‘Is it wicked to take a pleasure in spring?’ George Orwell’s postwar ode to the toad offers a message ripe for our times - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In Plato’s Symposium, Socrates shared a theory of love from the teachings of a ‘non-Athenian woman’. Who was she really? - by Armand D’Angour Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Watch as two craftspeople use 19th-century methods and tools to turn a tree on Norway’s coast into a rowing boat - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Condemned to death by firing squad, French resistance fighters put pen to paper. Their dying words can teach us how to live - by Daniel R Brunstetter Read at Aeon | Continue reading
When we look for extraterrestrials, we often peer into the depths of space. But alien life might be closer than you think - by Ravi Kopparapu & Jacob Haqq Misra Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Meet Sammy Squitten, the baby squirrel suckled by a cat and raised by a human, in this story narrated by David Attenborough - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The climate crisis is here. In order to thrive in these dangerous and precarious times, we must build resilient communities - by Rupert Read Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Artificial scientists’ can use machine-learning algorithms to design experiments that are beyond the intuition of humans - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Today a bitter dispute about the nature of biology is underway. A simple bag of beans may be what tips the balance - by Zachary B Hancock Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Sometimes wicked but always powerful. Why did witches transform from figures of fear to figures of entertainment and aspiration? - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Vietnam’s potent and storied anticolonialism is founded upon a unique sense of national shame - by Kevin D Pham Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A ‘great reshuffle’ of the land is underway. It will force us to reconsider traditional ideas of property and ownership - by Michael Albertus Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Thirty years after the Rwandan genocide, a therapist helps young adults born from rape navigate stigma and family trauma - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Ideas from classical Indian philosophy help illuminate the enigmas of selfhood, consciousness and the nature of reality - by Anand Vaidya & Manjula Menon Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A haunting elegy to the boreal forests of Finland hand-scratched onto 16mm film with fleeting glimpses of local plant life - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In probing whether there are basic sex differences in humans, a psychologist and a biologist agree to seriously disagree - by Cordelia Fine & Carole Hooven Read at Aeon | Continue reading
What is the highest goal our lives can achieve? Paul Tillich and Mark Van Doren’s insights from the 1950s are illuminating today - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The heroic days of deciphering hieroglyphics and cuneiform make for great stories, but will we ever see that happen again? - by Francesco Perono Cacciafoco Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Acting is an ancient and intrinsically human way to establish vibrant connections with one another. And it’s available to us all - by John Britton Read at Aeon | Continue reading
With electron microscopes that magnify butterfly wings 50,000 times their original size, a hidden ‘topography’ emerges - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The World Bank’s poverty line is inaccurate and out of date – an error that obscures the feebleness of market solutions - by Attrishu Bordoloi Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Vova and Roma, two Ukrainian boys, spend their summer in the ever-present shadow of war in this affecting short film - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Long believed to be particularly associated with males, new research is revolutionising our understanding of autism - by Gina Rippon Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Inspired by Japanese master artists, a woodcut printmaker is constantly reimagining the landscapes of his California home - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Physicists today need to jettison the all-too-attractive myth that they are uncovering the hidden reality of our Universe - by Adrien De Sutter Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Here’s a puzzle: how could evolution favour such a costly, frivolous and fun activity as animal play? - by Mathilde Tahar-Malaussena Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A playful collage of audio interviews captures candid and revealing reflections on love, sex and marriage in Sierra Leone - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Fifty years ago it was one of India’s poorest states, now it is now one of the richest. How did Kerala do it? - by Tirthankar Roy & K Ravi Raman Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In the remote Himalayas, ice stupas are an elegant yet desperate response to climate change, and a plea to the world to care - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Oscar Wilde is an icon of gay liberation from secrecy. But his life and his sexuality were not so simple – nor so binary - by Sam Mills Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘If I’m gonna to be this person, I gotta live by morals and standards’: how one man left his old life behind to start anew - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Humans have a superpower that makes us uniquely capable of controlling the world: our ability to understand cause and effect - by Mariel Goddu Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Join a ‘computer dating’ meetup in 1966 in this short video to see what has – and hasn’t – changed in tech-assisted dating - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The future of food is nutritious and sustainable – if we can overcome our instinctual revulsion to insects and lab-grown meat - by Alexandra Plakias Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘My dad will be gone by the time I reach him’ – a filmmaker captures the first time their father forgets who they are - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
When medieval scholars sought to understand the nature of angels, they unwittingly laid the foundations of modern physics - by Rebekah Wallace Read at Aeon | Continue reading
How three communities on North America’s west coast find meaning by interacting with the flight paths of migratory seabirds - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Millions are turning to an unregulated herbal extract to curb their opioid addiction. But do the risks outweigh the benefits? - by Xi Chen Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Cambridge, home of analytic philosophy, was also a hotbed of psychical research. How did this spooky subject take root? - by Matyáš Moravec Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Two Indian storytellers give intersecting and conflicting accounts of the same Hindu myth in this dazzling animation - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
It’s only a century since US diplomats first persuaded the world that it’s wrong for countries to annex their neighbours - by Kerry Goettlich Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A glimpse at the lives of preteen influencers Peyton and Lyla in rural Alabama as they switch between performance and reality - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In the mountains of South Africa, the dispossessed locals bear the burden of the green economy without sharing in its gains - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
It took centuries for people to embrace the zero. Now it’s helping neuroscientists understand how the brain perceives absences - by Benjy Barnett Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Martha Nussbaum’s philosophy is dynamic and challenging, but also elegant and lucidly written: she is the thinker of our time - by Brandon Robshaw Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Snippets from a full day in a 24-hour diner make up this 13-minute short, offering a brief yet rich glimpse into diverse lives - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Those with this little-known trait think more deeply and feel more empathy. But they also deal with significant challenges - by Elaine Aron Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Designed to be ignored’ – uncover the surprisingly fascinating origins of background music in this video essay on Erik Satie - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading