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Essays

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

Painting of a historic city square with a tall clock tower, statues, carriages, and groups of people in period clothing.

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History

Why history is always political

In his work on republicanism as a living idea, J G A Pocock showed that contesting history is part of a robust civic life

Rosario López

Digital artwork of a forest inside a circular frame with geometric lines, displayed against a black background.

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Stories and literature

Laboratories of the impossible

By testing the boundaries of reality, Spanish-language authors have created a sublime counterpart to experimental physics

Joshua Roebke

Photo of a dark, rugged rock formation emerging from blurred ocean waves under a cloudy sky.

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Deep time

Roaming rocks

Metamorphic rocks are our emissaries from the deep, travelling to alien realms and revealing the restless nature of Earth

Marcia Bjornerud

Vintage black-and-white photo of a colonial-era courtroom with seated officials and standing West African defendants in traditional attire.

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Human rights and justice

What’s in the rule of law?

The British Empire used a great democratic ideal to manufacture racial difference and rationalise colonial domination

Kanika Sharma

Photo of Daniel Dennett looking to the side with a white beard and glasses wearing a suit against a black background.

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Philosophy of mind

The stories of Daniel Dennett

Often metaphorical and allusive, the philosopher’s work will long be remembered for how it grappled with everyday thought

Tim Bayne

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

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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

Black and white photo of a large group of boys and a few adults standing on bare ground, all dressed in 1960s attire.

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Education

A valiant experiment

The progressive and remarkably innovative Woodmead School briefly flourished amid the viciousness of apartheid South Africa

David Dyzenhaus

Tiny planet photo of a snowy mountain under a starry sky and Milky Way galaxy with glowing horizon.

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Cosmology

Exploding the Big Bang

It was thought that science could tell us about the origins of the Universe. Today that great endeavour is in serious doubt

Daniel Linford

Hand-drawn diagram titled “Free-Form Discrete H’Texts” showing a map with two-way links and a flowchart with one-way links.

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Future of technology

A linkless internet

In creating anonymous summaries, AI flattens out all the fascinating architecture of thought that makes the internet hum

Collin Jennings

Black and white photo of cars in traffic on a multi-lane motorway seen from above.

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Political philosophy

The order of anarchy

How San Francisco’s free rides system can help us understand anarchist theory and the work of the late, great James C Scott

Reyko Huang

Coastal erosion showing a collapsed road beside the sea with houses nearby, a person walking a dog on the beach.

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Home

How to lose your home

In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future?

Dan Hancox

Black-and-white photo of a man in a suit holding a mug, sitting next to a chimpanzee in an enclosure.

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Human evolution

The eugenicist of UNESCO

Why did Julian S Huxley, first director of the UN agency, think eugenics held the key to a more evolved, harmonious world?

Stefan Bernhardt-Radu