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Going-against-the-grainers

Going-against-the-grainers If our ethical beliefs come from our social environment, how do some people find the moral courage to defy convention? by...

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Aeon

Dane Leigh Gogoshin

Mexistentialism

The Mexican embrace of uncertainty, forged in the crucible of history, captures the true vulnerability of our existence by Carlos Alberto Sánchez  ...

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Aeon

Carlos Alberto Sánchez

Esteban Cabeza de Baca’s time travels

Esteban Cabeza de Baca’s time travels Great art explained: José María Velasco Firelei Báez: an open horizon The immediate present Now I know...

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Aeon Video

Books and screens

Your inability to focus isn’t a failing. It’s a design problem, and the answer isn’t getting rid of our screen time by Carlo Iacono  BIO Photo...

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Carlo Iacono

If I told it: an imperfect portrait of ChatGPT

If I told it: an imperfect portrait of ChatGPT Everything is a remix: AI and image generation Large language models explained Letters live: generative...

previous day 200

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Aeon Video

Snow line

A father and son’s search for the line where the snow starts ‘Why do you think I brought you here?’ In Snow Line, the Vancouver-based filmmaker...

16.02.2026 200

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Aeon Video

The snowball effect

Our planet was once a harsh, alien, icy world. Yet this deep freeze may have shaped you, me and all life on Earth by Graham Shields  BIO A...

16.02.2026 70

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Graham Shields

Guarding the guardians

Guarding the guardians Good institutions are social technologies that scale trust from personal relations to entire nations. How do they work? by...

13.02.2026 80

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Julien Lie-Panis

Subverting hell

Subverting hell

In their visions of the underworld Dante and Milton were truly subversive, incorporating predecessors into their own repudiation- by Charlie...

12.02.2026 20

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Charlie Ericson

Stephen and David’s toy cupboard

Stephen and David’s toy cupboard

David’s handcrafted figurines pay tribute to cultural icons. His latest project takes on his greatest hero, his late brother- by Aeon VideoWatch on...

12.02.2026 30

Aeon

Aeon Video

Desi oon

Desi oon

A jaunty song calls for greater appreciation of Indian wool, as imports undermine the livelihoods of local herders- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

11.02.2026 20

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Aeon Video

Compost modernity!

The vision of solarpunk: joining nature with technology in vibrantly inclusive ways to create a world that truly blooms- by Yogi Hale HendlinRead on...

10.02.2026 40

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Yogi Hale Hendlin

Orcas and ourselves

Sea pandas or sadistic killers? These enigmatic creatures invite contradictory labels that say far more about us than them- by Jason ColbyRead on Aeon

09.02.2026 30

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Jason Colby

Carlo Rovelli: thermal time

Is time a property of the Universe? Yes, if you conceive of it as heat: a mind-boggling yet oddly comforting perspective- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

09.02.2026 40

Aeon

Aeon Video

How selfish are we?

An age-old debate about human nature is being energised with new findings on the tightrope of cooperation and competition- by Jonathan R GoodmanRead...

06.02.2026 70

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Jonathan R Goodman

Between being and emptiness

In Japanese philosophy, unlike the atomised Western self, we are ‘ningen’ (人間), each enmeshed with other humans and nature- by Takeshi...

05.02.2026 60

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Takeshi Morisato

Africa’s cultural landmarks: Tsodilo Hills, Botswana

Rising far above the desert, the walls of these magnificent hills carry the ancient story of humanity’s creative spark- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

05.02.2026 50

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Aeon Video

Being in the world: rules and risk

To master our own lives, we must venture beyond the rules and embrace risk – Heidegger’s philosophy grounded in real life- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

04.02.2026 50

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Aeon Video

Can you rewire your brain?

The metaphor of rewiring offers an ideal of engineered precision. But the brain is more like a forest than a circuit board- by Peter LukacsRead on...

03.02.2026 50

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Peter Lukacs

Victims and villains

In Southeast Asia’s scam compounds, workers are being enslaved but the boundary between victim and perpetrator is blurred- by Ivan Franceschini &...

02.02.2026 50

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Ivan Franceschini & Ling Li

The car that came back from the sea

It was a rust bucket, sure, but this car delivered the most precious good to a group of friends in 1980s Poland: freedom- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

02.02.2026 40

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Aeon Video

Is inherited wealth bad?

Despite associations with the idle rich, the fact that inheritances are rising is a sign of a healthy, growing economy- by Daniel WaldenströmRead on...

29.01.2026 60

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Daniel Waldenström

Inside, the valley sings

Where does the mind go in solitary confinement? An evocative animation exploring three individual experiences- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

29.01.2026 40

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Aeon Video

Why does light exist?

