essay
Physics
Time is an object
Not a backdrop, an illusion or an emergent phenomenon, time has a physical size that can be measured in laboratories
Sara Walker & Lee Cronin
essay
Mood and emotion
The joy of sulk
Full of implicit rules and paradoxes, sulking is a marvellous example of intense communication without clear declaration
Rebecca Roache
essay
History of ideas
The post-linguistic turn
Analytic and continental philosophers were once united in their obsession with language. But now new questions have arisen
Crispin Sartwell
essay
Political philosophy
The Swedish theory of love
All countries must balance the freedom of individuals with the demands of the community. Sweden’s solution is unique
Lars Trägårdh
essay
History of technology
Ingenious librarians
A group of 1970s campus librarians foresaw our world of distributed knowledge and research, and designed search tools for it
Monica Westin
video
Technology and the self
Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned
10 minutes
essay
Social psychology
Don’t let them fool you
The fear of being duped is ubiquitous, but excessive scepticism makes it harder to trust one another and cooperate
Tess Wilkinson-Ryan
video
Stories and literature
What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?
10 minutes
video
Human evolution
Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature
6 minutes
essay
Economic history
Matrimony and the market
The sexual revolution promised new norms of intimacy based on egalitarianism. So far, only the rich have cashed in
Daniel Tutt
video
Dance and theatre
How a Noh mask-maker summons a lifelike face from a single block of wood
16 minutes
essay
Politics and government
Models of antiquity
Radicals in the Age of Revolution saw the classical world as a common inheritance that could aid their fight for liberty
Francesca Langer
video
Family life
On a whirlwind morning, a couple learns if they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy
7 minutes
essay
Art
The art of rules
Conceptual art often confounds. The key is to understand the rules of the artwork and the aesthetic experiences they yield
Sherri Irvin
essay
Thinkers and theories
A philosophy of secrets
Jacques Derrida was fascinated by the figure of the Marrano Jew, whose identity could barely be told even to themselves
Peter Salmon
video
The ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes
essay
Stories and literature
The sonnet machine
A sonnet contains an emotional drama of illusion and deception, crisis and resolution, crafted to make us think and feel
Timothy Hampton
video
Art
David Goldblatt captured the contradictions of apartheid in stark black and white
15 minutes
essay
Anthropology
How to mourn a forest
The Marind people of West Papua deploy mourning not only to grieve their animal and plant kin but as political resistance
Sophie Chao
video
Philosophy of mind
Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no
5 minutes
essay
Physics
Time is an object
Not a backdrop, an illusion or an emergent phenomenon, time has a physical size that can be measured in laboratories
Sara Walker & Lee Cronin
video
Space exploration
In the search for life, might alien ocean worlds be a better bet than Earth-like planets?
5 minutes
essay
Political philosophy
The Swedish theory of love
All countries must balance the freedom of individuals with the demands of the community. Sweden’s solution is unique
Lars Trägårdh
video
Philosophy of religion
How a devout Catholic philosopher approaches the problem of evil
8 minutes
essay
History of ideas
The post-linguistic turn
Analytic and continental philosophers were once united in their obsession with language. But now new questions have arisen
Crispin Sartwell
video
Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes
essay
Philosophy of religion
Reckoning with compassion
After an abuse scandal destroyed my Buddhist community, I had to reconsider what it means to live an ethically attuned life
Jessica Locke
essay
Mood and emotion
The joy of sulk
Full of implicit rules and paradoxes, sulking is a marvellous example of intense communication without clear declaration
Rebecca Roache