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Narrative
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a medieval airship!
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed," advised Stoic philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius. He had a point.
The One Ring has its own agency and sentience — and it opens up a wonderful philosophy of things beyond our comprehension.
Pure cinema is about removing redundancy so that even the smallest detail serves a purpose in relation to the bigger picture.
Explore how belief shapes destiny, from Oedipus Rex to modern geopolitics.
Voyage into the lawless world of experimental literature.
These initially sympathetic characters take readers down a dark path.
Aiming to unlock the secrets of his unconscious mind, Jung experimented with intensive daydreaming.
In numerous cultures worldwide, women were just as involved in bringing home the prehistoric bacon as their male counterparts.
Ignoring the legacy of William Shakespeare is difficult for any writer, let alone one as quintessentially English as "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien.
You become the main protagonist in these novels.
Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature's most unreliable narrators.
We have become the greatest threat to ourselves and to life on this planet. We need a set of agreed-upon safeguards to preserve our future.
His greatest speeches were loaded with empathy.
Not every classic enjoyed rave reviews from the start.
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."
1hr 19mins
Steven Pinker explains how to cultivate greater rationality in today's complex world.
Monsters have always represented societal fears, but narrative art also casts doubt on whether we fully understand our monsters — and their slayers.
Instead of giving the 239 suffering families and the public a true story, Netflix exploited a horrifying tragedy to push conspiracy theories.
What is Captain America doing in ancient Mesopotamia?
Everyone loves a good underdog story, but the lessons we derive from them depend on how they’re told.
"I am an anthropologist, and for years, I have spoken to people who have had these experiences."
John Templeton Foundation
Video games matter. Their continued technological and artistic development is reshaping the way we satisfy our ancient need to tell stories.
Most popular songs are about love and heartache. But some great songs — albeit underrated and perhaps a bit weird — are about the cities we love.
9mins
What do physicists actually mean when they talk about the multiverse?
"Tristram Shandy" trolled its way to fame.
When the great American tradition of the road trip meets the great Jewish tradition of the deli, we get the Great American Deli Schlep.
The U.S. military once used Google’s tech without their employees knowing. Anna Butrico explains the complicated history behind “Project Maven.”
Reading between the lines of Dorothy’s adventure to the Emerald City.
Million Stories
The artifacts were often made from found objects – an Ivory dish-soap bottle transformed into an earthenware figure.