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Society
Long-debunked conspiracies don’t disappear—they evolve and thrive in the age of algorithms.
3mins
Toxic positivity isn’t optimism. It’s denial. Historian Kate Bowler explains why our obsession with “good vibes only” is making it harder to cope.
A century ago, an American colony named after Trump's favorite president was thriving on the Isle of Pines. Then came hurricanes and geopolitical reality.
Tech leaders may have backed Trump in 2024, but the majority of the community still leans left -- and has a big opportunity ahead.
Ryan Holiday on why wisdom depends on failure, experimentation, and the courage to admit when we’re wrong.
Nearly 30 would be "nones" — an amorphous group that spans from zealous atheists to the vaguely spiritual.
2mins
Free speech may be messy, but censorship is deadly. Founder of The Future of Free Speech Jacob Mchangama explains.
20mins
“Even if there are beliefs that we hold that are true, if we prevent people
challenging those beliefs, we will lose our understanding of why they're true.”
A study on the “moral circles” of liberals and conservatives gets drafted into the culture wars — with mixed results.
5mins
“If we didn't find helping other people pleasurable, we wouldn’t be altruistic.”
In ancient Sparta, it was accepted practice for more women to marry and have children by more than one man.
12mins
Is “identity synthesis” the remedy for racial injustice? This political scientist says no.
The "Shopping Cart Litmus Test" is a popular meme about morality. What does it really reveal about one's character?
24mins
Mating, monogamy, and maximizing your sexual potential explained by 3 sex experts.
8mins
James Suzman lived with a tribe of hunter-gatherers to witness how an ancient culture survives one of the most brutal climates on Earth. His learnings may surprise you.
Some of the world's most satisfied societies are poor, small, and remote.
Meet the people paid to rouse the workers of industrial Britain.
From "The Castle of Otranto" to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, these books changed the literary landscape.
Tikal, one of the biggest cities the Maya ever built, was home to a vast and flourishing society.
Six hundred years in the history of trousers.
Alchemy had its golden age in the 17th century, when it counted Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle among its adherents.
John Templeton Foundation
How humans came to feel comfortable among strangers, like those in a café, is an under-explored mystery.
John Templeton Foundation
Some authors never saw their books score widespread acclaim—or even get published at all.
Modern robotics are creating a kind of cultural paradox, where the best religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all.
Queen Calafia seems like she could have sprung from the pages of a modern fantasy novel.
Democratic freedom, rapturous religion, and newspapers created a hotbed for social experimentation in 19th-century America.
There is a strong case to be made that the China has moved too slowly to reverse the effects of its one-child policy.
6mins
Pessimism sounds smart. Optimism sounds dumb. Don’t fall for it, says Wired’s Kevin Kelly.
John Templeton Foundation
Mahāyāna is the most popular type of Buddhism in the world today.