In this edition: metal medicine, hyped humanoids, carnival crossroads, divine defiance, and optimization obsession.
Aeon
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘I Awoke at ½ Past 7’
“Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Recommending notable stories by Carolyn Ariella Sofia, Joy Williams, Ben Lerner, Steve Yarbrough, and Elizabeth Spiers.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Hidden in Plain Sight
“Jewish children who were ‘hidden’ in Christian families during the Holocaust have much to teach us about memory and trauma.”
Posted inReading List
Map Room: A Radical Reading List on Cartographic Power, Perspective, and Possibility
Seven stories celebrating our fascination with maps.
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Salacious Middle Ages
“Medieval people feared death by celibacy as much as venereal disease, and practiced complex sexual health regimens.”
Posted inTop 5
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Showcasing stories from Eric McHenry, Michael W. Clune, Patrick Galbraith, Jay Miller, and Harley Rustad.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Socrates Would Be Pleased
“With a class of college students and inmates, teaching philosophy in prison is a rowdy, honest and hopeful provocation.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Walk In These
“Shoes are deeply personal, literally moulded to our lives. But they create our social lives as much as express them.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
Women in Afghanistan Are Prisoners In Their Own Homes. This is the Story of Marjan, Married at 12 to a Taliban Fighter
“Women in Afghanistan are prisoners in their own homes. This is the story of Marjan, married at 12 to a Taliban fighter.”