Aeon Magazine

Toadstools and toxins

When I found the mushroom Amanita muscaria being sold in candy wrappers, I uncovered legal loopholes, dangerous dosages and more. Aeon audio explores the most profound an

He was probably right

Cicero’s life and thought are a testament to the idea of probabilia: we should be confident in our beliefs, but never certain. Aeon audio explores the most profound and r

Cosmic amnesia

A black hole rings like a struck bell, then settles into silence, forgetting almost everything about its history. Why?. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant

Who will taste the cherries?

The computist has one dream: to debug the subjectivity out of all of human knowledge, creating a pure, frictionless world. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relev

The bombarding of childhood

It’s not just screen time: the problem with children’s media is that it has become relentlessly hectic, loud and bright. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevan

Penchants of the polymaths

The fathers of Islamic science hold lessons for students: breadth over specialisation, and never let constraints get in the way. Aeon audio explores the most profound and

Medieval mental health

Saffron and ostrich liver were prescribed but so were exercise, gardens, animals, socialising, and music. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told t

Our eloquent hands

Physicians reject palmistry as nonsense. But reading the creases of our palms for hidden meaning is what doctors have always done. Aeon audio explores the most profound a

Continental divide

A century ago, the Pan-American road promised a new era of fraternity between the two continents. Did it succeed?. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant idea

Upend the trickle-down

Neoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix. Aeon audio explores the most profound and rel

Neuroqueering on the lawn

Hans Christian Andersen’s tantrum in Charles Dickens’s garden was a case of ‘too muchness’, emotions bursting past respectability. Aeon audio explores the most profound a

More nothing now

We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity. Aeon audio explores the most profound and re

The Singapore strategies

The nation’s water is secure, but its food is another matter: lessons from the city-state in efficiency versus self-sufficiency. Aeon audio explores the most profound and

Beyond food and people

Nietzsche shows us how to embrace our connection with nature – without denying its essential conflict, strife and suffering. Aeon audio explores the most profound and rel

Empire of flight

They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ide

The planetary fix

Despite decades of inaction we can avert the climate Hellocene and restore the atmosphere to keep our world habitable. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant

The fog of hunger

From childhood, women are trained to restrict their appetite. And there’s a huge, hidden, cognitive price to pay for it. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevan

Dolphins and other lovers

The Andoque of the Amazon know what we have forgotten: the forest’s most beautiful creatures are also its most dangerous. Aeon audio explores the most profound and releva

In praise of zealotry

Early feminists like Mary Astell and Catharine Macaulay refused their male peers’ advice to remain polite in debate. Why?. Aeon audio explores the most profound and relev

Worm munch matters

The lives that slither and scurry beneath the soil’s surface are vital for ecological health: now we can listen in to them. Aeon audio explores the most profound and rele