× CLOSE
PhilosophySciencePsychologySocietyCulture
EssaysVideosAudio

Popular

About
DonateNewsletter
Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN

Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future
Animals and humansAnthropologyArchaeologyAutomation and roboticsCitiesDemography and migrationEconomic historyEconomicsEducationEnvironmental historyFairness and equalityFuture of technologyGenderGlobal historyHistoryHistory of technologyHuman rights and justiceInformation and communicationMakingNations and empiresPolitics and governmentPoverty and developmentProgress and modernityPublic healthRace and ethnicityReligionThe ancient worldThe environmentThe futureWar and peaceWork
Close-up of a hammer, metal pot, and three copper spheres on a stone surface, with a hand holding the hammer.
Save

video

Making

Trek to a remote Himalayan village where artisans craft teapots fit for kings

11 minutes

Colourful illustration of the Mad Hatter holding a clock showing 13 o’clock. His eyes are spirals. The background is filled with small images of the same character.
Save

essay

Consciousness and altered states

Acid media

How perforated squares of trippy blotter paper allowed outlaw chemists and wizard-alchemists to dose the world with LSD

Erik Davis

Person carving angel figures in stone with various chisels and brushes on a dusty table.
Save

video

Art

From a pencil sketch to cherubs dancing in stone – recreating a Donatello work

7 minutes

A traditional Noh theatre mask lies on a table, surrounded by pottery and art supplies in a workshop. A person works in the blurred background.
Save

video

Dance and theatre

How a Noh mask-maker summons a lifelike face from a single block of wood

16 minutes

Man in a pottery studio assembling large ceramic pieces, shelves with tools and books, a desk lamp, and equipment in the background. Black and white image.
Save

video

Design and fashion

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

15 minutes

A person wearing a dark jacket is focused on working with a pencil and ruler on a wooden box in a cluttered workshop.
Save

video

Making

From log to Go board – the world’s oldest game, made the old-fashioned way

20 minutes

Hands squeezing dyed yarn over a container of dark liquid, with dye dripping from the yarn.
Save

video

Design and fashion

From sheep to sea – an ode to the iconic sweater that warms Cornish sailors

4 minutes

Overhead view of a bustling outdoor market with red and white striped umbrellas, various fruits and vegetables on display, and shoppers browsing stalls.
Save

video

Food and drink

From set-up to close, a day at the farmers market is a whirlwind sensory feast

10 minutes

Person holding molten metal with tongs near a furnace at night.
Save

video

Rituals and celebrations

From roaring fire and molten glass an artist creates a healing ritual

13 minutes

Person arranging pottery vases in a line on a sandy surface against a clear blue sky.
Save

video

Making

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

9 minutes

Three people constructing a traditional bamboo hut in a the highlands of Ethiopia, surrounded by trees.
Save

video

Architecture

How the Dorze in Ethiopia make ‘beehive’ houses from bamboo that last a lifetime

35 minutes

Close-up of a person using a utility knife to cut a material adorned with intricate white symbols, with a measuring tape on top.
Save

video

Technology and the self

‘Perfection is for the gods,’ and this sculptor gets to a thousandth of an inch of it

14 minutes

A brush paints red over a map of the world on a frosted glass surface, highlighting continents and countries.
Save

video

Information and communication

There are many ways to make a flat map of the world – each of them a unique distortion

10 minutes

Save

video

Making

How sky-high dreams launched one man’s audacious life in homemade rocketry

5 minutes

Save

video

Architecture

Cultural wisdom begets cozy temporary homes for the Nenets of the Siberian Arctic

32 minutes

Save

essay

Archaeology

The clothing revolution

What if the need for fabric, not food, in the face of a changing climate is what first tipped humanity towards agriculture?

Ian Gilligan

Save

essay

Art

Changed by art

Gazing at a painting feels like an almost magical encounter with another mind but what real effects does art have on us?

Ellen Winner

Save

video

Design and fashion

Pre-Hispanic and colonial traditions combine in Mario’s uniquely Mexican artworks

6 minutes

Save

video

Work

The last of her kind, Gricel regales Cuban cigar-rollers with readings and good humour

10 minutes

Save

video

Food and drink

Making sauerkraut is a spiritual matter for the ‘fermentation fetishist’ Sandor Katz

12 minutes

Save

video

Design and fashion

The only thing more entrancing than a marbled book cover is the process that creates it

13 minutes

Save

video

Making

Kerala’s skilled hand-weavers struggle to survive the rising tides of modernity

12 minutes

Save

video

Technology and the self

A curtain that twitches as people walk by creates a delightful paradox of privacy

3 minutes

Save

video

Biology

Making dentures can be oddly riveting – a fusion of biology, craft and fun

5 minutes