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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Digital tools are pulling us away from fixed texts and back toward fluid, interactive communication.
"Our ultimate goal, after all, is not a good death but a good life to the very end."
In this excerpt from "The First Eight," Congressman Jim Clyburn shares the story of Robert Smalls, the man whose audience with Lincoln may have saved the Union army.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
In 2017, a kilonova sent light and gravitational waves across the Universe. Here on Earth, there was a 1.7 second signal arrival delay. Why?
Governance scholar and University of Pittsburgh professor Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, Ph.D. on the forces that decide whether conflicted nations unify or unravel.
John Templeton Foundation
Dark matter, dark energy, and the Big Bang are all part of a solid scientific foundation. Here's why popular media often claims otherwise.
Until the late 20th century, there wasn't a truly universal standard. Under our current definition, everyone agrees on what "one meter" is.
The great books aren’t just classics — they’re cultural Schelling points that give our minds a place to meet up in the world of ideas.
Fibonacci’s "Liber Abaci" not only revolutionized commerce — it also helped nudge the world towards reasoned, quantitative enquiry.
Panpsychist philosopher Philip Goff, PhD on mysticism and the future of faith.
John Templeton Foundation
In this excerpt from "The Shortest History of AI," Toby Walsh explores the history of the Logic Theorist, the first AI to prove mathematical theorems.
Stellar streams are faint trails of stars that appear to "stream" out of galaxies. A new one, escaping galaxy M61, may point to many others.
How did Jobs revolutionize tech, not once but continually? Aspiring innovators — and today's Apple — should look to The Bard and seek out singularity.
When dying, Sun-like stars have binary companions, spectacular sights arise from the ionization. JWST spots the Red Spider Nebula in action!
There's some, but not overwhelming, evidence that dark energy is evolving. What would it take for a "Big Crunch" to be our cosmic fate?
A preview of the latest novel by the National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson.
The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.
Maybe — just don't expect a carbon copy.
Andrew Markell — philosopher, martial artist, and CEO advisor — argues that true endurance comes from desire, ritual, and learning to evolve through chaos.