Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The 20th-century Canadian-American sociologist Erving Goffman believed that we adapt to roles – lover, customer, worker – based on circumstance, and are constantly concerned with how we’re appearing to others. This short animation explains why Goffman’s view of humanity left no room for a ‘true self’ – an actor behind all the roles we play.
video
Technology and the self
Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned
10 minutes
video
Stories and literature
What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?
10 minutes
video
Human evolution
Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature
6 minutes
video
Family life
On a whirlwind morning, a couple learns if they’re facing an unplanned pregnancy
7 minutes
video
Philosophy of mind
Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no
5 minutes
video
Philosophy of religion
How a devout Catholic philosopher approaches the problem of evil
8 minutes
video
Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes
video
Thinkers and theories
Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?
13 minutes
video
Family life
In Rwanda, Sébastien finds traces of personal history in the wake of national tragedy
21 minutes