Latest Articles
‘The best way to combat bad speech is with good speech’ – interview with Maryam Namazie
Maryam Namazie is the founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and a founding member of One…
The Satanic Verses; free speech in the Freethinker
Bibliography of Freethinker articles on free thought and free speech - in honour of Salman Rushdie.
‘You have to know your own mind’ – interview with Laura Dodsworth
The author of 'A State of Fear' speaks to Emma Park about freethinking, the lockdowns, and why her new book…
‘The real beauty comes from contemplating the universe’: humanism with Sarah Bakewell
The author of ‘Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Enquiry and Hope' speaks to the Freethinker.
Image of the week: Anaxagoras
A Greek philosopher who was banished from Athens in the fifth century BC for claiming that the sun and moon…
Can sentientism save the world? Interview with Jamie Woodhouse
'There is no intrinsic value in any particular species. What matters is the existence, experience and will to live of…
Divine right of kings?
'Princes are not bound to give account of their actions, but to God alone' - Charles I.
Pastafarianism: Parody or religion? Freethinker talk, now available online
A talk by Emma Park on the Flying Spaghetti Monster's challenge to religious privilege, organised by the Central London Humanists.
Reading list against nuclear war
The threat of nuclear war has loomed above the horizon again recently. Can the creative imagination help to forestall the…
Image of the week: Portrait bust of Epicurus, an early near-atheist
Portrait bust of Epicurus (c. 341-270 BC), a Greek philosopher who argued that the universe was made of…
‘Humanity changes remarkably little’ – interview with Jonathan Sumption, Part II
The former Supreme Court justice on his career at the Bar, his role as a judge in Hong Kong, his…
Blasphemy Month at the Freethinker
June is Blasphemy Month at the Freethinker. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines blasphemy as ‘profane talk of…
The price of criticising Islam in northern Nigeria: imprisonment or death
The humanist Mubarak Bala has been sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment in Kano, Nigeria, for blasphemous Facebook posts. In the…
‘The light of democratic scrutiny was switched off for two years’ – interview with Adam Wagner
Adam Wagner, human rights barrister, discusses his book, 'Emergency State', and the challenge to civil liberties raised by the pandemic.
Race: the most difficult subject of all?
Interview with Inaya Folarin Iman, founder of the Equiano Project and Free Speech Champions, Trustee on Youth Engagement at the…
Bishops in the Lords:
Why are they still there?
Through nearly five hundred years of constitutional change, the Church of England has clung on to its entitlement…
The resurgence of enlightenment in southern India: interview with Bhavan Rajagopalan
The director of the new Indian rationalist film, 'Vivesini', on the genesis of his film, rationalism and secularism in India,…
Civil Liberties at the Freethinker
October is Civil Liberties Month at the Freethinker. In a spirit of open, critical enquiry and resistance to…