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Essays

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Longform Essays written by serious and creative thinkers on philosophy, psychology, science, society and culture

Abstract sketch of a cityscape with buildings, cars and patterns in pencil and ink.

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Art

Witty wotty dashes

Doodles are the emanations of our pixillated minds, freewheeling into dissociation, graphology, and radical openness

James Reath

Black and white photo of a thoughtful woman and two children, one holding a crying baby, indoors near wooden doors.

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Ethics

Why love matters most

For Iris Murdoch, morality is not about duties and rules but stopping our ego fantasies and attending to others with love

Cathy Mason

A surfer in a wetsuit emerging from a large turquoise wave with white foam crashing around.

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Sports and games

The secret

At the heart of surfing, whether you’re a kook or a famous charger, is the pursuit of moments so pure they clean you out

M M Owen

Abstract digital art with geometric shapes in various colours, forming the shape of a person’s head and shoulders, featuring black glasses in the centre.

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Ethics

The incompleteness of ethics

Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths. But as Gödel shows, deciding what is right will always be our burden

Elad Uzan

A person in a brown coat sitting alone at a picnic table in an autumn park with fallen leaves around.

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Consciousness and altered states

A simple shift in focus

Life is often experienced as a demanding, ongoing story. But with a little practice, a new space opens for peaceful presence

James Carmody

Painting of ancient Roman ruins with people, cattle and trees under a blue sky with clouds.

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Nations and empires

The rewards of ruin

Societal downfalls loom large in history and popular culture but, for the 99 per cent, collapse often had its upsides

Luke Kemp

A stork and chicks in a nest on a metal pylon above a grassy landscape with a river in the background.

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Animals and humans

To build a nest

Throughout the animal kingdom, the parents of newborns must strive to create snug sanctuaries in a hazardous world

Helen Jukes

Photo of three people in traditional robes, two holding wooden staffs, standing outside a wooden building in sunlight.

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Rituals and celebrations

A life in Zen

Growing up in countercultural California, ‘enlightenment’ had real glamour. But decades of practice have changed my mind

Anshi Zachary Smith

Black and white photo of a man in a suit speaking passionately at a podium with microphones.

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Biography and memoir

The story of Malcolm X

Alex Haley co-wrote The Autobiography of Malcolm X but Haley left out some profound elements of Malcolm’s political thought

Alex White

Photo of a large conference with a speaker on stage in traditional attire and an audience seated facing a large curved screen.

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Politics and government

How to run the world

We need new forms of global diplomacy to transcend the current pathetic bargaining of national and commercial interests

David Van Reybrouck

A round pot encircles a hole in the soil, around the hole are dried leaves, a stone and a stick.

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Anthropology

Spider divination

Life is complicated. In Cameroon, initiated diviners read the messages of spiders to untangle possible futures

David Zeitlyn

A crocodile underwater with mouth open wide showing teeth in a cloudy green environment.

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The environment

Beyond food and people

Nietzsche shows us how to embrace our connection with nature – without denying its essential conflict, strife and suffering

Nicholas E Low