For a century, this theory of human origins has died and returned. To free it from limbo, we must disentangle its many meanings
- by Vivek V Venkataraman
urn:id:8847
GeistHaus
Aeon is a magazine of ideas and culture. We publish in-depth essays from the world’s most incisive and ambitious thinkers, and a mix of original and curated videos — free to all.
For a century, this theory of human origins has died and returned. To free it from limbo, we must disentangle its many meanings
- by Vivek V Venkataraman
Deep inside a luscious grove in Nigeria, a community of artists preserves otherworldly monuments to Yorùbá spirituality
- by Aeon Video
Medieval artists depicted bodies as vehicles for politics and hierarchy. Repeated enough, these roles began to appear natural
- by Denva Gallant
Stripped of easy moralising, literature makes us relish the search for truth in an age when many believe truth to be dead
- by Flora Champy
In the Atacama Desert, scientists race to find novel cures for antibiotic-resistant infections, as mining interests encroach
- by Aeon Video
Aldo Leopold saw this in the eyes of a dying wolf: when we no longer fear nature, we are on the road to its destruction
- by Shawn Simpson
Crafting each frame by hand, an animator paints the story of an Olympic swimmer’s return after surviving the Holocaust
- by Aeon Video
Where centralised societies excel at extraction, African fractal systems allow for circulation, reciprocity and return
- by Likam Kyanzaire
How humans built beautiful, lasting structures without science or mathematics, using only engineering rules of thumb
- by Aeon Video
A brain fit for the 21st century is one that understands – and respects – its own bioenergetic foundations
- by Hannah Critchlow
Humans weren’t given souls by God or genes. We made them ourselves with language – turning sentience into something sacred
- by Nicholas Humphrey
The evolution of Paris across millennia – from Celtic fishing village to world capital – in three animated minutes
- by Aeon Video
Peering into the origins of our Universe, astronomers found something that shouldn’t be there: what are those little red dots?
- by Jenny Greene
Take a kaleidoscopic journey through the early history of film, inspired by an enduring fascination with motion and form
- by Aeon Video
The mystical insight came to Nietzsche like a lightning flash: time eternally recurs – and life must be lived accordingly
- by Mark Higgins
This short documentary asks what it means to be Sámi today, following decades-long state-mandated assimilation attempts
- by Aeon Video
In the story of eugenics, disabled people are often depicted as passive victims. But for some it seemed an opportunity
- by Coreen McGuire & Alex Aylward
The art expert is the fulcrum of all value and significance in the museum and auction world. Does AI threaten them?
- by Noah Charney
A mind-bending trip into the cosmos aboard a speculative (yet theoretically possible) spacecraft near the speed of light
- by Aeon Video
How did law firms and other professional workplaces become places of such crushing and soulless work?
- by Dylan Gottlieb