Essays

Philosophy	Returning to Church Won’t Save Us from Nihilism Engaging in ritual for ritual’s sake only deepens nihilism. Nolen Gertz \| Sep 15, 2025
Science & Tech	When Your Father Is a Magician, What Do You Believe? A childhood spent under the spell of sleight-of-hand taught me skepticism, curiosity, and the habit of looking beneath appearances. Richard Cytowic \| Aug 29, 2025
Science & Tech	The Forgotten Half-Life of Women in Physics Women in physics have long been forced out of the field, and out of the story. Shohini Ghose \| Aug 26, 2025
Science & Tech	The Secret History of Tor: How a Military Project Became a Lifeline for Privacy A story of secrecy, resistance, and the fight for digital freedom. Ben Collier \| Aug 8, 2025
Culture	Flow Alone Won’t Make You a Writer Writing starts with flow, but it’s sustained by discipline, revision, and grit. Keith Sawyer \| Jul 11, 2025
Culture	What Designers Can Learn from Magic Realism Magic realism may be what we need to break free from design’s overly rational futures. Anthony Dunne & Fiona Raby \| Jul 7, 2025
Media	The Most Powerful Medium Has No Rulebook Video is the most consequential medium of our time. So why do we still lack the tools to cite, dissect, and challenge it like we do with print? Peter B. Kaufman \| Jul 3, 2025
Culture	The Objects That Hold Our Histories Reflections on Harriet Jacobs’s loophole of retreat — and my mother’s personal archive of memories. Sandra Jackson-Dumont \| Jun 27, 2025
Philosophy	Your Mind Is Part of the Ecosystem Our mental and ecological health are linked. Recognizing this interdependence can change how we relate to the world and to ourselves. Timothy Morton \| Jun 20, 2025
Culture	Monks Behaving Badly: Explaining Buddhist Violence in Asia Buddhism is commonly associated with peace, tolerance, and compassion. But like every other great religion, it has a violent side. Nilay Saiya & Stuti Manchanda \| May 29, 2025