A Message for Kids: Without a Gun, You’re Helpless
While the U.S. Constitution guarantees Americans the right to own guns, there are extremists who take that right too far. Take the parents who allowed their nine-year-old daughter to fire an Uzi at the Bullets... Read More
SLAVERY INC. The Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking
Human trafficking—for sex, labor, and even organ selling—is among the most profitable businesses in the world, yet it is ignored or minimized by governments and mainstream society. Worse than governmental ignorance, perhaps, is the unwitting... Read More
Summer Reading Recommendations by TheHumanist.com Readers
Thanks to our loyal TheHumanist.com readers for answering Senior Editor Maggie Ardiente’s call last week for summer reading recommendations! There’s still plenty of summer days left—be sure to check out any of the books recommended... Read More
PLATO AT THE GOOGLEPLEX: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein’s ode to philosophy, Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away, imagines a collision of worlds: What would happen if Plato, the famous philosopher, suddenly appeared in the twenty-first century? In... Read More
Book Review: Democracy’s Defender: The Life of L.M. Birkhead by Jim Grebe
Jim Grebe’s book Democracy’s Defender: The Life of L.M. Birkhead presents the life of a Methodist minister-turned humanist Unitarian minister-turned social activist. Born in Missouri in 1885, Leon Milton Birkhead was a man of reason... Read More
Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire
When the United States was very young—circa 1808—President Thomas Jefferson and the wealthy, successful businessman John Jacob Astor (fur trading, Manhattan real estate) had a joint brainstorm. In the aftermath of the Meriwether Lewis and... Read More
Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict
Some humanists endorse the ancient notion that a wise guy invented religion with an omniscient god so that people, who might otherwise do bad things, would stay in line for fear that the god was... Read More
