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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Did the Milky Way form by slowly accreting matter or by devouring its neighboring galaxies? At last, we're uncovering our own history.
"Carl faced his death with unflagging courage and never sought refuge in illusions."
Known as orphaned planets, rogue planets, or planets without parent stars, these "outliers" might be the most common type of planet overall.
The carbon market and offsetting system have created “carbon cowboys” and perpetuated forms of neo-colonialism and other inequities.
A survey of more than 6,000 of the world's richest, most influential people shows that 9% of them attended Harvard University.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
When three wise men gifted baby Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they had no idea one was made from colliding neutron stars.
Carl Sagan was far from the first to declare we are the children of ancient stars.
Grab a sword, a small plate, and a young child. We've got a demon to summon.
In post-Soviet nations where ministers have a relatively high BMI, corruption tends to be high, too.
Playing the long game in Japan is about creating something so enduring that it becomes timeless.
Self-help often distills philosophical ideas for the modern ear. Sometimes, its better to go back to the source.
The Firefly Sparkle galaxy was only spotted because of gravitational lensing's effects. Yet galaxies like these brought us a visible cosmos.
The tech world’s fixation on artificial intelligence has spawned beliefs and rituals that resemble religion — complete with digital deities, moral codes, and threats of damnation.
For a substantial part of human history, people thought smoking tobacco was perfectly healthy. Native American tribes, who introduced the tobacco plant to Europeans and — by extension, the rest […]
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
Sixty years ago, the Soviet Union was way ahead of the USA in the space race. Then one critical event changed everything.
What if the barrier to a fulfilled life isn’t technology but culture?
“Could you create a god?” Nietzsche's titular character asks in "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."
From tulips to Bitcoin, bubbles have been given a bad rap as destroyers of dreams — but they’re essential for our brightest future. Here’s why.