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Culture

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

Architecture Art Biography and memoir Dance and theatre Design and fashion Film and visual culture Food and drink Home Music Nature and landscape Rituals and celebrations Sports and games Stories and literature Subcultures Travel

Photo of a woman meditating by a fire in a dimly lit room with artwork on the walls and others seated in the background.

video

Anthropology

For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business

30 minutes

Illustration of hands typing on a keyboard with handwritten notes and a man in a sequence of frames.

essay

Computing and artificial intelligence

Chatbots of the dead

We can now create compelling experiences of talking with our dead. Is this ghoulish, therapeutic or something else again?

Amy Kurzweil & Daniel Story

Photo of a man in a red shirt praying on a church pew, hands clasped, with a notebook beside him in dim lighting.

essay

Cognition and intelligence

The power of prayer

Praying is a cognitive practice full of problem-solving resources. You can learn from it even if you don’t want to do it

Eleanor Schille-Hudson

Ancient fresco showing two figures in flowing robes dancing against a dark blue background, one holding a tambourine.

essay

Dance and theatre

Why the old man dances

Religious ritual to appease the gods or free expression of human agency? For the ancient Romans, dance could be both

Karin Schlapbach

Blurry photo of a person lying back with head tilted, set against a red and dark background.

essay

Sex and sexuality

Sex and death

Our culture works hard to keep sex and death separate but recharging the libido might provide the release that grief needs

Cody Delistraty

A child peeking over the back of a horse in a grassy open field with a distant horizon and a slightly cloudy sky.

video

Anthropology

Does Mogi’s future lie with her horses on the Mongolian steppe, or in the city?

16 minutes

Photo of a doll with curly red hair, blue eyes, and a large maroon hat, wearing a double string of pearls and a red dress.

essay

Rituals and celebrations

Tender, yet creepy

Dolls help children create wonderfully vivid and imaginative worlds, while also serving as unsettling reminders of the abyss

Tishani Doshi

Photo of two young Asian women wearing sunglasses sitting in the back of a pickup truck at an outdoor event with American flags and mountains.

video

Meaning and the good life

A Japanese religious community makes an unlikely home in the mountains of Colorado

9 minutes

Aerial photo of a beach at dusk with a spotlight illuminating sand tracks seagulls waves and a person walking with luggage.

video

Home

Tracing circles with her suitcase, Yuge mourns seasons of separation from family

5 minutes

Open books arranged in a grid with pages featuring bright, hand-painted floral designs, around a drawing of a loaf of bread.

video

Rituals and celebrations

Flirtation, negotiation and vodka – or how to couple up in 1950s rural Poland

5 minutes

A line of people in winter clothing stand pulling on a thick rope anchored in the snowy landscape. The ocean and a cloudy sky are in the background.

video

Rituals and celebrations

A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle

8 minutes

A smiling family group stands in a living room posing for a photo. The table is adorned with red candles, a mirror, apples, and a green plant.

video

Rituals and celebrations

A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth

3 minutes

A person in glasses smiles amid colourful confetti in the air, with blurry, illuminated urban background and celebratory atmosphere.

video

Rituals and celebrations

Meet the entrepreneur whose business is crafting perfect peak experiences

12 minutes

Detailed beaded artwork depicting two figures with dark hair and cheerful expressions, adorned with vibrant blue and gold beads.

video

Rituals and celebrations

The spectacular Mardi Gras artworks born of a unique New Orleans tradition

16 minutes

Blended images of a historical figure in traditional attire and two women with on-screen text: “POV you in September…” and “Bestie… manifesting will come in 30 minutes.”

essay

Subcultures

Of memes and magick

Bending a mysterious world to your will was the goal of esoteric practices. Now it’s the unashamed aim of the tech titans

Tara Isabella Burton

A group of men in formal attire sit at a long table, eating from bowls in a patterned room with numerous empty wine glasses.

video

Food and drink

Is a ‘gastronomic society’ dinner the height of decadence, or an act of artistry?

11 minutes

A football player is celebrating in front of an enthusiastic crowd, including a marching band and cheerleaders holding red pom-poms.

video

Sports and games

A unique project frames college football as an intricately choreographed mass ritual

7 minutes

Painting of four solemn figures wearing ornate and colourful robes, holding items like shields and staffs, with animals in the foreground.

essay

Archaeology

The secret life of Druids

The Greeks and Romans portrayed these elusive priests as bogeymen who bathed in their victims’ blood. Who were they really?

Miranda Aldhouse-Green

Surreal painting of fantastical creatures engaged in various activities, including playing a musical instrument, riding animals, and interacting with each other.

essay

Religion

Miracles not magic

It took a tremendous effort to distinguish early Christianity from the finely tuned world of pagan beliefs and rituals

Martha Rampton

A group of people socialising at a restaurant, seated around a table adorned with flowers, wine glasses, and menus, with a bartender in the background.

essay

Food and drink

Crème de la crème

How French cuisine became beloved among status-hungry diners in the United States, from Thomas Jefferson to Kanye West

Kelly Alexander & Claire Bunschoten

Photograph of a dead black bird lying on brown soil with its head turned to the side.

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

A girl in a dress is swinging with the Sagrada Família towers in the background.

essay

History of ideas

Disorient yourself

Now associated with childhood fun, the swing has a near-universal history of ritual transgression and transformation

Javier Moscoso

A scary figure in a fur-lined hood with a skeletal face and sharp teeth, in black and white against a dark background.

video

Rituals and celebrations

Beware the Nalujuit! A rare glimpse into a chilling Labrador Inuit tradition

13 minutes

Large poster with Hindu deity and male portraits being carried by two people in a street. Text is in Hindi. Bicycle and table in the background.

video

Politics and government

‘Without a poster, you don’t exist!’ – on the curious political banners of Mumbai

20 minutes