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History & Society
Trace how culture, power, and ideas shape societies across time.
Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?
Reading classic books can teach you as much about the present as the past.
Rivals may try to outnumber us with fleets of cheap vessels. Our path is to out-innovate them.
Wales shares with Big Think his thoughts about the future of media, the promise of AI, and our need to build a culture on trust.
The planet, the Solar System, and the galaxy aren't expanding. But the whole Universe is. So where does the dividing line begin?
For 13.8 billion years, the Universe has been expanding. But that couldn't have been the case for an eternity, and science has proven it.
Natural navigator Tristan Gooley joins us to discuss the philosophy of reading nature’s hidden clues — and how relearning this ancient skill can help us see the world, and ourselves, with greater awareness.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
It's not just about the home; it's about everything.
In this excerpt from "Playful," Cas Holman surveys the research that brought the neuroscience of play into the mainstream.
We've long known we can't go back to infinite temperatures and densities. But the hottest part of the hot Big Bang remains a cosmic mystery.
In “Warhead,” neuroscientist and national security adviser Nicholas Wright explains how the brain navigates warfare and why it is our ultimate weapon (and instrument for peace).
Bold megaprojects could turn dry depressions into thriving new hubs of life.
Observations with the Hubble space telescope helped cement dark energy and reveal the Hubble tension. How are these two things so different?
The whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts; that's a flaw in our thinking. Non-reductionism requires magic, not merely science.
"Think of it like a transcontinental railroad — not the fastest way to move a lot of mass, but certainly the most efficient,” Jared Isaacman said about nuclear electric propulsion.
Getting drunk might be bad for you but good for us.
In this excerpt from "Lucky By Design," Judd Kessler explains how opportunity costs shape our choices and why time is the real price we pay.
Each of these stories rests on a foundation of great ideas that will scare you to death and make you think.
Inflation's two main criticisms, that it can predict anything and that the "measure problem" remains unsolved, can't erase its successes.