Culture
essay
Values and beliefs
How traditions progress
The colourful Swiss sport of stone putting illuminates Aristotle’s insights into the shortcomings of conservative thought
Daniel Kranzelbinder
video
Sports and games
A unique project frames college football as an intricately choreographed mass ritual
7 minutes
video
Making
From log to Go board – the world’s oldest game, made the old-fashioned way
20 minutes
video
Sports and games
The brutality and beauty of the West African martial art of ‘dambe’
15 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
Teaching an AI to beat video games still takes human imagination
5 minutes
video
Sports and games
Bodies, bikes and groovy music propel this stylish classic film from 1965
17 minutes
video
Personality
Why a journeyman boxer finds contentment in the art of losing
6 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Skiing blind is a challenge – but it helps to have a loved one to guide you
20 minutes
video
Consciousness and altered states
You need to make friends with pain to run through the Grand Canyon and back
5 minutes
essay
Animals 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
video
Sports and games
After a day’s toil in California’s fields, labourers let loose in street races
9 minutes
video
Sports and games
You’ve likely never heard of the only woman drafted into the NBA – and that’s fine by her
22 minutes
essay
Complexity
All stars
Is a great team more than the sum of its players? Complexity science reveals the role of strategy, synergy, swarming and more
Jessica Flack & Cade Massey
video
Consciousness and altered states
‘It makes sense of everything I am.’ The transcendence of the long-distance swimmer
12 minutes
essay
Sports and games
Love is a hold’em game
While some keep their cards close to their chest, others try raising the stakes. What can poker teach us about dating?
Suki Finn
video
Biography and memoir
‘I feel the weight of everyone’: Keeth Smart foiled death to make it to the Olympics
19 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
Behold the invisible swoosh and swirl of athletic movement in digital art
2 minutes
video
Nature and landscape
Experience the thrills – and major chills – of scaling a frozen waterfall
16 minutes
essay
Sports and games
Invisible tattoos
Many athletes are propelled by childhood trauma to succeed, but it’s a toxic myth that healing the wounds blunts the edge
William D Parham
video
Sports and games
Grab bags, café raids and booze – how Tour de France cyclists refuelled in the 1960s
3 minutes
essay
Cognition and intelligence
Concentrate!
The challenge of chess – learning how to hold complexity in mind and still make good decisions – is also the challenge of life
Jonathan Rowson
video
Sports and games
Watch Charles and Ray Eames put their 1969 spin on one of the world’s oldest toys
8 minutes
video
Sports and games
Human capital: art, exercise and industry in the streets of Beijing
16 minutes
video
Sports and games
Dances with whales: the ethereal underwater vistas of an elite freediving team
13 minutes