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Society

Essays and videos on social issues, history, political life and the future

Wooden model of a sailing ship with multiple masts and detailed rigging on a white background.

video

Art

A prisoner in Guantánamo finds some escape in building intricate model ships

6 minutes

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

Silhouette of a soldier with glowing eyes and helmet, holding a rifle, with a blurred, colourful background.

video

War and peace

A century later, can poetry help us make sense of the First World War’s horrors?

9 minutes

Four young girls in dresses smile outside, with one holding a small cat.

video

Biography and memoir

Preserving memories of a Japanese internment camp, and the land where it stood

8 minutes

Black and white image of Japanese soldiers in battle gear marching with a Rising Sun Flag, superimposed with large Japanese calligraphy characters on a plain background.

essay

Nations and empires

Chastising little brother

Why did Japanese Confucians enthusiastically support Imperial Japan’s murderous conquest of China, the homeland of Confucius?

Shaun O’Dwyer

Illustration of soldiers in action, with one leading the charge and another crawling forward. Both wear military uniforms with helmets and carry rifles. The background is a vibrant red, enhancing the sense of urgency and movement.

essay

Stories and literature

On Jewish revenge

What might a people, subjected to unspeakable historical suffering, think about the ethics of vengeance once in power?

Shachar Pinsker

A group of women, some wearing hijabs and masks, hold up signs with handwritten text in Arabic script during a protest.

video

Politics and government

How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power

33 minutes

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

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

essay

War 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

A surreal artwork depicting floating items, including a woman, child, chair, bullets, and a photo of a family, all set in a dark abstract background.

video

Human rights and justice

A reporter orphaned by night raids in Afghanistan investigates their cruel legacy

17 minutes

A vintage illustration of a steam train crossing a bridge over a river with a town and mountains in the background, surrounded by lush greenery.

essay

Global history

Reconstructed hemisphere

In the 19th century, civil wars tore apart the US, Mexico and Argentina. Then came democracy’s fight against reaction

Evan C Rothera

A large control room with people sitting at consoles in two rows, facing away from each other, under blue lighting.

essay

War and peace

The two Chomskys

The US military’s greatest enemy worked in an institution saturated with military funding. How did it shape his thought?

Chris Knight

Illustration of a person with glasses looking concerned, with an “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, symbolising a concentration camp, in the background.

video

Family life

Against her father’s warnings, Debra resolves to learn about his time in Auschwitz

4 minutes

A diary page from 1943, featuring handwritten text in French and German and two small black-and-white photographs of a man and a woman at the bottom.

essay

War and peace

Chorus of testimony

Anne Frank’s diary is one of thousands of desperate, secret and vivid journals each bearing witness to the reality of war

Nina Siegal

Black and white photo of a Black man in a trench coat walking, with a few other white men in suits visible in the background. He compellingly looks into the camera.

video

Family life

The extraordinary story of a Black Holocaust survivor, as told by his daughter

21 minutes

Medieval illustration shows a knight kneeling before a monk in a building, receiving a cross-shaped item; a horse stands nearby.

essay

History

Warfare as mercy and love

The daggers that knights carried to the crusades help us understand why they thought of holy war as an act of love

William Chester Jordan

Man looking up while shielding his face from the sun with his hand, casting shadows on his face, in an outdoor setting with a dirt ground.

video

Family life

In Rwanda, Sébastien finds traces of personal history in the wake of national tragedy

21 minutes

A massive mushroom cloud rises from an explosion test, with smoke billowing out above the landscape. Two towers and small structures are visible in the foreground.

video

Human rights and justice

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

13 minutes

A small, dark entrance to an underground dwelling surrounded by dense green foliage and birch trees in a forest setting.

essay

War and peace

Trenches in Chernobyl

Disturbing and inhaling radioactive dust, in their haste Russian soldiers unburied the wrecked, undead Earth itself

Michael Marder

Two archaeologists carefully excavate human skeletons in a dirt pit, surrounded by tools, brushes, and trays containing bones and artefacts.

essay

Human rights and justice

Exhuming the truth

Thousands of victims of political executions lie in anonymous graves. Forensics offers hope for the ‘forgotten’ ones

Nicole Iturriaga

An adult places a gas mask on a young girl while other children watch, seated on the floor, in a classroom setting.

video

War and peace

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

26 minutes

A group of people stands indoors with a woman in front holding a rifle, wearing a beanie and a patterned jacket.

essay

War and peace

The will to fight

Throughout history, the most effective combatants have powered to victory on commitment to core values and collective resolve

Scott Atran

Oil painting of ships on water by a hilly coastal area under a cloudy sky with a large sea wall visible in the background.

essay

Global history

With respect and friendship

For a century before the rise of European empires, Britons and North Africans lived together in amicable peace

Nat Cutter

Two men wearing hats are in a small boat on a calm lake, surrounded by trees. One is rowing while the other looks on.

video

War and peace

Before he leaves to go to war, Artem, 18, says goodbye to the man who raised him

12 minutes