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Ed Lake
Editorial Director, Profile Books

Ed Lake is an editorial director at Profile Books and former deputy editor of Aeon. He spent five years at The Daily Telegraph before moving to the Middle East to work on The National, where he was deputy editor on the Review section. He is interested in the philosophy of science, the history of political thought, and novels in which a dreamer wakes into a world transformed. He lives in north London.

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Written by Ed Lake

Essay/
Computing & Artificial Intelligence
The info moralist

Persecuted little guy, or powerful revolutionary – what sort of wunderkind was Aaron Swartz?

Ed Lake

Essay/
Cosmology
Bang or whimper?

We’re still here, which means we have a vacancy for an apocalypse scenario. The one we choose could be revealing

Ed Lake

Essay/
Future of Technology
Tales on Dark Mountain

Is there anything left for the green movement to do but assuage its grief in ritual and myth?

Ed Lake

Edited by Ed Lake

Essay/
Ecology & Environmental Sciences
It’s not easy being green

If rational persuasion fails to make people behave environmentally, could rituals and a dash of guilt do a better job?

Stephen Cave & Sarah Darwin

Essay/
Cultures & Languages
Naughty words

What makes swear words so offensive? It’s not their meaning or even their sound. Is language itself a red herring here?

Rebecca Roache

Essay/
Film & Television
Fantasy North

The top of the globe has always meant fantasy, myth, adventure. What explains the icy northern grip on our imagination?

E R Truitt

Essay/
Ethics
High five!

Why, in the entire history of human life, did awesomeness become the great virtue of our age (and suckiness its vice)?

Nick Riggle

Essay/
Film & Television
Dispatches from the ruins

The human world has become bafflingly complex and strangely fragile making apocalypse the easiest thing to imagine

Frank Bures

Essay/
Old Age & Death
Ask the aged

Who better to answer questions about the purpose of life than someone who has been living theirs for a long time?

Karl Pillemer

Essay/
Mind & Body
The hunger mood

Hunger isn’t in your stomach or your blood-sugar levels. It’s in your mind – and that’s where we need to shape up

Michael Graziano

Essay/
Cosmology
To boldly sell

Space is for sale. And if we want to get serious about our interplanetary ambitions, that could be a good thing

Grayson Clary

Essay/
Philosophy of Religion
Why pray?

Prayer occurs in many faiths. It stays recognisable despite its varied forms. It must be good for something – but what?

Benjamin Dueholm

Essay/
Meaning & the Good Life
Is it OK to have kids?

Your decision about whether to procreate is serious. That makes it philosophy’s business, alarming as that might sound

Richard Chappell

Essay/
Philosophy of Science
The cold fusion horizon

Is cold fusion truly impossible, or is it just that no respectable scientist can risk their reputation working on it?

Huw Price

Essay/
Cultures & Languages
The ministry of truth

Orwell taught us to fear technocratic jargon that doesn’t let us say what we mean. But that is language at its best

Elijah Millgram

Essay/
History of Science
Through a glass, sadly

The aquarium was once the best way to encounter the wonders of sea life. It has become a mere travesty, tacky and cruel

Bernd Brunner

Essay/
Internet & Communication
User behaviour

Websites and apps are designed for compulsion, even addiction. Should the net be regulated like drugs or casinos?

Michael Schulson

Essay/
Subcultures
Amish.biz

The Amish are online, onscreen, and multiplying fast. In their battle with modernity, it’s tough to say who’s winning

Kevin Williams

Essay/
Rituals & Celebrations
Great pretenders

Live-action role-play is venturing into some weighty social topics. Can make-believe really show us possible worlds?

Alexa Clay

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