Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, was also a prominent American humanists and he was clear about the values of Star Trek: ‘It speaks to some basic human needs, that there is a tomorrow – it’s not all going to be over in a big flash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids – human beings built them because they’re clever and they work hard. And ‘Star Trek’ is about those things.’

My last New Statesman blog on Humanism is about Star Trek.