On Jewish revenge
What might a people, subjected to unspeakable historical suffering, think about the ethics of vengeance once in power?
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Medicine
Last hours of an organ donor
In the liminal time when the brain is dead but organs are kept alive, there is an urgent tenderness to medical care
Ronald W Dworkin
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Astronomy
Alien life is no joke
Not long ago the search for extraterrestrials was considered laughable nonsense. Today, it’s serious and scientific
Adam Frank
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Home
Return of the descendants
I migrated to my ancestral homeland in a search for identity. It proved to be a humbling experience in (un)belonging
Jessica Buchleitner
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Metaphysics
The enchanted vision
Love is much more than a mere emotion or moral ideal. It imbues the world itself and we should learn to move with its power
Mark Vernon
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Biology
Building embryos
For 3,000 years, humans have struggled to understand the embryo. Now there is a revolution underway
John Wallingford
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Stories and literature
Robert Frost’s poetic reflection on youth, as read in his unforgettable baritone
5 minutes
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Design and fashion
Sitting on the art
Given its intimacy with the body and deep play on form and function, furniture is a ripely ambiguous artform of its own
Emma Crichton Miller
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Sex and sexuality
After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation
14 minutes
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Film and visual culture
‘Bags here are rarely innocent’ – how filmmakers work around censorship in Iran
8 minutes
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Wellbeing
Learning to be happier
In order to help improve my students’ mental health, I offered a course on the science of happiness. It worked – but why?
Bruce Hood
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Consciousness and altered states
Acid media
How perforated squares of trippy blotter paper allowed outlaw chemists and wizard-alchemists to dose the world with LSD
Erik Davis
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Language and linguistics
Closed captions suck. Here’s one artist’s inventive project to make them better
8 minutes
essay
Medicine
Last hours of an organ donor
In the liminal time when the brain is dead but organs are kept alive, there is an urgent tenderness to medical care
Ronald W Dworkin
video
Thinkers and theories
A rare female scholar of the Roman Empire, Hypatia lived and died as a secular voice
5 minutes
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The environment
Decoupling
We need to find a way for human societies to prosper while the planet heals. So far we can’t even think clearly about it
Ville Lähde
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Architecture
The celebrated architect who took inspiration from sitting, waiting and contemplating
29 minutes
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Archaeology
Why make art in the dark?
New research transports us back to the shadowy firelight of ancient caves, imagining the minds and feelings of the artists
Izzy Wisher
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Stories and literature
Do liberal arts liberate?
In Jack London’s novel, Martin Eden personifies debates still raging over the role and purpose of education in American life
Nick Romeo
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Anthropology
Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?
4 minutes
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Politics and government
India and indigeneity
In a country of such extraordinary diversity, the UN definition of ‘indigenous’ does little more than fuel ethnic violence
Dikshit Sarma Bhagabati
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Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
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Astronomy
Alien life is no joke
Not long ago the search for extraterrestrials was considered laughable nonsense. Today, it’s serious and scientific
Adam Frank
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Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
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History of ideas
Reimagining balance
In the Middle Ages, a new sense of balance fundamentally altered our understanding of nature and society
Joel Kaye
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History
What would Thucydides say?
In constantly reaching for past parallels to explain our peculiar times we miss the real lessons of the master historian
Mark Fisher
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Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes
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The environment
Emergency action
Could civil disobedience be morally obligatory in a society on a collision course with climate catastrophe?
Rupert Read
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Chemistry
Why do the building blocks of life possess a mysterious symmetry?
12 minutes