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Culture

Essays and videos on the arts, literature, travel, rituals and celebrations
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

Fisheye photo of a man in a suit leaning close to camera in a laundrette, with two people talking in the background.

video

Gender

A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry

5 minutes

3D digital rendering of a cross-section of a Roman amphitheatre, showing architectural details and a large crowd inside.

video

Architecture

A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power

17 minutes

Painting of a girl with a pearl earring in an ornate frame, viewed by three people in a gallery setting.

essay

Art

The ecstatic swoon

As Stendhal knew, the reason for art is to make you feel. Do not try to grasp the artwork: allow it to grasp you instead

Robert D Zaretsky

Black and white photo of a person in glasses and military attire standing in front of the Hollywood sign.

video

Art

When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer

9 minutes

Digital artwork of a skull with holographic elements and text overlays on a dark background.

video

Consciousness and altered states

‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality

7 minutes

Photo of a wicker basket with two kittens and a squirrel inside against a decorative blue and white tiled wall.

video

Animals and humans

One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough

14 minutes

Aerial photo of a snowy town with colourful buildings and a vast frozen landscape in the background.

essay

The environment

On unstable ground

A ‘great reshuffle’ of the land is underway. It will force us to reconsider traditional ideas of property and ownership

Michael Albertus

Abstract blue and white painting of a plant silhouette on a dark background.

video

Earth science and climate

Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth

3 minutes

Two men on stage acting, one holds an apple on a stick and looks through two glass lenses held by the other man, in dramatic lighting.

essay

Dance and theatre

What actors know

Acting is an ancient and intrinsically human way to establish vibrant connections with one another. And it’s available to us all

John Britton

Microscopic image showing a close-up view of a butterfly’s proboscis covered with vibrant pink and orange structures.

video

Biology

Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes

4 minutes

Painting of a vibrant green hillside with trees and a winding river, showing detailed textures and overlapping colours.

video

Nature and landscape

California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker

10 minutes

Sepia-toned photo of a person in formal Victorian attire, standing with a slightly tilted head, against an ornate backdrop.

essay

Gender and identity

Requeering Wilde

Oscar Wilde is an icon of gay liberation from secrecy. But his life and his sexuality were not so simple – nor so binary

Sam Mills

An older man in a red cap and printed T-shirt looking into the distance.

video

Virtues and vices

Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later

16 minutes

A cupcake with pink icing topped with mealworms, surrounded by other cupcakes.

essay

Food and drink

Adjust your disgust

The future of food is nutritious and sustainable – if we can overcome our instinctual revulsion to insects and lab-grown meat

Alexandra Plakias