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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

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Photo of ancient stone ruins with large boulders on top surrounded by trees under a blue sky with clouds.

videoHistory

The dry-stacked stones of Zimbabwe are a medieval engineering wonder

7 minutes

A person reading an open book with a blue scarf and hands resting on the pages in a calm setting.

essayPhilosophy of religion

Revolutionary tolerance

In an age of ferocious religious bloodletting, Sebastian Castellio argued that everyone seems like a heretic to someone else

Michael W Bruening

Photo of an elderly woman resting her forehead on a large stone bust outdoors near a decaying concrete structure.

videoHistory

In Stalin’s home city in Georgia, generations clash over his legacy

20 minutes

Sketch of person holding a pink phone to their ear with minimal facial detail.

videoHistory

In the face of denial, this film uncovers the hidden scars of Indonesia’s 1998 riots

21 minutes

Black and white photo of Adolf Hitler greeting two clergymen surrounded by a crowd in front of a Gothic building.

essayReligion

An unholy alliance

In the 1930s, the rise of Nazism brought centuries of animosity between Europe’s Catholics and Protestants to an end. Why?

Udi Greenberg

A colourful underground car park with numbered pillars and painted lanes with directional arrows.

essayCities

Cars beneath the ground

The explosion of automobiles shaped cities and lives. But an enduring problem remains: where to put them when they’re parked

Alfie Robinson

Painting of two armoured warriors confronting three hooded witches under a turbulent sky, with one warrior holding a spear.

videoHistory

Hags, seductresses, feminist icons – how gender dynamics manifest in witches

13 minutes

Photo of a rural scene: a man and child walk with ducks past a military motorcycle and three soldiers in a field.

essayNations and empires

Shame and revolution

Vietnam’s potent and storied anticolonialism is founded upon a unique sense of national shame

Kevin D Pham

Photo of a man speaking at a podium marked ‘Letters Live’, gesturing with one hand against a dark background.

videoFairness and equality

‘To my old master’ – a freed slave answers the request to return to his old plantation

7 minutes

Black and white photo of two men using an early voice recording device, seated and holding speaking tubes.

videoInformation and communication

‘Astonished and somewhat terrified’ – Victorians’ reactions to the phonograph

36 minutes

Vintage sepia photo of a Black man in a buttoned coat against a plain background with decorative border.

videoHistory

From Afghanistan to Virginia – the Muslims who fought in the American Civil War

22 minutes

Painting of a historic city square with a tall clock tower, statues, carriages, and groups of people in period clothing.

essayHistory

Why history is always political

In his work on republicanism as a living idea, J G A Pocock showed that contesting history is part of a robust civic life

Rosario López

Painting of Roman soldiers in red carrying shields, forming a testudo (tortoise) formation during battle, viewed from the side.

videoThe ancient world

Petty squabbles and bloody battles – the life of an ancient Roman soldier

18 minutes

A painting depicting a group of people in a room, with a man painting and a young girl in the centre, dressed in ornate clothes.

videoArt

Why Diego Velázquez needed a lifetime to paint his enigmatic masterpiece

31 minutes

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

essayFood and drink

The fermented crescent

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

Tate Paulette

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

videoHistory

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

3 minutes

A woman in a purple jumper, named María Victoria Maldonado, picking berries in a lush green forest.

videoHuman rights and justice

An unarmed Indigenous group aims to protect their native lands in this stirring portrait

15 minutes

Photochrom image of a narrow street lined with Middle-Eastern buildings; people are walking down the middle of the street and some are holding umbrellas.

essayNations and empires

The paradoxes of Mikha’il Mishaqa

He was a Catholic, then a rationalist, then a Protestant. Most of all, he exemplified the rise of Arab-Ottoman modernity

Peter Hill

Three cracked ceramic shards with painted faces are arranged on blocks, with strands of twisted rope resembling hair against a blurred green and blue background.

videoThe ancient world

Archeological discoveries animate the life of the warrior queen who took on Rome

6 minutes

A historical painting of a woman in a detailed blue and silver gown with lace sleeves. She wears a pearl necklace and a hat adorned with white and pink flowers. The background features a golden tapestry and dark pillars.

essayStories and literature

Her blazing world

Margaret Cavendish’s boldness and bravery set 17th-century society alight, but is she a feminist poster-girl for our times?

Francesca Peacock

A marble bust of Thucydides is shown on a page from an old book. The opposite page is blank.

essayHistory

What would Thucydides say?

In constantly reaching for past parallels to explain our peculiar times we miss the real lessons of the master historian

Mark Fisher

A street intersection; a wall is painted with the word Soulsville in large letters with peeling paint

essayEconomic history

The southern gap

In the American South, an oligarchy of planters enriched itself through slavery. Pervasive underdevelopment is their legacy

Keri Leigh Merritt

Gold sew-on clothing appliqué in the form of two Scythian archers back to back.

essayWar and peace

Legacy of the Scythians

How the ancient warrior people of the steppes have found themselves on the cultural frontlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine

Peter Mumford

Seen from inside, a couple eat a basic meal whilst outside in an alleyway a queue of mostly older people wait their turn

essayPolitical philosophy

Liberal socialism now

As the crisis of democracy deepens, we must return to liberalism’s revolutionary and egalitarian roots

Matthew McManus