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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

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Photo of a middle-aged man climbing a red ladder on a tall brick industrial chimney with a cityscape in the background.

videoWork

Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time

12 minutes

Aerial photo of workers harvesting oranges, loading crates onto a tractor in an orchard.

videoDemography and migration

In California’s farmlands, immigrant workers share their stories of toil and hope

17 minutes

Photo of a woman in a floral headscarf with a man in the background against a rural autumn landscape under a clear sky.

videoHome

Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons

13 minutes

Fisheye photo of a man in a suit leaning close to camera in a laundrette, with two people talking in the background.

videoGender

A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry

5 minutes

A young girl with curly hair applies makeup in front of a ring-lit mirror, her reflection visible.

videoTechnology and the self

The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy

14 minutes

Photo of a diner interior seen through a window with patrons seated at tables and a counter under hanging lights.

videoFood and drink

The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner

14 minutes

Photo of two surgeons in blue scrubs and masks focused on a procedure, with one surgeon’s glasses reflecting the surgery.

essayMedicine

When I lost my intuition

For years, I practised medicine with cool certainty, comfortable with life-and-death decisions. Then, one day, I couldn’t

Ronald W Dworkin

A person in a workshop uses a tool to smooth wood. Wood shavings are scattered on the workbench.

videoMaking

Forging a cello from pieces of wood demands its own form of virtuosity

27 minutes

Silhouettes of four construction workers in hard hats standing on a beam against a sunset or sunrise sky. One worker is crouching and appearing to weld, emitting sparks.

essayMental health

The last great stigma

Workers with mental illness experience discrimination that would be unthinkable for other health issues. Can this change?

Pernille Yilmam

A black-and-white photo of a group of men sitting close together, some with mouths open as if singing or speaking. In the blurry background, additional people are seated around a table. The scene appears to be inside a room with a warm, communal atmosphere.

essayMusic

Folk music was never green

Don’t be swayed by the sound of environmental protest: these songs were first sung in the voice of the cutter, not the tree

Richard Smyth

Four smiling flight attendants in bright-blue uniforms and matching hats, wearing identification badges, stand in a row saluting. They are indoors against a neutral background.

essayEthics

The scourge of lookism

It is time to take seriously the painful consequences of appearance discrimination in the workplace

Andrew Mason

Two women sleeping and leaning on each against a large sign reading ‘Japanese Zen Spa’.

videoWork

A Swedish expat in the Philippines wonders: what’s up with people sleeping at work?

14 minutes

A person in glasses smiles amid colourful confetti in the air, with blurry, illuminated urban background and celebratory atmosphere.

videoRituals and celebrations

Meet the entrepreneur whose business is crafting perfect peak experiences

12 minutes

A man wearing a hat and red shirt is chopping a log with an axe, with wood chips flying around, next to a tent under a blue sky with clouds.

videoWork

Does capitalism make ‘non-playable characters’ of us all? An uncanny exploration

21 minutes

A doorman in uniform at the entrance of a building looks out while people walk past.

essayRace and ethnicity

Battling implicit bias

Training is a cheap solution to a hard problem. It is the systems that allow for biased behaviour that need to change

Jeffrey To

Person wearing a white hazmat suit and a full-face respirator, standing in a dimly lit industrial setting.

videoPersonality

Why cleaning up crime scenes requires a rare mix of grit and empathy

9 minutes

A shirtless man in jeans lies sleeping beside his 1970s era car on the sandy beach

essayWork

Disengage

Modern life subjects us to all-consuming demands. That’s why we should reflect on what it means to step away from it all

David J Siegel

A person in a pink shirt reading in a store, surrounded by shelves of bottled water, olive oil, and other products. A Tropic Fanta bottle is in the foreground.

videoMood and emotion

Moments of poetry pierce through the mundane at a small-town grocery

13 minutes

Peach Twig (Prunus Persica) (1918) by Royal Charles Steadman

videoBiology

In 1886, a US agency set out to record new fruit varieties. The results are wondrous

5 minutes

A yellow taxi with its bonnet open; a person is lying underneath the vehicle, with only their legs visible.

essayWork

Freedom at work

There is always a demand for more jobs. But what makes a job good? For that, Immanuel Kant has an answer

Tyler Re

Two people in dark clothing walking through tall grass with trees in the background, one carrying a hunting bow and arrows in a sunny setting.

essayAnthropology

Lessons from the foragers

Hunter-gatherers don’t live in an economic idyll but their deep appreciation of rest puts industrialised work to shame

Vivek V Venkataraman

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

videoMaking

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

20 minutes

Two people sitting in chairs having a conversation, with a speech bubble between them. One is holding a piece of paper.

videoPsychiatry and psychotherapy

Pondering the peculiar one-sided intimacy of the client-therapist relationship

3 minutes

A conductor passionately leads an orchestra, holding a baton in one hand and gesturing with the other, with a focused expression in a dimly lit venue.

essayMusic

Enter the conductrice

Will a new generation of women on the podium perpetuate the tyrannical charisma of their male predecessors or overturn it?

Xenia Hanusiak