Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Many ancient Greek philosophers were suspicious of emotions, believing that reason was the key to freeing the mind from destructive, distracting impulses. However, the 18th-century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and later Charles Darwin, came to the conclusion that emotion and reason work in tandem to help us survive and build important social bonds – a theory that was later confirmed by modern psychologists and brain scientists. This short video from Scientific American explores how emotions transformed from nuisances to necessities in the eyes of Western philosophy and science – with puppets!
Director: Kevin Cline
Website: Punctuation Films
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
video
Art
Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer
17 minutes
video
Anthropology
For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business
30 minutes
video
Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
video
Metaphysics
What do past, present and future mean to a philosopher of time?
55 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators
8 minutes
video
Sports and games
Havana’s streets become racetracks in this exhilarating portrait of children at play
5 minutes
video
Spirituality
Through rituals of prayer, a monk cultivates a quietly radical concept of freedom
4 minutes
video
Evolution
The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo
6 minutes