Aeon Ideas

Idea/Cognition & Intelligence

Cognitive dissonance helps old dogs with their new tricks

Suzanne Cope

Idea/Stories & Literature

So I exaggerate a little – am I wrong to jazz up my stories?

Andrea Askowitz

Idea/Art

Why does contemporary art make for wildly popular blockbusters?

Judith H Dobrzynski

Idea/Ethics

Is it moral to respect the wishes of the dead, above the living?

Barry Lam

Idea/Physics

The idea of creating a new universe in the lab is no joke

Zeeya Merali

Idea/Medical Ethics

White coats and mild manners: how to style a good doctor

Jessica Baron

Idea/History

The strange story of inventing the ‘bastard’ in medieval Europe

Sara McDougall

Idea/History

The Nazis as occult masters? It’s a good story but not history

Peter Staudenmaier

Idea/Economics

Conspicuous consumption is over. It’s all about intangibles now

Elizabeth Currid-Halkett

Idea/Biology

Bad mothers and why they make a difference to cheetah survival

Anne Hilborn

Idea/History

For centuries European aristocrats proudly claimed foreign ancestry

Blake Smith

Idea/History of Ideas

Voluntary taxation: a lesson from the Ancient Greeks

Dominic Frisby

Idea/Gender & Sexuality

Let’s delete sex-identity from birth certificates

Heath Fogg Davis

Idea/Philosophy of Language

Who needs a perfect language? It’s already perfectly imperfect

Charlie Huenemann

Idea/Cognition & Intelligence

We could all do with learning how to improvise a little better

Stephen T Asma

Idea/Law & Justice

How men continue to interrupt even the most powerful women

Tonja Jacobi & Dylan Schweers

Idea/History

The Malmedy trial: how the truth trumped fake torture stories

Steven P Remy

Idea/Ecology & Environmental Sciences

Polar bears need to be fat, and they can’t be without sea ice

Thea Bechshoft

Idea/Values & Beliefs

To be happier, focus on what’s within your control

Massimo Pigliucci

Idea/Space Exploration

Space exploration is still the brightest hope-bringer we have

Earle Kyle

Idea/Cognition & Intelligence

What know-it-alls don’t know, or the illusion of competence

Kate Fehlhaber

Idea/Fairness & Equality

Marriage should not come with any social benefits or privileges

Vicki Larson

Idea/Medicine

We need ecstasy and opioids in place of Prozac and Xanax

Marc Lewis & Shaun Shelly

Idea/Values & Beliefs

How ‘The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám’ inspired Victorian hedonists

Roman Krznaric

Idea/Ethics

Moral grandstanding: there’s a lot of it about, all of it bad

Justin Tosi & Brandon Warmke

Idea/Cultures & Languages

Stuck on one idea of truth or beauty? Rhizomes can help

Nicholas Tampio

Idea/Rituals & Celebrations

How to get your kicks in the hermit kingdom of North Korea

Laya Maheshwari

Idea/War & Conflict

Wars are not won by military genius or decisive battles

Cathal J Nolan

Idea/Medical Research

Lifestyle changes, not a magic pill, can reverse Alzheimer’s

Clayton Dalton

Idea/Astronomy

Dwarf planetary systems will transform the hunt for alien life

Amaury Triaud & Michaël Gillon