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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future
Our ark | Aeon
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Thinkers and theories

Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?

13 minutes

Shakespeare’s First Folio | Aeon
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Dance and theatre

Leaf through Shakespeare’s First Folio for a riveting journey into theatre history

13 minutes

Five graphs that changed the world | Aeon
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Information and communication

Mapping data visualisation’s meteoric rise from Victorian London to today

6 minutes

Still life | Aeon
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Philosophy of mind

An enigmatic ‘story of consciousness’ told through 19th-century engravings

7 minutes

A history of the world according to Getty Images | Aeon
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History of technology

Who owns history? How remarkable historical footage is hidden and monetised

18 minutes

TV on Shetland | Aeon
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History of technology

The long-awaited arrival of TV to Shetland sparks debate in this vintage clip

9 minutes

Making a moon jar | Aeon
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Design and fashion

Refined towards imperfection – a ceramic artist recreates a rare Korean treasure

15 minutes

The Hereford map | Aeon
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Global history

The famed medieval map that stretched beyond Earth to heaven, history and myth

5 minutes

Grands canons | Aeon
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Design and fashion

Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’

11 minutes

Accounts of a nuclear whistleblower | Aeon
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Human rights and justice

Meet the man who uncovered the scandal of nuclear testing in South Australia

13 minutes

My theatre | Aeon
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Film and visual culture

The old-time cinema experience endures in a quiet corner of Japan

5 minutes

The impossible architecture of Étienne-Louis Boullée | Aeon
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Architecture

The radically impractical 18th-century architect whose ideas on beauty endure

19 minutes

We’ve always been distracted | Aeon
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essay

History of technology

We’ve always been distracted

Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself

Joe Stadolnik

London mudlark | Aeon
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Archaeology

From Roman pots to glass eyes, the shore of the river Thames teems with surprises

8 minutes

Great art explained: Edward Hopper and cinema | Aeon
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Art

Edward Hopper came of age with cinema. As an artist, he left a lasting mark on it

12 minutes

Obon | Aeon
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Biography and memoir

What Akiko saw at the centre of the Hiroshima blast, and the indelible mark it left

15 minutes

Care from afar | Aeon
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essay

History of technology

Care from afar

For over a century telemedicine has promised healthcare for all. But will it ever replace seeing a human being in person?

Jeremy A Greene

What was the first transit map? | Aeon
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The ancient world

Why did the Romans create a massive, entirely impractical map of their empire?

7 minutes

If you love this planet | Aeon
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War and peace

A peace activist’s harrowing account of nuclear war is a visceral case for disarmament

26 minutes

Dancing with water | Aeon
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essay

Environmental history

Dancing with water

As storms, droughts and floods become more intense, what can the world learn from Japan’s profoundly wet history?

Giulio Boccaletti

Origin of the world map | Aeon
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History of technology

Master cartography and mythical creatures – the world according to the Catalan Atlas

8 minutes

Delia Derbyshire and Doctor Who | Aeon
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Music

Before the Beatles dropped acid, a BBC workshop was creating far-out sounds

6 minutes

Rain pot | Aeon
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Making

Ceramic designs spin to life in a tactile meditation on the art of pottery

9 minutes

EXCLUSIVEThe Japanese sword as the soul of the samurai | Aeon
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History of technology

A rare glimpse inside a samurai sword workshop, where ritual meets mastery

24 minutes