Light is fundamental to the workings and laws of our Universe – but why does it exist in the first place?- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

28.01.2026 50

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Aeon Video

A lesson in coexistence

The 17th-century town Cacheu was a hub of West African and European cultures, languages and beliefs (and run by women)- by Toby GreenRead on Aeon

27.01.2026 50

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Toby Green

Playing in flatland

Physicists believe a third class of particles – anyons – could exist, but only in 2D. What kind of existence is that?- by Elay ShechRead on Aeon

26.01.2026 40

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Elay Shech

Gladiators on wheels

For India’s travelling stunt drivers, who risk their lives for a living, freedom lies on the other side of fear- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

26.01.2026 50

Aeon

Aeon Video

Computers can’t surprise

As AI’s endless clichés continue to encroach on human art, the true uniqueness of our creativity is becoming ever clearer- by Richard BeardRead on...

23.01.2026 100

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Richard Beard

Dreams of the far Right

Young Europeans join far-Right movements less out of grievance than out of a profound yearning to believe and belong- by Agnieszka PasiekaRead on Aeon

22.01.2026 60

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Agnieszka Pasieka

Sandcastles

A documentary connecting two Singapores: the Asian country expanded on imported sand and a town in Michigan buried by dunes- by Aeon VideoWatch on...

22.01.2026 80

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Aeon Video

The immortality paradox

Most people live as though death is undesirable. But would immortality be a blessing – or an interminable curse?- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

21.01.2026 70

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Aeon Video

A light from the periphery

The life of Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose illuminates how scientific genius can emerge from the most unexpected quarters- by Somaditya (Soma)...

20.01.2026 90

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Somaditya (Soma) Banerjee

Our unfinished republics

Economic republicanism shows us how to achieve authentic freedom: citizens require economic as well as political power- by Sean IrvingRead on Aeon

19.01.2026 90

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Sean Irving

The art of museum dioramas

From fluffing feathers to washing skins, a museum taxidermist shows the hidden art behind creating an ‘illusion of life’- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

19.01.2026 90

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Aeon Video

The shape of time

In the 19th century, the linear idea of time became dominant – with profound implications for how we experience the world- by Emily ThomasRead on Aeon

16.01.2026 200

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Emily Thomas

The synthetic self

In order to better understand our human nature, we must attempt to build a robot capable of robust subjective experiences- by Tony J PrescottRead on...

16.01.2026 150

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Tony J Prescott

I-Kiribati warrior armour

Fish helmets and coconut suits – how the islanders of Oceania built suits of armour without any metal- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

16.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video

How to become a tree

Many people today want to commit their remains to rejuvenating the planet. But are these green deaths just greenwashing?- by Hannah Gould & Georgina...

16.01.2026 90

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Hannah Gould & Georgina Robinson

Father’s letters

Spinning imaginative tales, a father wrapped his daughter in a protective layer of love all the way from an island gulag- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

16.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video

Landholder vs stockholder

In 1752, David Hume discerned that wealth was becoming untethered from land. Here lies the origin of our political divisions- by Catherine NicholsRead...

16.01.2026 100

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Catherine Nichols

Wind keepers

How do you capture something invisible? A blustery short revels in the sights and sounds of a windswept day on the coast- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

16.01.2026 90

Aeon

Aeon Video

The erotic poems of Bilitis

A lush translation of this late-discovered lesbian poet added to the legacy of Sappho, but there was a trickster at work- by Cat LambertRead on Aeon

12.01.2026 100

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Cat Lambert

Outside center

A documentary on the patient labour of building a home away from home and the courage it takes to open oneself to new bonds- by Aeon VideoWatch on...

12.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video

The spiral of suffering

For people with chronic illnesses, the relief and recognition of online communities can set up a toxic psychological trap- by Siddhant Ritwick & Tomi...

12.01.2026 100

Aeon

Siddhant Ritwick & Tomi Koljonen

Persian tar: a living instrument

For a tar player, each strum offers a connection with Iranian classical music, some of which was lost after the revolution- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

12.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video

The tragedy of Trần Đức Thảo

How the persecuted Vietnamese philosopher became one of the first theorists of the divide between colonised and coloniser- by Rory O’SullivanRead on...

12.01.2026 100

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Rory O’sullivan

DNA break repair

A dazzling visualisation of how the body’s specialised proteins repair damaged DNA by using an intact copy as a template- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

12.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video

Red tape on a blue planet

All our laws and rules to protect coral reefs now stand in the way of radical action to save them from heat death- by Irus BravermanRead on Aeon

12.01.2026 100

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Irus Braverman

Incandescent anger

Politics today is driven by grievances that can never be assuaged. For democracy’s survival, we must grapple with this dynamic- by Paul...

05.01.2026 200

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Paul Katsafanas

Children’s game: pau de sebo

In a town park in Portugal, prizes dangle just out of reach up a greasy pole. How will the local teens manage to get them?- by Aeon VideoWatch on Aeon

05.01.2026 100

Aeon

Aeon Video