Philosophy Science Psychology Society Culture

DonateNewsletter

Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Animals and humans Anthropology Archaeology Automation and robotics Cities Demography and migration Economic history Economics Education Environmental history Fairness and equality Future of technology Gender Global history History History of technology Human rights and justice Information and communication Making Nations and empires Politics and government Poverty and development Progress and modernity Public health Race and ethnicity Religion The ancient world The environment The future War and peace Work

LatestPopular

Photo of a desert scene with tall cacti and a person standing, set against a sunlit rocky hill.

video

Human rights and justice

Can providing humanitarian aid be illegal? A troubling case from the US-Mexico border

17 minutes

Painting of a man and woman in elegant 18th-century attire sitting on a pink sofa with ornate decoration.

essay

History of ideas

Settling accounts

Before he was famous, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Louise Dupin’s scribe. It’s her ideas on inequality that fill his writings

Rebecca Wilkin

Photo of shattered glass with multiple cracks against a black background.

essay

Philosophy of mind

Rage against the machine

For all the promise and dangers of AI, computers plainly can’t think. To think is to resist – something no machine does

Alva Noë

video

Space exploration

The rarely told story of the fruit flies, primates and canines that preceded us in space

12 minutes

Ancient mosaic depicting two figures with instruments on a blue stone background.

essay

Food and drink

The fermented crescent

Ancient Mesopotamians had a profound love of beer: a beverage they found celebratory, intoxicating and strangely erotic

Tate Paulette

Painting of people playing dodgeball around a square pool with ripples in vibrant colours, long shadows cast on the ground.

video

Film and visual culture

A lush animated opus evokes the frenzied pace of modern life

4 minutes

A painting of two girls with long hair each holding peacock feathers standing in front of a textured, muted background.

video

Family life

The precious family keepsakes that hold meaning for generations

10 minutes

A street with an American flag a mural of a vintage town scene and a black pickup truck passing by.

essay

Politics and government

The spectre of insecurity

Liberals have forgotten that in order for our lives not to be nasty, brutish and short, we need stability. Enter Hobbes

Jennifer M Morton

Black and white photo of a group of people standing outdoors on a slope by a pond with trees and bushes in the background.

essay

Religion

The script creator

Pau Cin Hau dreamt of an alphabet for a language that had never been written down. So began the religion of Laipianism

Bikash K Bhattacharya

Black and white photo of ancient Egyptian artefacts in storage, including statues, chests, chairs, and bundles, within a room.

video

Archaeology

What did the first people who entered Tutankhamun’s tomb see?

5 minutes

Photo of a silver inflatable balloon floating in the sky over a blurred brownish background, resembling a flying saucer.

video

Information and communication

Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news

17 minutes

Painting of a child in a red dress with arms raised standing beside an adult in a pink dress against a dark background.

video

Childhood and adolescence

Marmar is living through a devastating war – but she’d rather tell you about her new dress

8 minutes

Photo of a white temple with modern design features, a golden statue on top and a bright double rainbow in the cloudy sky.

essay

Human rights and justice

Utah is so gay!

The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to pride, Mormons themselves are a distinctly queer lot

Kristi Rhead

A DNA double helix with overlapping images: lined pages, the printed pages of an old book, and a painted portrait of a woman that is the Mona Lisa, all on a black background.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?

12 minutes

Close-up photo of a wooden mask with fur eyebrows, hollow eyes, a rounded mouth opening and long black hair against a dark background.

essay

Anthropology

Witches around the world

The belief in witches is an almost universal feature of human societies. What does it reveal about our deepest fears?

Gregory Forth

Photo of a street sign reading ‘Gipsy Lane’, mounted on a brick wall with green foliage behind, and a car in the background.

video

History

There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look

3 minutes

Photo of colourful light reflections on a dark tiled floor, possibly from a stained glass window in a dimly lit interior space.

essay

Values and beliefs

My leap across the chasm

After years of debate and contemplation, I’ve come to think a heretical form of Christianity might be true. Here’s why

Philip Goff

Close-up photo of butterfly wing scales in shades of orange, pink, white and black arranged in a mosaic-like pattern.

video

Biology

Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings

3 minutes

A child peeking over the back of a horse in a grassy open field with a distant horizon and a slightly cloudy sky.

video

Anthropology

Does Mogi’s future lie with her horses on the Mongolian steppe, or in the city?

16 minutes

A man and a woman smiling with their hands on the shoulders of a Neanderthal figure with long hair and a beard but in modern clothes.

video

Genetics

Why it took a century to work out that humans interbred with Neanderthals

22 minutes

Photo of people in a forest, some kneeling and examining plants, others standing and walking, all surrounded by lush greenery.

essay

Food and drink

The joy of foraging

Offering an escape from industrial foods, foraging nourishes the soul and body, but it needs democratic access to the land

Nikita Sud

A colourful mural depicting a Mexican American family, a Mexican American woman being tackled by a white policeman, and a stadium resembling a U F O descending from the sky.

video

Art

The sprawling mural that depicts an unflinching people’s history of Los Angeles

7 minutes

A woman in casual attire walking by a large weaving loom with black threads in a bright, clean room

essay

Design and fashion

When luxury is good

The waste and exploitation of fast fashion shouldn’t blind us to the joys of making beautiful clothing with care

Roger Tredre

Painting of a woman with a sword defending a fort from attackers; other figures fight with swords and wooden poles and carry stones.

essay

Race and ethnicity

The forging of countries

Two distinct and conflicting forms of nationalism – civic and ethnic – helped create the nation-states of Europe

Luka Ivan Jukić