essay
Philosophy of science
More-than-human science
When AI takes over the practice of science we will likely find the results strange and incomprehensible. Should we worry?
Brandon Boesch
essay
Thinkers and theories
The truth about love
In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates shared a theory of love from the teachings of a ‘non-Athenian woman’. Who was she really?
Armand D’Angour
video
Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
essay
Death
The last letter
Condemned to death by firing squad, French resistance fighters put pen to paper. Their dying words can teach us how to live
Daniel R Brunstetter
essay
Space exploration
Have they been here?
When we look for extraterrestrials, we often peer into the depths of space. But alien life might be closer than you think
Ravi Kopparapu & Jacob Haqq Misra
video
Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
essay
Meaning and the good life
Welcome to the Chaoscene
The climate crisis is here. In order to thrive in these dangerous and precarious times, we must build resilient communities
Rupert Read
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes
video
History
Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches
13 minutes
essay
Nations and empires
Shame and revolution
Vietnam’s potent and storied anticolonialism is founded upon a unique sense of national shame
Kevin D Pham
essay
The environment
On unstable ground
A ‘great reshuffle’ of the land is underway. It will force us to reconsider traditional ideas of property and ownership
Michael Albertus
essay
Gender
Does testosterone make men?
In probing whether there are basic sex differences in humans, a psychologist and a biologist agree to seriously disagree
Cordelia Fine & Carole Hooven
essay
Language and linguistics
The lonely life of a glyph-breaker
The heroic days of deciphering hieroglyphics and cuneiform make for great stories, but will we ever see that happen again?
Francesco Perono Cacciafoco
essay
Dance and theatre
What actors know
Acting is an ancient and intrinsically human way to establish vibrant connections with one another. And it’s available to us all
John Britton
essay
Poverty and development
Raising the threshold
The World Bank’s poverty line is inaccurate and out of date – an error that obscures the feebleness of market solutions
Attrishu Bordoloi
video
War and peace
Two Ukrainian boys’ summer unfolds just miles from the frontlines
22 minutes
essay
Neurodiversity
Autism’s missing women
Long believed to be particularly associated with males, new research is revolutionising our understanding of autism
Gina Rippon
video
Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
essay
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
video
Love and friendship
Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone
5 minutes
essay
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
video
Engineering
Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?
15 minutes
essay
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
video
History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes