Atheist - Humanist magazine marks 30 years

October 22, 5:58 PMAtheism ExaminerTrina Hoaks

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Free Inquiry, a transnational secular humanist magazine published by the Council for Secular Humanism, enters its 30th year of continuous publication next month with the debut of its new, comprehensive redesign.

Set for publication Nov. 15, 2009 Free Inquiry Volume 30 Number 1 will feature an exclusive excerpt from biologist Richard Dawkins’ new book The Greatest Show on Earth. (Free Inquiry is the only U. S. publication other than Newsweek permitted to publish an excerpt from this new book of arguments for Darwinian evolution, which opened last week at #5 on the New York Times bestseller list.)

That edition will also be the first to feature a wholly new design featuring a cleaner, more contemporary look and a more focused use of graphics. Readers will now find ten to fifteen percent more content in each new issue of Free Inquiry.

“This issue introduces only the second comprehensive redesign Free Inquiry has undergone during its publishing history,” said Thomas W. Flynn of Buffalo, editor of the publication and executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism. “The new look is cleaner and less dependent on graphics. It is designed to focus attention on the words and the often-challenging ideas they embody.”

The redesign was conducted by the graphic design house Secret Valley Media Labs, based in Hamburg, NY. Chris Fix, the magazine’s art director, developed the publication’s new logo.

Founded in 1979 by philosopher Paul Kurtz, who is the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Free Inquiry (published six times a year; circulation 36,000) has emerged as the leading journal of a secular humanist movement worldwide. Approximately 10 percent of the publication’s subscribers live outside the United States in 76 countries.

Regular columnists include ethicists Arthur Caplan and Peter Singer, author Christopher Hitchens, controversial scholar Ibn Warraq, and social critics Nat Hentoff and Wendy Kaminer.

The journal gained worldwide attention for its 1986 exposé of false faith healers, which inspired the 1992 Steve Martin movie Leap of Faith. In 2006, Free Inquiry was the first major U. S. publication to publish a selection of the controversial Danish “Muhammad” cartoons. The book store chains Borders, Waldenbooks, and (in Canada) Coles, Chapters, and Indigo were widely criticized for removing Free Inquiry from their shelves during this controversy.

Free Inquiry and its publisher, the Council for Secular Humanism, are based in Amherst at the Center for Inquiry, a well-known humanist and skeptical think tank and lecture center.

“Free Inquiry is one of the leading journals of ideas in the world,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, president and CEO of the Council for Secular Humanism and its supporting organization, the Center for Inquiry. “It has achieved this status by combining high-quality writing with cutting edge topics and topics of interest to the nonreligious throughout the world. Incisive and thoughtful, Free Inquiry persuasively articulates the philosophy of secular humanism while engaging those with opposing views. It is nothing less than the journal of record for secular humanism.”

Lindsay added that: “Everyone associated with the Center for Inquiry is impressed by Free Inquiry’s redesign and fresh approach to delivering thoughtful essays in a digital age.”