In his work on republicanism as a living idea, J G A Pocock showed that contesting history is part of a robust civic life - by Rosario López Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The self-sacrifice of ants to save their colonies is an allegory and a euphemism in one family’s story of fleeing Vietnam - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
By testing the boundaries of reality, Spanish-language authors have created a sublime counterpart to experimental physics - by Joshua Roebke Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A portrait of the Texas coastline occupied by SpaceX reveals the footprints we leave on Earth in the quest to reach beyond it - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Metamorphic rocks are our emissaries from the deep, travelling to alien realms and revealing the restless nature of Earth - by Marcia Bjornerud Read at Aeon | Continue reading
When you aim a powerful macroscopic camera at everyday items, the micro-world around us becomes only faintly familiar - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The British Empire used a great democratic ideal to manufacture racial difference and rationalise colonial domination - by Kanika Sharma Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Often metaphorical and allusive, the philosopher’s work will long be remembered for how it grappled with everyday thought - by Tim Bayne Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘That’ll be a thing to remember’ – a soldier’s account of the ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914 in a stirring letter to his wife - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Religious ritual to appease the gods or free expression of human agency? For the ancient Romans, dance could be both - by Karin Schlapbach Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Are you a mind with a body or a body with a mind?’ The legacy of a 1970 ‘head transplant’ experiment performed on monkeys - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The progressive and remarkably innovative Woodmead School briefly flourished amid the viciousness of apartheid South Africa - by David Dyzenhaus Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Reviving the nearly lost printing processes of Shakespeare’s day is a labour of love and an act of connection with the past - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
It was thought that science could tell us about the origins of the Universe. Today that great endeavour is in serious doubt - by Daniel Linford Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In creating anonymous summaries, AI flattens out all the fascinating architecture of thought that makes the internet hum - by Collin Jennings Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Tiny problems become big ones when tigers are involved’: the day a young (and reckless) animal keeper danced with death - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
How San Francisco’s free rides system can help us understand anarchist theory and the work of the late, great James C Scott - by Reyko Huang Read at Aeon | Continue reading
China does not allow assisted reproduction for unmarried women. So now they travel to the US for egg-freezing treatments - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future? - by Dan Hancox Read at Aeon | Continue reading
When he saw colours, Kandinsky heard music. Exploring the role of synaesthesia in his increasing move towards abstraction - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Why did Julian S Huxley, first director of the UN agency, think eugenics held the key to a more evolved, harmonious world? - by Stefan Bernhardt-Radu Read at Aeon | Continue reading
During the Cold War, Oxford philosophers worked together to aid dissidents behind the Iron Curtain. I was one of them - by Cheryl Misak Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The ancient letters of a Roman soldier reveal the hazards and routines of army life, from signing up all the way to retiring - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
If it’s true that we live in a vast multiverse, then our understanding of identity, morality and even God must be reexamined - by Emily Qureshi-Hurst Read at Aeon | Continue reading
At a week-long police boot camp, a shy girl from Copenhagen learns to handcuff suspects, respond to riots and handle guns - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
As a child, I was torn from a culture that I never knew. It is a loss that defines me, even as I struggle to define the loss - by Jelena Markovic Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A brief, animated history of astronomy shows how a sophisticated understanding of the night sky made us who we are - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The endless battle over his legacy testifies to his great authority – and the power of his thought to make the world better - by Edith Hall Read at Aeon | Continue reading
On his final journey through Asia, Thomas Merton found some peace in the dialectic between refusing the world and loving it - by Drew Calvert Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The three generations of scientists dedicated to knowing a small sliver of Earth, one flower and one hummingbird at a time - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
There’s more talk of decolonisation than ever, while true independence for former colonies has faded from view. Why? - by Lydia Walker Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Take a closer look at the atomic nucleus, from the ancient Greek idea of the atom to its cutting-edge practical applications - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In this 1976 interview, Otto Frank reflects on his decision to give his daughter Anne’s words to the world and their legacy - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too? - by Vladyslav Vyazovskiy Read at Aeon | Continue reading
As the hearing parent of a deaf baby, I’m confronted with an agonising decision: should I give her an implant to help her hear? - by Abi Stephenson Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Step into the world of the enigmatic ‘Las Meninas’ – Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece of royal (and self-)portraiture - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Physicists and philosophers today have formulated three opposing models that explain how laws work. Which is the best? - by Mario Hubert Read at Aeon | Continue reading
As permafrost thaws at unprecedented rates, Arctic villages are beginning to sink. Here is what we need to do - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Olive oil was revered and cherished by the ancients. But its distinctive peppery taste is really a modern invention - by Massimo Mazzotti Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A stirring portrait of the radical husband-and-wife legal team who defended 1960s revolutionaries against the US government - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In this tech-vexed age, our life on screens prevents us from experiencing the mysteries and transformative wonder of life - by Kirk Schneider Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Switch from the Moon’s orbit of Earth to its trajectory around the Sun, and you shift your entire view of our solar system - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Within less than a decade, Brazil will have as many evangelicals as Catholics, a transcendence born of the prosperity gospel - by Alex Hochuli Read at Aeon | Continue reading
On St Helena, the island famed for Napoleon’s tomb, burial sites for the transatlantic slave trade’s victims go unmarked - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Charles Darwin was fascinated by extravagant ornament in nature as Jane Austen was in culture. Did their explanations agree? - by Abigail Tulenko Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In this mediation on ‘après-coup’ in art, Cormac tries to understand why he’s still haunted by a scene from ‘Minority Report’ - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Everything in the Universe, from wandering turtles to falling rocks, is surrounded by ‘fields’ that guide and direct movement - by Daniel W McShea & Gunnar O Babcock Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Don’t be intimidated by physics: it is made of stories and metaphors. Learn these and the field will open up to you - by Jamie Zvirzdin Read at Aeon | Continue reading