Support Aeon

‘Aeon provides me with high-quality, stimulating and unique content, and this deserves my support.’

Neda M, Australia, Friend of Aeon

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview.

Support Aeon. Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking. No ads, no paywall, no clickbait – just thought-provoking ideas from the world’s leading thinkers, free to all. But we can’t do it without you.

Become a Friend for $5 a month or Make a one-off donation

Become a Friend of Aeon or Make a donation

Close

Become a Friend of Aeon to save articles and enjoy other exclusive benefits

Become a Friend for $5 a month

Balan the blowpipe maker

6 minutes

Meet the last Borneo villager who still crafts his own blowpipe for hunting

A member of the Penan tribe on the island of Borneo, Balan is the last elder in his village who practices the craft of blowpipe making. The Penan blowpipe is a traditional hunting weapon with a unique design, and it can be crafted only with intense care and tireless manual labour. Balan the Blowpipe Maker is an excerpt from Ross Harrison’s 30-minute documentary Sunset Over Selungo, which profiles several members of the Penan tribe as their way of life is threatened by the effects of climate change and deforestation in the Borneo rainforest.

Director: Ross Harrison

Get Aeon straight
to your inbox
Join our newsletter Sign up
Follow us on
Facebook
Like

‘Aeon, for me, continues to be one of the best places to spend a quiet afternoon, in the company of some of the most brilliant minds around.’

Shivam C, India, Friend of Aeon

‘Aeon is always providing great, thought-provoking content, and it would be a crime for me to not donate to a service that I use daily.’

Jarry A, Canada, Friend of Aeon

‘Aeon is consistently the place to find excellent, provocative and thoughtful writing.

One of my favourite places to find new writers and new ideas.’

Professor Sophie Kerttu Scott, University College London

‘Aeon’s combination of intelligence, integrity and flair is vanishingly rare – and I am very grateful for it. It is becoming an indispensable presence in the digital world for those who believe that ideas matter.’

Tom Chatfield, writer and commentator on digital culture

‘Aeon is hands down my favourite publication to write for. Deadlines long enough to do the work justice, the best editorial input I’ve encountered and compensation which is respectful of writers’ time.’

Antonia Malchik, essayist and editor

Support Aeon

Become a Friend for $5 a month or Make a one-off donation

Become a Friend of Aeon or Make a donation

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge. Our mission is to create a sanctuary online for serious thinking.
But we can’t do it without you.

Aeon is a registered charity committed to the spread of knowledge and a cosmopolitan worldview.
But we can’t do it without you.
Essay/
Art
Is it really a Leonardo?

Forensics can't be sure. Provenance can be fudged. This is why the expert eye still rules the game of art authentication

Noah Charney

Essay/
Cultures & Languages
Black Achilles

The Greeks didn’t have modern ideas of race. Did they see themselves as white, black – or as something else altogether?

Tim Whitmarsh