The five-paragraph fetish
Writing essays by a formula was meant to be a step on the way. Now it’s the stifling goal for student and scholar alike
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essay
Self-improvement
The art of listening
To listen well is not only a kindness to others but also, as the psychologist Carl Rogers made clear, a gift to ourselves
M M Owen
essay
Ageing and death
Old not Other
Here’s a puzzle: why do we neglect and disdain the one vulnerable group we all eventually will join? Beauvoir had an answer
Kate Kirkpatrick & Sonia Kruks
essay
History
The smile: a history
How our toothy modern smile was invented by a confluence of French dentistry and Parisian portrait-painting in the 1780s
Colin Jones
essay
Philosophy of religion
A God beyond logic
The history of natural theology shows that Intelligent Design and New Atheism both got it wrong, in strangely similar ways
Adam R Shapiro
essay
Language and linguistics
The polyglots of Dardistan
At the crossroads of south and central Asia lies one of the world’s most multilingual places, with songs and poetry to match
Zubair Torwali
video
Ageing and death
Death is a trip – how new research links near-death and DMT experiences
9 minutes
essay
Evolution
Connected-up-brains
Bat friends, monkeys sharing, and humans holding hands: the brains of social animals synchronise and expand one another
Sofia Quaglia
video
The environment
Photographs of rainforests dissolving in acid strike a beautiful note of warning
10 minutes
essay
Philosophy of religion
A God beyond logic
The history of natural theology shows that Intelligent Design and New Atheism both got it wrong, in strangely similar ways
Adam R Shapiro
video
Technology and the self
Adaptive technologies have helped Stephen Hawking, and many more, find their voice
5 minutes
essay
The ancient world
Cracking the Cretan code
Linear B has yielded its secrets, but Linear A remains elusive. Can linguistic analysis unlock the meaning of Minoan script?
Ester Salgarella
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
Experience the dazzling displays that fireflies create when humans are far away
5 minutes
video
Gender and identity
‘When you’re done, you stay human!’ What gender transition means to John
6 minutes
essay
Ageing and death
Old not Other
Here’s a puzzle: why do we neglect and disdain the one vulnerable group we all eventually will join? Beauvoir had an answer
Kate Kirkpatrick & Sonia Kruks
video
Stories and literature
Solaris and beyond – Stanisław Lem’s antidotes to the bores of American sci-fi
7 minutes
essay
Political philosophy
Democracy entails conflict
Democracy is a system of politics that has disagreement at its heart. But how do we stop conflicts becoming destructive?
Rochelle DuFord
essay
History
The smile: a history
How our toothy modern smile was invented by a confluence of French dentistry and Parisian portrait-painting in the 1780s
Colin Jones
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
To renew Yosemite, California should embrace a once-outlawed Indigenous practice
6 minutes
essay
Art
Her body is a problem
When 1970s women artists put the female body under the female gaze, why did the critics see only obscene monsters?
Lauren Elkin
video
Music
Before the Beatles dropped acid, a BBC workshop was creating far-out sounds
6 minutes
essay
Sleep and dreams
The dreams of animals
The psychic lives of nonhuman dreamers reveal colours, harmonies and beauties of which we had little inkling until now
David M Peña-Guzmán
video
Philosophy of language
For Ludwig Wittgenstein, language is a game, but not a frivolous one
43 minutes
essay
History of ideas
Beyond dust and grime
Zhuangzi thought Confucians were like frogs trapped in a well, unable to perceive the limitlessness of the sea
Tao Jiang
video
Art
Is paying with hand-drawn banknotes artistry or forgery? The knotty case of J S G Boggs
10 minutes
essay
Animals and humans
Freefall into darkness
Scientists study animals to illuminate human psychology. So why are we blind to the mental lives of our caged subjects?
Garet Lahvis
video
Human rights and justice
Portugal stole Goa’s lands and narratives. Can they ever truly be returned?
19 minutes
essay
Global history
With respect and friendship
For a century before the rise of European empires, Britons and North Africans lived together in amicable peace
Nat Cutter
video
Biology
In the jungle of Suriname, Maria Sibylla Merian discovered insect metamorphosis
4 minutes