PhilosophySciencePsychologySocietyCulture
EssaysVideos

Popular

About
DONATENEWSLETTER
Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletterSIGN IN

Culture

Essays and videos on the arts, literature, travel, rituals and celebrations
ArchitectureArtBiography and memoirDance and theatreDesign and fashionFilm and visual cultureFood and drinkHomeMusicNature and landscapeRituals and celebrationsSports and gamesStories and literatureSubculturesTravel
LatestPopular
Photo of three people in traditional robes, two holding wooden staffs, standing outside a wooden building in sunlight.

essay

Rituals and celebrations

A life in Zen

Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind

Anshi Zachary Smith

Black and white photo of a man in a suit speaking at a podium gesturing with his hand, with microphones in front.

essay

Biography and memoir

The story of Malcolm X

Alex Haley co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X but Haley left out some profound elements of Malcolm’s political thought

Alex White

3D heat map graph with peaks in red and valleys in blue showing data variation.

video

Music

A riveting audiovisual dive into what makes sounds harmonious, or not

28 minutes

A round pot encircles a hole in the soil, around the hole are dried leaves, a stone and a stick.

essay

Anthropology

Spider divination

Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures

David Zeitlyn

Abstract digital art of a web-like cosmic structure with purple and orange filament patterns, resembling a universe simulation.

essay

Cosmology

Rivers of galaxies

What are the largest shapes in the Universe? The answer might be found in the most unassuming places here on Earth

Mark Neyrinck

Painting of a vast landscape featuring rocky hills, a woman with a child and distant snow-capped mountains under a cloudy sky.

video

Nature and landscape

After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint

15 minutes

Photo of an ocean sunset seen through a round window with a warm sepia tone across the sky and water.

essay

Language and linguistics

The grammar of a god-ocean

To truly explore alien languages, linguists must open themselves to the maximum conceivable degree of cosmic otherness

Eli K P William

Photo of a woman in a red coat gazing out a foggy window with a contemplative expression.

video

Progress and modernity

Moving from Tibet to Beijing, Drolma reconciles big dreams with harsh realities

31 minutes

Vintage photo of people erecting tall structures in a tropical setting with palm trees and a thatched building.

video

Art

A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea

7 minutes

Photo of a man lying on a bed with white sheets, looking peaceful against a blue background.

video

Consciousness and altered states

What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?

12 minutes

A large white cathedral with golden domes near a river, surrounded by trees with autumn colours.

essay

Architecture

The replica and the original

Architectural copies of lost structures require reckoning with history and heritage. At what cost is the past rebuilt?

Elizabeth Kostina

Blurry photo of a townscape with unfocused colourful lights strung across buildings in the evening.

video

Ageing and death

Memories of friends and neighbours light the streets of a seaside village in England

11 minutes

Photo of ornate 18th-century women’s shoes with floral embroidery and green trim on a neutral background.

essay

Design and fashion

Walk in these

Shoes are deeply personal, literally moulded to our lives. But they create our social lives as much as express them

Matthew McCormack

Black and white photo of a group of men playing musical instruments and sitting in a wooden room.

essay

Music

The beat of goombay

Diasporas are made of vast constellations of countless people, fused together through memory, meaning – and music

Salwa Halloway

Cropped illustration of a person in a pink robe with orange patterns walking beside a horse, surrounded by grass and flowers.

essay

Gender

Taliban bride

Women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their own homes. This is the story of Marjan, married at 12 to a Taliban fighter

Zala & Asad Nariman

Photo of a modern house built over a waterfall, surrounded by dense green forest and a rocky stream.

video

Architecture

A lush tour of Fallingwater – the Frank Lloyd Wright design that changed architecture

14 minutes

Vintage painting of a man with glowing eyes surrounded by floating spheres on a decorative background.

essay

Stories and literature

Merveilleux-scientifique

With brain swaps and death rays, a little-known French sci-fi genre explored science’s dark possibilities a century ago

Fleur Hopkins-Loféron

Photo of a woman in a floral headscarf with a man in the background against a rural autumn landscape under a clear sky.

video

Home

Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons

13 minutes

Abstract painting of textured forms resembling fibres and foliage overlaid on an antique map background.

video

Art

Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus

8 minutes

video

Film and visual culture

Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation

5 minutes

Photo of a young woman in a pink hijab skateboarding on a ramp, with a building and a flag visible in the background.

video

Sports and games

Young Palestinians find fleeting moments of freedom at a West Bank skate park

13 minutes

Painting of a man on a rocky cliff overlooking a foggy mountainous landscape, with a walking stick in hand.

essay

Art

Out of the fog

It’s a ‘failed painting’ that obscures the profound power of German Romanticism. Why do we love the ‘Wanderer’ so much?

Gianluca Didino

A painting of a mythical forest scene with centaurs, satyrs and wild animals in a chaotic setting.

video

Nature and landscape

‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden

5 minutes

Abstract digital collage with classical statue overlayed by red lines, geometric shapes and layered images on a textured background.

essay

Stories and literature

Our narrative prison

The three-act ‘hero’s journey’ has long been the most prominent kind of story. What other tales are there to tell?

Eliane Glaser