Typos, Tricks and Misprints

“Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology.”

Source: Aeon
Published: Jul 26, 2021
Length: 13 minutes (3,401 words)

Philosophy with Children

“Curious about aspects of the world that most adults take for granted, children demonstrate a seemingly instinctive capacity to ponder the most basic elements of life and society.”

Source: Aeon
Published: May 10, 2021
Length: 13 minutes (3,400 words)

Accumulation and Its Discontents

“Whether collecting, storing or hoarding, we’ve always had our issues with stuff – not least deciding what’s worth having.”

Source: Aeon
Published: Aug 20, 2020
Length: 13 minutes (3,369 words)

On Matthew’s Mind

An operation to remove a brain cyst changed Matthew’s identity.

Source: Aeon
Published: Jul 17, 2020
Length: 15 minutes (3,900 words)

Kid Culture

Americans have always had issues raising their children as citizens instead of tiny, mighty monarchs.”

Source: Aeon
Published: May 14, 2020
Length: 15 minutes (3,996 words)

We Are Nature

“Even the Anthropocene is nature at work transforming itself.”

Author: Beth Lord
Source: Aeon
Published: Apr 28, 2020
Length: 14 minutes (3,700 words)

The Hunger Mood

Is losing weight a matter of psychology, not physiology?

Source: Aeon
Published:
Length: 14 minutes (3,700 words)

Traumatized by the cure

“You gave us more life, but you didn’t attend to the issues that make life worth living.” Are survivors of life-threatening illness suffering from a form of PTSD?

Author: Liza Gross
Source: Aeon
Published: Mar 3, 2020
Length: 13 minutes (3,300 words)

The pointing ape

A chimpanzee called Clint instigated a significant line of research into how chimpanzees use gestures to manipulate people.

Source: Aeon
Published: Oct 1, 2019
Length: 23 minutes (5,800 words)

Deep Brain Stimulation

In 2017, the US medical device company Medtronic announced that it had implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) equipment in 150,000 patients worldwide to reduce debilitating tremors. This is a powerful therapy, but have the risks proved to outweigh the benefits?

Source: Aeon
Published: Aug 14, 2019
Length: 13 minutes (3,300 words)