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Syria: the point of no return

A Free Syrian Army fighter reacts after his friend was shot by Syrian army troops in Aleppo. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters When power starts to shift in the Middle East, its people have long…
PUBLISHED: Aug. 29, 2012
LENGTH: 9 minutes (2469 words)

Creative Writing

The first story Maya wrote was about a world in which people split themselves in two instead of reproducing. In that world, every person could, at any given moment, turn into two beings, each one…
PUBLISHED: Jan. 2, 2012
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1701 words)

Trial of the Will

Death has this much to be said for it: You don’t have to get out of bed for it. Wherever you happen to be They bring it to you—free. —Kingsley Amis Pointed threats, they bluff with…
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1652 words)

Why is British public life dominated by men?

I don't know when the breaking point came. Was it the 2010 election, in which the most prominent women on the national stage seemed to be the leaders' wives? Was it a drip, drip, drip of Question…
PUBLISHED: Dec. 4, 2011
LENGTH: 12 minutes (3179 words)

The decline effect and the scientific method

On September 18, 2007, a few dozen neuroscientists, psychiatrists, and drug-company executives gathered in a hotel conference room in Brussels to hear some startling news. It had to do with a class…
PUBLISHED: Dec. 13, 2010
LENGTH: 4 minutes (1003 words)

a year of beautiful books

In his recent Booker acceptance speech, Julian Barnes did the usual polite thing of thanking his editors and his agent. But then, just when everyone thought he was done, he veered off in an entirely…
PUBLISHED: Dec. 2, 2011
LENGTH: 11 minutes (2910 words)

the dark side of our gadget addiction

Daniel Kaluuya and Jessica Brown in Fifteen Million Merits. Photograph: Giles Keytes Every life includes significant landmarks: your first kiss, your first job, your first undetected murder. Maybe…
PUBLISHED: Dec. 1, 2011
LENGTH: 6 minutes (1538 words)

The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin

Illustration: Martin Venezky In November 1, 2008, a man named Satoshi Nakamoto posted a research paper to an obscure cryptography listserv describing his design for a new digital currency that he…
PUBLISHED: Nov. 23, 2011
LENGTH: 17 minutes (4355 words)
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