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Brigid Hains

Editorial Director and Co-Founder, Aeon+Psyche

Deeply interested in the nexus between the human and natural worlds, Brigid was trained as an environmental historian, has taught history and philosophy of science, and studied human ecology and anthropology. Never entirely at home in the academic world, she finds the wide-ranging interests of Aeon+Psyche a profoundly satisfying outlet for her sense of curiosity. In addition to supporting Paul’s overall direction of Aeon+Psyche, Brigid directs the editorial team to ensure that the vision of the magazines is manifest in our publishing programme. She works closely with our commissioning editors, photo editor, video programmers and production team, with the aspiration that our offerings are humane, diverse, thoroughly researched and brought to aesthetically pleasing life every week in both magazines. Outside of her work at Aeon+Psyche, Brigid is a member of the Melbourne Humanities Foundation, the Human Ecology Research Group at University College London, and the British Museum Friends Advisory Council, as well as a committed supporter of Indigenous education in Melbourne. You can find Brigid on Twitter @brigidhains.

Edited by Brigid Hains

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Ecology and environmental sciences

How to restore a savanna

Massive tree-planting programmes have come to substitute for the tradeoffs and complexity of restoring real ecosystems

Francis E (‘Jack’) Putz

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Dance and theatre

Phantasia

Imagination is a powerful tool, a sixth sense, a weapon. We must be careful how we use it, in life as on stage or screen

Paul Giamatti & Stephen T Asma

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Ecology and environmental sciences

Can we restore nature?

In seeking a means to heal our wounded planet, we should look to the painstaking, cautious craft of art conservation

Liam Heneghan

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The environment

A vision for agriculture

We know how to replace toxic, intensive livestock raising with beautiful, efficient grasslands. Do we have the will?

Randall D Jackson

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Nature and landscape

A place of silence

Our cities are filled by the hubbub of human-made noise. Where shall we find the quietness we need to nurture our spirit?

Liam Heneghan

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Anthropology

The meaning of Margaret Mead

Mead argued that non-Western cultures offered alternative (often better) ways to be human. Why was she so vilified for it?

Sam Dresser

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Mood and emotion

Trigger warnings don’t help people cope with distressing material

Christian Jarrett

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Deep time

The planet is burning

Wild, feral and fossil-fuelled, fire lights up the globe. Is it time to declare that humans have created a Pyrocene?

Stephen J Pyne

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History

Wonder works

History and philosophy should reveal to us the baffling, strange and wondrous qualities of other lives and other times

Marnie Hughes-Warrington

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Human evolution

Xenophobic one minute, tolerant the next: humans are strange primates

Christian Jarrett

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Human evolution

United by feelings

Universal emotions are the deep engine of human consciousness and the basis of our profound affinity with other animals

Stephen T Asma & Rami Gabriel

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Cognition and intelligence

Women’s minds matter

Feminists never bought the idea of the computational mind set free from its body. Cognitive science is finally catching up

Sally Davies