Suffused with causality
Humans have a superpower that makes us uniquely capable of controlling the world: our ability to understand cause and effect
Popular this month
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
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
essay
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
essay
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
essay
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
video
History of technology
Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966
6 minutes
essay
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
video
Cognition and intelligence
A father forgets his child’s name for the first time in this poetic reflection on memory
4 minutes
video
Animals and humans
Join seabirds as they migrate, encountering human communities along the way
13 minutes
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
essay
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
video
Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes
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
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
essay
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
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
video
Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
essay
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
video
Art
Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer
17 minutes
video
Anthropology
For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business
30 minutes
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
essay
Thinkers and theories
The winter of civilisation
Byung-Chul Han’s relentless critiques of digital capitalism reveal how this suffocating system creates hollowed-out lives
Josh Cohen
video
Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
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
video
Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
55 minutes
essay
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
The art in the analyst’s room
The consulting office reflects the personality of the therapist, while also subtly shaping the experience of their patients
Anna Parker
video
Gender
A filmmaker responds to Lars von Trier’s call for a new muse with a unique application
16 minutes