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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 black dog lying on a blue background with a purple button on its left and a yellow button on its right.

video

Language and linguistics

Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?

9 minutes

A satirical painting of a giant man being fed with spoons by tiny attendants.

essay

Information and communication

Methodical banality

Like today’s large language models, 16th-century humanists had techniques to automate writing – to the detriment of novelty

Hannah Katznelson

Two men on stage acting, one holds an apple on a stick and looks through two glass lenses held by the other man, in dramatic lighting.

essay

Dance and theatre

What actors know

Acting is an ancient and intrinsically human way to establish vibrant connections with one another. And it’s available to us all

John Britton

Abstract digital art of geometric patterns made with spheres, creating a sense of depth on a black background.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators

8 minutes

Illustration of a purple star with an eye and shield with padlock on blue background encircled by laurel and gold rings.

video

Ethics

Plato saw little value in privacy. How do his ideas hold up in the information age?

5 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

Photo of a silver inflatable balloon floating in the sky over a blurred brownish background, resembling a flying saucer.

video

Information and communication

Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news

17 minutes

A DNA double helix with overlapping images: lined pages, the printed pages of an old book, and a painted portrait of a woman that is the Mona Lisa, all on a black background.

video

Computing and artificial intelligence

The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?

12 minutes

An ancient, broken clay tablet with a circular design and various inscriptions, displayed on a dark background.

video

Archaeology

How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world

18 minutes

Close-up of a person’s hand using a smartphone in a dimly lit room with blurred lights in the background. The phone screen shows the text ‘How can I help you today?’ and a text input field.

essay

Computing and artificial intelligence

Mere imitation

Generative AI has lately set off public euphoria: the machines have learned to think! But just how intelligent is AI?

Deepak P

Weather map showing temperature, cloud cover, and other meteorological data across Ireland, the UK, and part of mainland Europe. Isobars are also depicted.

video

War and peace

A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster

6 minutes

Three women in traditional attire stand outdoors in a dry landscape. One person carries a child on their back while another holds a walking stick.

essay

Anthropology

The Ju/’hoansi protocol

Hunter-gatherer societies are highly expert in group deliberation and decision-making which respects both difference and unity

Vivek V Venkataraman

Yellow warning sign with a black palm tree bent over in strong wind, signifying severe weather or wind conditions.

video

Information and communication

An animation built from road signs is a whirlwind study of flash communication

2 minutes

Illustration of two people high-fiving, with colourful abstract shapes around them representing conversation and connection.

video

Language and linguistics

The little Peruvian guide to public speaking that conjures up a grandiose world

7 minutes

Two people with backpacks reach towards each other with extended arms but are not touching. The text on the image reads ‘How do we touch when we can’t?’

video

Film and visual culture

‘Bags here are rarely innocent’ – how filmmakers work around censorship in Iran

8 minutes

A woman stands against a white wall, in a red top and blue jeans, extending an open hand forward. Subtitles at the bottom read ‘Let me show you.’

video

Language and linguistics

Closed captions suck. Here’s one artist’s inventive project to make them better

8 minutes

A colourful abstract drawing of two people talking on the left, and three others walking with baskets on the right. There are boats in the background and watercolour splashes.

video

Anthropology

Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?

4 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

Black-and-white photo of a man and a woman, seen from behind, on the deck of a boat, looking out to shore

essay

Philosophy of language

Metaphors make the world

Woven into the fabric of language, metaphors shape how we understand reality. What happens when we try using new ones?

Benjamin Santos Genta

A puppet king in a red robe, holding a sceptre, stands in front of a decorative doorway, with one arm raised as if speaking or greeting.

video

Thinkers and theories

‘My art is oratory, Socrates.’ An ancient warning on the power and peril of rhetoric

4 minutes

A measure for depth of water stands upright in a dried up landscape that was formerly a lake

essay

Information and communication

Beware climate populism

The most ardent deniers of anthropogenic climate change today will become the climate conspiracy theorists of tomorrow

Ákos Szegőfi

Two men escort a handcuffed man from a cabin with a wooden exterior. The men are wearing casual clothing, including a cowboy hat.

essay

Information and communication

How to hate

The manifesto was always a hotheaded call to arms. Then it got a slick, digital makeover in the cause of coldblooded hate

Tyler Thier

A black and white shot shows three men sitting on a sea wall and seen from a diminishing perspective such that they represent a scale of size

essay

Philosophy of language

The geometry of other people

Some friends are ‘close’. Others are ‘distant’. But our spatial descriptions of social life are more than just metaphors

David Borkenhagen

Three women chat in a field with sheep grazing nearby, a farmhouse in the background, and a cat walking along a path.

essay

Information and communication

To converse well

A good conversation bridges the distances between people and imbues life with pleasure and a sense of discovery

Paula Marantz Cohen