essay
Philosophy of language
Quantum poetics
How Borges and Heisenberg converged on the notion that language both enables and interferes with our grasp of reality
William Egginton
essay
Work
Freedom at work
There is always a demand for more jobs. But what makes a job good? For that, Immanuel Kant has an answer
Tyler Re
essay
Human rights and justice
Beyond obscenity
A century after the trial against ‘Ulysses’, we must revisit the civil liberties arguments of its defender, Morris Ernst
Brett Gary
essay
Nations and empires
Dream of the Russian tropics
Imperial Russia had little access to the bountiful tropics that other empires enjoyed. So it created its own in the Caucasus
Oleksandr Polianichev
essay
Biography and memoir
Flat places
Whenever I stand in a flat landscape, I feel myself becoming weightless, taken out of my childhood full of painful nothing
Noreen Masud
video
Death
Even in modern secular societies, belief in an afterlife persists. Why?
9 minutes
essay
Music
To the tune of dystonia
One day, my hand stopped speaking to my brain. As a doctor and flute player, I had to understand this strange affliction
Lynn Hallarman
video
Nature and landscape
Take a serene hike through an ancient forest, inspired by a Miyazaki masterpiece
6 minutes
video
Design and fashion
The mundane becomes mesmerising in this deep dive into segmented displays
14 minutes
essay
Economic history
Deservingness
In post-communist eastern and central Europe, history is intensely personal and economics is saturated with moral feeling
Till Hilmar
essay
Nations and empires
Dream of the Russian tropics
Imperial Russia had little access to the bountiful tropics that other empires enjoyed. So it created its own in the Caucasus
Oleksandr Polianichev
video
Physics
A song of ice, fire and jelly – exploring the physics and history of the trumpet
9 minutes
essay
Stories and literature
Vergil’s secret message
Long derided as mere coincidences, acrostics in ancient poetry are finally being taken seriously – with astonishing results
Julia Hejduk
video
Architecture
Tour the European architecture that dreamed of a wondrous, fictitious China
16 minutes
essay
Illness and disease
More than pink
The culture around breast cancer is full of positivity and femininity. But it comes at the expense of the marginalised
Philippa Hetherington
video
Spirituality
Trek alongside spiritual pilgrims on a treacherous journey across Pakistan
6 minutes
essay
Work
Freedom at work
There is always a demand for more jobs. But what makes a job good? For that, Immanuel Kant has an answer
Tyler Re
essay
Film and visual culture
Fighting kung fu
From chopsocky films to disco earworms, Asian caricatures have proliferated since the 1970s. Can Hollywood kick the habit?
Stephanie Wong
video
Thinkers and theories
Photographs offer a colonialist window to the past – one that must be challenged
14 minutes
essay
Philosophy of language
Quantum poetics
How Borges and Heisenberg converged on the notion that language both enables and interferes with our grasp of reality
William Egginton
video
Animals and humans
An artist and ants collaborate on an exhibit of ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’
5 minutes
essay
Human rights and justice
Beyond obscenity
A century after the trial against ‘Ulysses’, we must revisit the civil liberties arguments of its defender, Morris Ernst
Brett Gary
video
Mathematics
How a curious question about colouring maps changed mathematics forever
9 minutes
essay
Archaeology
The secret life of Druids
The Greeks and Romans portrayed these elusive priests as bogeymen who bathed in their victims’ blood. Who were they really?
Miranda Aldhouse-Green
video
Meaning and the good life
The world turns vivid, strange and philosophical for one plane crash survivor
16 minutes
essay
Quantum theory
We are not empty
The concept of the atomic void is one of the most repeated mistakes in popular science. Molecules are packed with stuff
Mario Barbatti
video
Cities
The rise and fall of Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong’s infamous urban monolith
18 minutes
essay
Thinkers and theories
Why seek self-realisation?
In the face of climate crisis it might seem myopic but philosophers from Spinoza to Næss argue it is the only way forward
Helen De Cruz