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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

LatestPopular

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

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

Collage image of a smiling woman in patterned dress with colourful wavy borders set on a beach background.

video

Love and friendship

Never marry a man you love too much, and other views on romance in Sierra Leone

5 minutes

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

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

A large, artificial ice structure in a mountainous landscape with clear blue sky in the background.

video

Engineering

Can monumental ‘ice stupas’ help remote Himalayan villages survive?

15 minutes

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

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

Black-and-white photo of a person looking at vintage Honeywell 200 computer tape drives labelled A and B.

video

History of technology

Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966

6 minutes

Photo of three children in winter jackets sitting on grassland near a stream with a plastic container between them.

video

Animals and humans

Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way

13 minutes

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

essay

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

Traditional Indian painting of a deity reclining on a serpent on water with another figure on a lotus against a red background.

video

Stories and literature

Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling

14 minutes

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

essay

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

A young girl with curly hair applies makeup in front of a ring-lit mirror, her reflection visible.

video

Technology and the self

The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy

14 minutes

A person in a hard hat and coveralls surrounded by thick white smoke, obscuring most of the view.

video

Fairness and equality

There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa

10 minutes

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

essay

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 diner interior seen through a window with patrons seated at tables and a counter under hanging lights.

video

Food and drink

The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner

14 minutes

Photo of a woman meditating by a fire in a dimly lit room with artwork on the walls and others seated in the background.

video

Anthropology

For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business

30 minutes

Photo of two surgeons in blue scrubs and masks focused on a procedure, with one surgeon’s glasses reflecting the surgery.

essay

Medicine

When I lost my intuition

For years, I practised medicine with cool certainty, comfortable with life-and-death decisions. Then, one day, I couldn’t

Ronald W Dworkin

Photo of children playing in the desert in windy conditions, with sand swirling around them and smiles on their faces.

essay

Childhood and adolescence

Hegemony and childcare

Early childhood development interventions in the Global South is a huge industry built on highly questionable assumptions

Francesca Mezzenzana & Gabriel Scheidecker

A young woman and an older woman in a living room face the camera, one of them pointing towards it. The image has a webcam recording interface.

video

Gender

A filmmaker responds to Lars von Trier’s call for a new muse with a unique application

16 minutes

Photo of a large crowd celebrating outdoors with a person waving a South African flag energetically in the foreground.

essay

Political philosophy

A right to exist?

Since states are founded on violence and expulsion, their existence is always bound up in thorny questions about justice

Andrew F March

Abstract digital art of geometric patterns made with spheres, creating a sense of depth on a black background.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators

8 minutes

Photo of fishermen in a circle on a lake using large nets at sunrise with a distant island and hills in the background.

essay

Human evolution

The commitment to collaborate

Though natural selection favours self-interest, humans are extraordinarily good at cooperating with one another. Why?

Saira Khan

A woman walking on a dimly lit street pavement at night with a parked scooter and two men walking in the background, one appearing to follow her; the woman looks downcast, the man appears to be smiling.

essay

Human rights and justice

Did you think you were safe?

When I moved to India for work, I found that rape was a feature of the country, as deeply embedded as caste

Evelyn Fok

Photo of a person sitting in a dimly lit church with stained glass windows and sun rays filtering through.

video

Spirituality

Through rituals of prayer, a monk cultivates a quietly radical concept of freedom

4 minutes

Photo of a man speaking at a podium marked ‘Letters Live’, gesturing with one hand against a dark background.

video

Fairness and equality

‘To my old master’ – a freed slave answers the request to return to his old plantation

7 minutes