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Society

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

Death

A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal

6 minutes

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essay

Animals and humans

Ant geopolitics

Over the past four centuries quadrillions of ants have created a strange and turbulent global society that shadows our own

John Whitfield

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essay

Animals and humans

An animal myself

When we imagine ourselves as another creature, we become more attuned to the world around us – and better at being human

Erica Berry

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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

From helicopter flybys to trail cameras, there’s no one way to count a wolf

8 minutes

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video

Animals and humans

An artist and ants collaborate on an exhibit of ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’

5 minutes

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video

Sleep and dreams

How might the dreamworlds of other animals differ from our own?

8 minutes

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video

Animals and humans

Scientists brought a wild horse back from extinction. But is it truly the same animal?

5 minutes

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video

Death

Toby ponders the inner lives of the sheep that roam atop his parents’ graves

6 minutes

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essay

Animals and humans

The free dogs of India

These canines have independent, peaceful, happy lives without a pet’s constraints. Why are they being persecuted and culled?

Krithika Srinivasan & Chris Pearson

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video

Architecture

Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world

8 minutes

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Biology

Octopus time

We humans are forward-facing, gravity-bound plodders. Can the liquid motion of the octopus radicalise our ideas about time?

David Borkenhagen

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Earth science and climate

The return of silvopasture

This ancient practice, nurturing animals and trees in an ecological system, fights climate change and restores the land

Liz Carlisle & Niki Mazaroli

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essay

Animals and humans

Where went the wolf?

The very attributes that make small dogs cute and popular are slowly strangling their ability to function as real animals

Jessica Pierce

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video

Animals and humans

Laura fights to protect the magnificence of wild horses running free

6 minutes

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Computing and artificial intelligence

What has feelings?

As the power of AI grows, we need to have evidence of its sentience. That is why we must return to the minds of animals

Kristin Andrews & Jonathan Birch

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Ethics

If not vegan, then what?

A vegan diet can be hard to adopt, even if you’re convinced it’s the right thing to do. What are the next-best options?

Peter Godfrey-Smith

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video

Animals and humans

What happened when one woman raised an abandoned squirrel as her own

8 minutes

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essay

Animals and humans

Goodbye Pixel

Although it felt more like bereavement for a person than the loss of a thing, the death of a pet isn’t exactly like either

Julian Baggini

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Nature and landscape

Home and the birdsong

In the dark, sylvan villages of medieval England, people named places after the birds that filled the night with music

Michael J Warren

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video

Biology

To understand the limits of human senses, look to the wild world of animal cognition

45 minutes

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Evolution

Fortune favours the shrewd

Attaining and maintaining power lies at the heart of almost all animal societies. And it’s as devious as human politicking

Lee Alan Dugatkin

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Animals and humans

Happy the person

She has deep emotions, complex social needs and a large, elephant brain. Her legal personhood should be recognised too

Lori Marino

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video

Biology

Journey deep into the Philippine forest in search of the world’s largest, rarest eagle

95 minutes

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Animals and humans

Semiotics of dogs

In all its baroque and sometimes cruelly overbred forms, the dog is a paramount symbol of both human hopes and foibles

Katrina Gulliver