Interview Tim Birkhead on Birds and Us August 08, 2022 I hated history at school, but once I became interested in how our ideas develop through time鈥攊n how we know what we know about birds鈥攖he past suddenly became very important. Read More
Interview David Hone on How Fast Did T. rex Run? August 08, 2022 How did dinosaurs rear their young? What did they eat? What did聽T. rex聽actually do with those tiny arms? Read More
Podcast The Secret Body August 04, 2022 Imagine knowing years in advance whether you are likely to get cancer or having a personalized understanding of your individual genes, organs, and cells. Imagine being able to monitor your body鈥檚 well-being, or have a diet tailored to your microbiome.聽 Read More
Interview Virginia Trimble and David Weintraub on The Sky is for Everyone August 03, 2022 The Sky Is for Everyone聽is an internationally diverse collection of autobiographical essays by women who broke down barriers and changed the face of modern astronomy. Read More
Interview Adrienne Mayor on Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs July 29, 2022 Flamethrowers, poison gases, incendiary bombs, the large-scale spreading of disease: are these terrifying agents of warfare modern inventions? Not by a long shot. Read More
Essay A look inside The Secret Body July 27, 2022 Imagine yourself as an alien with an exceptionally powerful telescope trying to understand what happens on Earth. Read More
Interview Office hours with Karen Levy July 26, 2022 I am delighted to announce Office Hours, a new Ideas feature that we will share 锘縠very other month. I spend quite a bit of time talking to authors about recent research鈥攁nd eventually, we share the end result with you, in the form of a book. Read More
Podcast Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws July 26, 2022 Adrienne Mayor is renowned for exploring the borders of history, science, archaeology, anthropology, and popular knowledge to find historical realities and scientific insights鈥攇limmering, long-buried nuggets of truth鈥攅mbedded in myth, legends, and folklore. Read More
Essay When rules don鈥檛 rule July 21, 2022 Rules: there are so many of them, and all so very various. Rules for where to place that third fork in a formal table setting, rules for when to clap at concerts, rules for deciding who has the right of way at an intersection, rules for how to play games, rules for declaring taxable income, rules for how to greet friends鈥攁 firm handshake (Germany), alternating pecks on the cheek (France), a bow and clasped hands (India), or a hug (the U.S.). Read More
Essay Grave consequences: How banning execution by lethal injection may result in the return of the electric chair July 20, 2022 In Florida this week, a criminal court selected people to serve on a very unusual jury. The defendant had been charged with mass murder, but the jury鈥檚 task is not to determine his guilt鈥攈e has already pled guilty. Read More
Essay The millennial generation housing calamity July 20, 2022 No single issue has catalyzed younger adults more than housing. Wealthier millennials cannot buy a home with the same ease their parents did, middle class millennials pay tremendous rents to live in cities with good economic opportunities, and the poor of the same cohort experience rampant housing insecurity: couch surfing, living in their cars, and, most disturbingly, sleeping in tent colonies or right on the pavement of cities like Los Angeles and New York. Read More
Podcast Listen in: Sonorous Desert July 19, 2022 For the hermits and communal monks of antiquity, the desert was a place to flee the cacophony of ordinary life in order to hear and contemplate the voice of God. But these monks discovered something surprising in their harsh desert surroundings: far from empty and silent, the desert is richly reverberant.聽 Read More
Essay Welcome to Armageddon July 19, 2022 Each day throughout the year, the tour buses begin arriving at Megiddo soon after 9:00 a.m., disgorging fifty tourists at a time. By the time the site closes at 5:00 p.m., several dozen buses will have deposited hundreds of visitors. 鈥淲elcome to Armageddon,鈥� the tour guides say, as they march their flocks up the steep incline and through the ancient city gate. Read More
Essay Why Europe? Y. Pestis July 18, 2022 During the Middle Ages, two formidable species pervaded West Eurasia: homo sapiens (humans) and rattus rattus (black rats). The two disliked each other, but literally lived in each other鈥檚 homes. In 1345, the Black Death reached them. Read More
Essay The bold experiment July 18, 2022 On May 9, 1994 the Parliament convened, governed by the new Speaker, an Indian woman and human rights lawyer named Frene Ginwala. Their one order of business was to elect the new state president, Nelson Mandela, and they did so without dissent. Read More
