Culture
video
Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
essay
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
The therapist who hated me
Going to a child psychoanalyst four times a week for three years was bad enough. Reading what she wrote about me was worse
Michael Bacon
video
Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
video
Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes
essay
Family life
A patchwork family
After my marriage failed, I strove to create a new family – one made beautiful by the loving way it’s stitched together
Lily Dunn
video
Architecture
West Africa was once an architectural laboratory. Is it time for a revival?
12 minutes
essay
Stories and literature
Terrifying vistas of reality
H P Lovecraft, the master of cosmic horror stories, was a philosopher who believed in the total insignificance of humanity
Sam Woodward
video
Biography and memoir
The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands
29 minutes
essay
Stories and literature
The real Miss Julie
Victoria Benedictsson assumed a male identity, achieved literary stardom, and took her own life. Then Strindberg stole it
Elisabeth Åsbrink
video
Art
‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism
17 minutes
video
Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes
video
Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
19 minutes
essay
Comparative philosophy
Folklore is philosophy
Both folktales and formal philosophy unsettle us into thinking anew about our cherished values and views of the world
Abigail Tulenko
video
Childhood and adolescence
Striking shadow puppetry illuminates a skater kid’s memories of Boy Scout camp
12 minutes
essay
Sports and games
The moral risks of fandom
Players, coaches and team owners sometimes do terrible things. What, if anything, should their fans do about that?
Jake Wojtowicz & Alfred Archer
video
Rituals and celebrations
Meet the entrepreneur whose business is crafting perfect peak experiences
12 minutes
essay
Religion
There was no Jesus
How could a cult leader draw crowds, inspire devotion and die by crucifixion, yet leave no mark in contemporary records?
Gavin Evans
essay
Stories and literature
The best stories smell
When scents are used to intensify a narrative, they heighten young readers’ emotions and enrich their memory banks
Natalia Kucirkova
video
Technology and the self
A ‘virtual outing’ on Google Maps reveals a treasured image from Diego’s past
6 minutes
video
Architecture
‘I listen to the land’ – poetry and greenery intertwine in Emilio Ambasz’s architecture
9 minutes
video
Design and fashion
The ornate, the aromatic, the cruel – Valentine’s cards before the age of Hallmark
16 minutes
essay
Mental health
The right to bathe
Water is a great healer. Can New York’s public pools and ‘blue spaces’ be engineered for collective hydrotherapy?
Rebecca Hayes Jacobs
video
Nature and landscape
What it’s like to care for Yellowstone during its quietest – and coldest – months
13 minutes