”), he has unduly influenced the judici

earthquake of perspective

Building our own meaning and purpose

The age-old problem of deciphering the meaning of life never gets old as a philosophical project. The word "decipher" here is the wrong word to use from a humanist's point of view, of course. It is not that meaning is hidden in the fabric of the

editor's pick

The Kharkiv offensive: A turning point in the war

Quite often, nothing really happens in wars where there are deadly stalemates for weeks on end. And then, everything happens all at once. This last week, everything has been happening all at once in the Russia-Ukraine War. To understand what has taken place and how a lightning counteroffensive was planned

earthquake of perspective

Why a Black Targaryen makes more sense than a white Jesus

If your orbit includes Amazon Prime, HBO, and social media, you may well be aware of a whole lot of fuss being kicked up in terms of casting decisions. It has come to the horror of many fantasy fiction literalists that recent TV prequels to The Lord of the Rings

Catholic Church

What to do with a disused church: A quiet sign of Catholic surrender in the UK

Near my home in suburban UK sits a Catholic church attached to a primary school. Although we are less religious than our American cousins, who are themselves secular, our education system is still hugely under the influence of religion. About 37% of primary schools are faith schools. For just under

editor's pick

The 2,500 days of Mikhail Gorbachev

On March 10, 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev ascended to the premiership of the Soviet Union. By the time he resigned in December 1991, roughly 2,500 days later, the geopolitical map of the world had been redrawn, including a reunified Germany and a wave of democracy in Eastern Europe. The Soviets’ longest

editor's pick

Ukraine war fatigue: Keep your eyes open

Six months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine, and Putin still can't really win, no matter what his endgame might be. The campaign has been catastrophic from the very start. Even Russians are feeling the fatigue as they are turning their televisions off, bored of the non-stop propaganda.

aliens

The saved and the damned of Proxima Centauri B

As a child, I delighted in books of the unexplained—ghosts and UFOs, Mary Celestes and Bermuda Triangles, abominable snowmen and cursed mummies.  As a grown-up skeptic, many of these inexplicable phenomena have long been explained, or competently assigned diminishing probabilities. Ghosts almost certainly don’t hang around graveyards. Yetis?

editor's pick

The end of 'trump,' or how to wreck a perfectly good word

An article co-written by Jonathan MS Pearce and Bert Bigelow Fifty years ago, I was an avid bridge player, and a member of the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). I never made it to Life Master, but I accumulated enough Master Points to qualify for lesser titles like Junior Master.

deep dive audio

Excusing the inexcusable

Some moral questions are difficult. Some are shrouded in uncertainty. Some come into focus only with the passage of time. There are some on which reasonable people can disagree. Then there is slavery. Sadly, the horror of slavery still exists in 2022, both in practice and in its legacy. There