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Culture

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

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Two children playing with a dog in a green field with yellow flowers, a goalpost and a yellow field in the background.

essayChildhood and adolescence

The play deficit

Children today are cossetted and pressured in equal measure. Without the freedom to play they will never grow up

Peter Gray

A woman in a yellow saree standing among large piles of colourful clothes outdoors, with trees in the background.

videoBeauty and aesthetics

This is the final resting place of your cast-off clothing

14 minutes

Close-up of a woman with brown eyes and long hair smiling, showing noticeable dental issues and freckles on her face.

essayFairness and equality

Poor teeth

If you have a mouthful of teeth shaped by a childhood in poverty, don’t go knocking on the door of American privilege

Sarah Smarsh

Hands wearing gloves making pink candyfloss with a machine, surrounded by fluffy pink candyfloss strands.

essayIllness and disease

The case against sugar

A potent toxin that alters hormones and metabolism, sugar sets the stage for epidemic levels of obesity and diabetes

Gary Taubes

Abstract painting of a face with two red eyes, geometric shapes in pastel colours and a textured orange background.

essayPhilosophy of mind

I am not a story

Some find it comforting to think of life as a story. Others find that absurd. So are you a Narrative or a non-Narrative?

Galen Strawson

A woman working on a laptop indoors at night viewed from outside through a window, with dark curtains and a dimly lit room.

essaySleep and dreams

Broken sleep

People once woke up halfway through the night to think, write or make love. What have we lost by sleeping straight through?

Karen Emslie

Man in a blue shirt and cap playing a cello in a forest setting.

videoEcology and environmental sciences

Yo-Yo Ma performs a work for cello in the woods, accompanied by a birdsong chorus

4 minutes

Black and white photo of women in gospel choir robes singing and clapping enthusiastically with hands raised in a worship setting.

essayCognition and intelligence

One more time

Why do we listen to our favourite music over and over again? Because repeated sounds work magic in our brains

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

A vintage photo of a smiling family of five posing in front of a green curtain, with the father holding the youngest child.

essayChildhood and adolescence

The great forgetting

Our first three years are usually a blur and we don’t remember much before age seven. What are we hiding from ourselves?

Kristin Ohlson

Hyperrealistic painting of a messy cheeseburger with onions, lettuce and condiments, along with a salt shaker on a dark background.

essayMood and emotion

The hunger mood

Hunger isn’t in your stomach or your blood-sugar levels. It’s in your mind – and that’s where we need to shape up

Michael Graziano

Photo of a family of six sitting together, reading a book in a dimly lit tent.

essaySubcultures

Utopia Inc

Most utopian communities are, like most start-ups, short-lived. What makes the difference between failure and success?

Alexa Clay

Black and white photo of a large group of people digging and working in a field with shovels, surrounded by onlookers in uniform and trees.

ideaHistory

Drunk on genocide: how the Nazis celebrated murdering Jews

Edward B Westermann

Painting of a girl in red and a wolf in a forest. The girl holds a basket and looks back at the wolf among dense green foliage.

essayStories and literature

The good guy/bad guy myth

Pop culture today is obsessed with the battle between good and evil. Traditional folktales never were. What changed?

Catherine Nichols

A smiling elderly man in a cluttered electronics shop with various gadgets and boxes surrounding him.

essayHome

The joy of clutter

The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’

Matt Alt

A woman sits alone in a Parisian cafe with a glass of wine, while the neighbouring tables are full of socialising groups

essayLove and friendship

Loved, yet lonely

You might have the unconditional love of family and friends and yet feel deep loneliness. Can philosophy explain why?

Kaitlyn Creasy

A two-storey house at night with lights on inside, a car parked outside, and a streetlamp illuminating the scene.

essayFilm and visual culture

The reality show

Schizophrenics used to see demons and spirits. Now they talk about actors and hidden cameras – and make a lot of sense

Mike Jay

Painting of two Asian men and cheerful children in a park setting with a futuristic vehicle, balloons and flowers in the background.

essayCognition and intelligence

How totalism works

The brainwashing methods of isolation, engulfment and fear can lead anyone to a cult. I should know – I was in one

Alexandra Stein

A religious procession with masked people in purple hoods carrying a statue adorned with angel figures and flowers at night.

essaySubcultures

What is a cult?

Cults are exploitative, weird groups with strange beliefs and practices, right? So what about regular religions then?

Tara Isabella Burton

Ancient Greek painting on a vase depicting two armoured warriors in combat, decorated with swirling patterns and intricate details.

essayThe ancient world

Black Achilles

The Greeks didn’t have modern ideas of race. Did they see themselves as white, black – or as something else altogether?

Tim Whitmarsh

A glass of water on the edge of a wooden table with a plain grey background.

essayFood and drink

One week, no food

Intrigued by the buzz around medical fasting, I tried it. A rollercoaster of boredom and energy ensued

S Abbas Raza

A beach with people enjoying activities; some fly kites, others relax on the sand, with the ocean in the background.

essayNeurodiversity

Autism from the inside

Too many depictions of autistic people rely on tired clichés. The neurotypical world needs to take note of our own voices

Katherine May

A young man in traditional attire galloping on a horse across a vast grassy plain with rolling hills in the background.

essayAnimals and humans

Becoming a centaur

The horse is a prey animal, the human a predator. Our shared trust and athleticism is a neurobiological miracle

Janet Jones

A group of woolly sheep with ear tags standing in a field, viewed through wooden fence slats, with hills in the background.

essayEthics

Why you should eat meat

Not eating animals is wrong. If you care about animals, then the right thing to do is breed them, kill them and eat them

Nick Zangwill

Soldiers in camouflage uniforms and white hats, with one soldier laughing and holding a rifle, surrounded by other soldiers.

essayWar and peace

The legend of the Legion

His cap is bleached as white as the bones of a Saharan camel. Is the romance of the French Foreign Legion a cult of death?

Robert Twigger