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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

Photo of a person applying varnish to the interior planks of a wooden boat on a sunny day.

video

Making

On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way

6 minutes

Photo of the Phaistos Disc, an ancient clay tablet with spiral symbols, on a black background.

essay

Language and linguistics

The lonely life of a glyph-breaker

The heroic days of deciphering hieroglyphics and cuneiform make for great stories, but will we ever see that happen again?

Francesco Perono Cacciafoco

Black-and-white photo of a person looking at vintage Honeywell 200 computer tape drives labelled A and B.

video

History of technology

Curious singles and tech sceptics – what ‘computer dating’ looked like in 1966

6 minutes

Ceramic vase with yellow snake handles blue clouds and text detail in a workshop setting.

video

Design and fashion

A ceramicist puts her own bawdy spin on the folk language of pottery

14 minutes

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

video

Information and communication

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

36 minutes

A man in a suit demonstrates with a series of blocks in a lab setting; photo.

video

Engineering

From simple motors to levitating trains – how design shapes innovation

24 minutes

Painting of passengers in a 19th century bus, featuring men and women in period dress, one holding a basket of flowers.

essay

Stories and literature

Elegance and hustle

How French modernists from Proust to Mallarmé were alarmed and inspired by the voracious dynamism of the newspaper world

Max McGuinness

A photo of a printshop workbench featuring a newspaper layout, metal type blocks, and tools.

video

History of technology

Replicating Shakespearean-era printing brings its own dramas and comedy

19 minutes

Hand-drawn diagram titled “Free-Form Discrete H’Texts” showing a map with two-way links and a flowchart with one-way links.

essay

Future of technology

A linkless internet

In creating anonymous summaries, AI flattens out all the fascinating architecture of thought that makes the internet hum

Collin Jennings

Illustration of a tattooed man from behind looking at a starry sky with trees silhouetted in the foreground.

video

Astronomy

The remarkable innovations inspired by our need to know the night sky

5 minutes

A person’s hands pouring olive oil into a row of wine glasses with people blurred in the background at a tasting event.

essay

Food and drink

The flavour of mechanisation

Olive oil was revered and cherished by the ancients. But its distinctive peppery taste is really a modern invention

Massimo Mazzotti

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

Painting of a riverside scene with a large windmill, boats on the water, and three women standing on the bank next to a dock, under cloudy sky.

essay

History of technology

Learning to love monsters

Windmills were once just machines on the land but now seem delightfully bucolic. Could wind turbines win us over too?

Stephen Case

A collage showing a ‘just married’ car, a couple speaking with a bank teller, a couple by a crib, and a close-up of a BankAmericard with a gold coin in a money clip.

essay

Economic history

Credit card nation

Americans have always borrowed, but how exactly did their lives become so entangled with the power of plastic cards?

Sean H Vanatta

An oversized yellow plastic revolver gun displayed outside a brightly painted shop. There are palm trees in the background

essay

History of technology

Why America fell for guns

The US today has extraordinary levels of gun ownership. But to see this as a venerable tradition is to misread history

Megan Kang

A stunning cityscape at dusk with a vibrant red sky, silhouetted skyscrapers, and a person near a railing taking a photo of the skyline across a river.

essay

Thinkers and theories

Our tools shape our selves

For Bernard Stiegler, a visionary philosopher of our digital age, technics is the defining feature of human experience

Bryan Norton

Close-up images of a display pixel grid, a black and white foam pattern, and a colourful honeycomb structure.

video

Engineering

A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations

9 minutes

A busy public library reading room with people using desktop computers at wooden tables, surrounded by bookshelves and lit by large windows and chandeliers.

essay

History of technology

Indexing the information age

Over a weekend in 1995, a small group gathered in Ohio to unleash the power of the internet by making it navigable

Monica Westin

A colourful close-up of a circular, textured artwork featuring butterflies, birds, and flowers against a blue background.

video

Design and fashion

The ornate, the aromatic, the cruel – Valentine’s cards before the age of Hallmark

16 minutes

Cartoon man with white hair and moustache smiling while holding pliers and a bloody tooth inside a candlelit building, against a snowy village background.

video

Medicine

Why surgery and barbering were one occupation in the Middle Ages

6 minutes

Medieval manuscript illustration showing a cutaway view of a multi-storey castle and a fortified structure, with inscriptions and arches.

essay

Architecture

The subtle art of elevation

Architectural drawing speaks of mathematical precision, but its roots lie in the theological exegesis of a prophetic book

Karl Kinsella

An intricate, colourful Persian artwork depicting a central figure on a throne, with four attendants surrounded by floral and animal motifs.

essay

History of technology

A silken web

From its mythic beginnings in a Chinese garden, the story of silk is a window into how weaving has shaped human history

Peter Frankopan, Marie-Louise Nosch & Feng Zhao

Aerial view of a river winding through a lush green valley surrounded by snow-capped mountains with a few red marked spots.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

A scientist’s poor eyesight helped fuel a revolution in computer ‘vision’

9 minutes

A woman in a pink coat and carrying a pink umbrella walks past a protestor carrying a yellow placard appealing to people to use cash

essay

Economics

Going cashless

It’s not in the interests of the ordinary person but it’s not a conspiracy either. A cashless society is a system run amok

Brett Scott