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Longform Essays written by serious and creative thinkers on philosophy, psychology, science, society and culture

A cheetah cub playfully interacts with a brown dog on grass, with a toy in the background.

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Bioethics

Why the cat wags her tail

Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play?

Mathilde Tahar-Malaussena

A busy urban street with cars, a motorbike and a truck passing by a neon-lit building at sunset.

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Poverty and development

How Kerala got rich

Fifty years ago it was one of India’s poorest states, now it is now one of the richest. How did Kerala do it?

Tirthankar Roy & K Ravi Raman

Sepia-toned photo of a person in formal Victorian attire, standing with a slightly tilted head, against an ornate backdrop.

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Gender and identity

Requeering Wilde

Oscar Wilde is an icon of gay liberation from secrecy. But his life and his sexuality were not so simple – nor so binary

Sam Mills

A child in a pink raincoat jumping in a puddle on a city street on a rainy day with terraced houses in the background.

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Philosophy of mind

Suffused with causality

Humans have a superpower that makes us uniquely capable of controlling the world: our ability to understand cause and effect

Mariel Goddu

A cupcake with pink icing topped with mealworms, surrounded by other cupcakes.

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Food and drink

Adjust your disgust

The future of food is nutritious and sustainable – if we can overcome our instinctual revulsion to insects and lab-grown meat

Alexandra Plakias

Painting of an angel in an orange glow flying with small birds across a night sky over a cityscape and bare trees.

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History of science

Legacy of the angels

When medieval scholars sought to understand the nature of angels, they unwittingly laid the foundations of modern physics

Rebekah Wallace

Dried ground leaves being poured from a scoop into a container indoors.

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Addiction

The kratom question

Millions are turning to an unregulated herbal extract to curb their opioid addiction. But do the risks outweigh the benefits?

Xi Chen

Black and white night photo of historic Gothic-style buildings with arched windows, towers and courtyards.

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History of ideas

Ghosts among the philosophers

Cambridge, home of analytic philosophy, was also a hotbed of psychical research. How did this spooky subject take root?

Matyáš Moravec

Vintage sepia photo of a group of soldiers in hats and uniforms posed with a US flag.

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War and peace

Could conquest return?

It’s only a century since US diplomats first persuaded the world that it’s wrong for countries to annex their neighbours

Kerry Goettlich

Black and white photo of man standing in front of a massive industrial tunnel with a Jeumont sign.

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Neuroscience

Why nothing matters

It took centuries for people to embrace the zero. Now it’s helping neuroscientists understand how the brain perceives absences

Benjy Barnett

Black and white photo of people gathered by the Berlin Wall, a couple embracing in the foreground.

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Thinkers and theories

The necessity of Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum’s philosophy is dynamic and challenging, but also elegant and lucidly written: she is the thinker of our time

Brandon Robshaw

Photo of a crowd with a focused young woman looking to the side, surrounded by blurred faces in the foreground.

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Personality

The highly sensitive person

Those with this little-known trait think more deeply and feel more empathy. But they also deal with significant challenges

Elaine Aron