Society
video
Nations and empires
The strange tale of how mangoes became hallowed objects in Maoist China
6 minutes
video
Art
Tracing Goya’s ‘dark’ journey from Spanish court painter to macabre visionary
51 minutes
video
Global history
The famed medieval map that stretched beyond Earth to heaven, history and myth
5 minutes
essay
Language and linguistics
The problem with English
Is Earth’s most-spoken language a living ‘gift’ or a many-headed ‘monster’? Both views distract us from the real dilemma
Mario Saraceni
essay
Global history
After the mother tongues
Cultural exchange between Iran and India led to the creation of literary histories that inspired modern nationalism
Alexander Jabbari
video
Global history
The strange journey of the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum
10 minutes
essay
Global history
It never existed
The idea of a ‘precolonial’ Africa is theoretically vacuous, racist and plain wrong about the continent’s actual history
Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò
essay
Economic history
The golden fuel
Asia’s rise to economic power and food security has been powered not by rice but by American maize, the ultimate flex-crop
Peter A Coclanis
essay
Global history
Geopolitics is for losers
The concept of geopolitics comes from German and Russian attempts to explain defeat and reverse loss of influence
Harold James
video
The ancient world
What did the Rosetta Stone’s inscription actually communicate?
17 minutes
essay
Comparative philosophy
Medieval but not Christian
It’s shocking that histories of medieval philosophy celebrate only Christian thinkers, ignoring Islamic and Jewish thought
Yitzhak Y Melamed
video
Gender and identity
Timothée built his identity around his absent father. What happens when they meet?
17 minutes
essay
Global history
Ever more land and labour
Centuries of capitalism saw the global countryside ruthlessly converted into cheap commodities. But at what cost?
Sven Beckert & Ulbe Bosma
essay
Religion
The Calvinist conquest
In the 17th century, Dutch proselytisers set out for Asia, Africa and the Americas. The legacy of their travels endures
Charles H Parker
essay
Global history
Black King of Songs
His communism brought the great American singer Paul Robeson trouble in the US, but helped make him a hero in China
Gao Yunxiang
video
Art
‘Long Live Degenerate Art’ – how a Surrealist group in Cairo defied repression in 1938
4 minutes
video
History of technology
Master cartography and mythical creatures – the world according to the Catalan Atlas
8 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Portugal stole Goa’s lands and narratives. Can they ever truly be returned?
19 minutes
essay
Global history
With respect and friendship
For a century before the rise of European empires, Britons and North Africans lived together in amicable peace
Nat Cutter
essay
Economics
Beyond Eurocentrism
If you really want decolonisation, go beyond cultural criticism to the deep structural insights of economist Samir Amin
Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven
essay
History of ideas
Views from everywhere
Academic philosophy can indeed make sense of our interdependent world. But only if it transforms by becoming truly diverse
Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach & Leah Kalmanson
essay
Global history
The power of water
Far more potent than oil or gold, water is a stream of geopolitical force that runs deep, feeding crops and building nations
Giulio Boccaletti
essay
Food and drink
The chocolate route
The humble cocoa bean’s journey from its Amerindian origins to worldwide dominance is a lesson in the power of trade
Irene Fattacciu
essay
History
How disruptions happen
Major disruptions in world history follow a clear pattern. What can upheavals of the past tell us about our own future?
David Potter