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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future
Don’t let them fool you | Aeon
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essay

Social psychology

Don’t let them fool you

The fear of being duped is ubiquitous, but excessive scepticism makes it harder to trust one another and cooperate

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

The virtue of discretion | Aeon
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Virtues and vices

The virtue of discretion

When the rules break down, you must judge what to do on your own. Discretion is necessary for navigating the muddle of life

Lorraine Daston

Second shot | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

Thirty years after one teenager shot another, is it time to forgive?

28 minutes

Abolish life sentences | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

Abolish life sentences

It is unjust, cruel and profoundly wasteful to consign a person to prison for life. A decent society must not do it

Judith Lichtenberg

Mink! | Aeon
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Fairness and equality

How the first woman of colour to be elected to the US Congress remade education

21 minutes

Marilyn Waring on women and economics | Aeon
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video

Economics

We all play by economic rules set by men. What could a feminist economics look like?

30 minutes

A fairly fed world | Aeon
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Poverty and development

A fairly fed world

Last year, 200 million children did not get enough to eat, yet it would be cheap and easy for the world to feed them all

Sharman Apt Russell

Poor sleep | Aeon
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Fairness and equality

Poor sleep

Being on-call, out-of-sync and underslept is not just personal but a pervasive political injustice. Bold change is needed

Jonathan White

EXCLUSIVESmall protests | Aeon
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video

Fairness and equality

With barely a possession to his name, Rabbit builds a life around fighting corruption

10 minutes

High crimes and cabals | Aeon
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Politics and government

High crimes and cabals

The official definition of corruption – the abuse of public office for private gain – does little to capture the reality

Sudhir Chella Rajan

We are all frail | Aeon
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Bioethics

We are all frail

We should be able to acknowledge that disabilities can cause pain and suffering without disabled people feeling dehumanised

Tom Shakespeare

Stock-picking for humanity | Aeon
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Economics

Stock-picking for humanity

Everyone on the planet has a stake in making investment more ethical. What’s new is that they have the power to do so too

Ellen Quigley

The rifleman | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

How did the NRA transform from a sporting group to a mighty political force?

10 minutes

Steve is undocumented | Aeon
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video

Personality

Meet the British bouncer in LA on an expired visa who has no time for immigrants

10 minutes

Dafa metti (Difficult) | Aeon
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Demography and migration

The hopes and fears of the migrants selling souvenirs in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower

15 minutes

The genes we’re dealt | Aeon
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Genetics

The genes we’re dealt

The new field of social genomics can be used by progressives to combat racial inequality or by conservatives to excuse it

Erik Parens

Angels in the market | Aeon
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Gender

Angels in the market

The heart-tug tactics of 1950s ads steered white American women away from activism into domesticity. They’re still there

Ellen Wayland-Smith

The flexible work fallacy | Aeon
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Work

The flexible work fallacy

Breaking free of the 9-to-5 was originally a feminist project. So how did it become part of oppressive 24/7 work culture?

Sarah Stoller

Shelter in place | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

Lockdown is a way of life for the US asylum-seekers living in churches

15 minutes

Open to the world | Aeon
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Cosmopolitanism

A pop-up charity shop in a luxury department store melds art, commerce and justice

10 minutes

We need highly formal rituals in order to make life more democratic | Aeon
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Rituals and celebrations

We need highly formal rituals in order to make life more democratic

Antone Martinho-Truswell

What we can learn about respect and identity from ‘plurals’ | Aeon
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Gender and identity

What we can learn about respect and identity from ‘plurals’

Elizabeth Schechter

Vive la révolution! | Aeon
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Global history

Vive la révolution!

Must radical political change generate uncontainable violence? The French Revolution is both a cautionary and inspiring tale

Jeremy Popkin

Winners take all | Aeon
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video

Fairness and equality

Win-win solutions are a fantasy: in reality, progress creates both winners and losers

5 minutes