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Medieval painting of a man in a cosmic circle with zodiac symbols surrounded by blue and red patterns.

The birth of naturalism

The modern era is often seen as the triumph of science over supernaturalism. But what really happened is far more interesting

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Medieval painting of a man in a cosmic circle with zodiac symbols surrounded by blue and red patterns.

essay

History of science

The birth of naturalism

The modern era is often seen as the triumph of science over supernaturalism. But what really happened is far more interesting

Peter Harrison

Popular this month

Abstract painting of two distorted faces with geometric shapes in orange, purple and brown tones.

essay

Psychiatry and psychotherapy

Psychodynamic nonsense

After decades of practising psychotherapy, I believe it has little foundation in science and often causes harm

Niklas Serning

Colourful, whimsical house with ornate details and greenery in foreground, photo taken outdoors in daylight.

video

Home

How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams

8 minutes

Photo of a man in a red shirt praying on a church pew, hands clasped, with a notebook beside him in dim lighting.

essay

Cognition and intelligence

The power of prayer

Praying is a cognitive practice full of problem-solving resources. You can learn from it even if you don’t want to do it

Eleanor Schille-Hudson

Painting of a bustling 17th-century market square with people, horses and a church, surrounded by historic buildings and boats on a waterway.

essay

Global history

There are no pure cultures

All of our religions, stories, languages and norms were muddled and mixed through mobility and exchange throughout history

Inanna Hamati-Ataya

Aerial black-and-white photo of a town surrounded by rolling hills and agricultural terraces.

essay

Nations and empires

Passion and Palestine

More than any other conflict, Israel/Palestine has provoked extraordinarily fervent emotion throughout the world. Why?

Derek Jonathan Penslar

Surreal abstract painting with eyes, lips and leaf shapes in soft colours on paper.

video

Art

Radical doodles – how ‘exquisite corpse’ games embodied the Surrealist movement

15 minutes

Aerial photo of a winding river through lush green rainforest with dramatic cloud formations in the sky above.

essay

Public health

Hearts and brains

Humans always end up with clogged arteries, right? That’s not what the lives of the Tsimane in the Amazon basin tell us

Ben Daitz

Illustration of two people with closed eyes softly singing into a microphone, featuring simple brushstroke style.

video

Language and linguistics

Why Susan listens to recordings of herself speaking a language she no longer remembers

5 minutes

Illustration of a purple star with an eye and shield with padlock on blue background encircled by laurel and gold rings.

video

Ethics

Plato saw little value in privacy. How do his ideas hold up in the information age?

5 minutes

Painting of a serene night scene with a full moon reflecting on a dark blue lake surrounded by silhouettes of rocks and trees.

essay

Stories and literature

The listening gift

It is the dark matter of conversation, the white space around a poem. For Rilke, listening is receiving the divine

Faith Lawrence

Black and white photograph of a cloudy sky with swirling lines resembling bird flight patterns.

video

Biology

Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short

3 minutes

A brown wren standing on a rock with a blurred background.

essay

Biology

In praise of subspecies

To lump or to split? Deciding whether an animal is a species or subspecies profoundly influences our conservation priorities

Richard Smyth

Black and white photo of two men using an early voice recording device, seated and holding speaking tubes.

video

Information and communication

‘Astonished and somewhat terrified’ – Victorians’ reactions to the phonograph

36 minutes

A man standing on a balcony of a brick apartment building, with tarps and debris in foreground.

essay

Politics and government

The end of neoliberalism?

The case of Mexico shows that, despite a proliferating discourse that it is over, neoliberalism is as relentless as ever

Inés Escobar González

Two silhouetted figures examining a wall-sized, illuminated display of the periodic table.

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Chemistry

Chemical laws

Often dismissed as the poor cousin of the sciences, chemistry has revealed natural laws that illuminate our Universe

Vanessa A Seifert

A man in a suit demonstrates with a series of blocks in a lab setting; photo.

video

Engineering

From simple motors to levitating trains – how design shapes innovation

23 minutes

A speaker on stage addressing a large audience in an indoor venue with screens displaying his image.

essay

Religion

Prosperity versus liberation

How Pentecostalism’s prosperity gospel replaced Catholic liberation theology in Latin American life

Elle Hardy

Colourful, whimsical house with ornate details and greenery in foreground, photo taken outdoors in daylight.

video

Home

How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams

8 minutes

Abstract painting of two distorted faces with geometric shapes in orange, purple and brown tones.

essay

Psychiatry and psychotherapy

Psychodynamic nonsense

After decades of practising psychotherapy, I believe it has little foundation in science and often causes harm

Niklas Serning

Photo of a giraffe seen through an arched doorway with brick and blue tiled walls in a zoo environment.

video

Animals and humans

Are zoos and natural history museums born of a desire to understand, or to control?

57 minutes

Two weathered, clay duck sculptures facing each other against a grey background.

essay

Metaphysics

The truth about fiction

What distinguishes fiction from nonfiction? The answer to this perennial question relies on how we understand reality itself

Hannah H Kim

Photograph of two silhouetted figures on a sunlit path surrounded by dark geometric shadows and structures.

essay

Knowledge

The penumbral plunge

Diving into the ring of darkness beyond things easily answerable, asking ‘Why?’ questions is what make humans awesome

Eric Schwitzgebel

Aerial photo of an archaeological excavation site in a barren landscape with workers digging and examining the area.

video

Archaeology

What’s an ancient Greek brick doing in a Sumerian city? An archeological investigation

16 minutes

Painting of passengers in a 19th century bus, featuring men and women in period dress, one holding a basket of flowers.

essay

Stories and literature

Elegance and hustle

How French modernists from Proust to Mallarmé were alarmed and inspired by the voracious dynamism of the newspaper world

Max McGuinness

Photo of three women viewed from behind near a lake with trees. One holds a megaphone and wears a colourful embroidered shirt.

video

Family life

The migrants missing in Mexico, and the mothers who won’t stop searching for them

21 minutes

Heron standing on a small patch of greenery surrounded by calm water with a lush forest in the background.

essay

Earth science and climate

The planetary fix

Despite decades of inaction we can avert the climate Hellocene and restore the atmosphere to keep our world habitable

Rob Jackson

Illustration of a hand dropping a coin into another hand within an eye-shaped frame on a textured background.

video

Virtues and vices

Why Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith were divided on the virtues of vanity

5 minutes

A masked nurse in scrubs sitting in a hospital waiting area.

essay

Bioethics

Moral resilience

Nurses experience deep suffering when they can’t act according to their moral compass. Our research shows a way forward

Cynda Hylton Rushton