All articles from Aeon

Artist of sympathy and cruelty

Mozart’s genius lay in writing music of such power that he could draw his audience into morally wrenching predicaments - by Dorian Bandy Read on Aeon

Life recombined

In the early 1970s, genetic engineers launched the most controversial revolution in science since the atomic bomb - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Flickering Enlightenment

Attacked by the Left and Right, the Enlightenment can only be saved through use of its greatest legacy: permanent critique - by Eliane Glaser Read on Aeon

The meatseller

Selinna is 15 when she leaves her home in Nigeria, bound for Italy, a journey as perilous as it is transformative - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

The embattled witnesses

The UN’s special rapporteurs are experts charged with a singular mandate: to monitor the world’s worst human rights abuses - by Alvina Hoffmann Read on Aeon

This is my island

Life on this small, off-the-grid island offers closeness to land and community for those willing, and able, to work for it - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Can ecosystems malfunction?

We are told the natural world is ‘breaking down’. But forests don’t work like airplanes or human hearts - by John Drake Read on Aeon

Being small

Nobody quite recovers from being a child: the asymmetry of power between parents and children always leaves a trace - by Tom Wooldridge Read on Aeon

Aloha ʻāina

It’s marketed as a holiday destination, but the true meaning of Hawai’i lies in the connections between land and people - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Make immigration boring

The fiercest political battle of our age needs less moral drama and more hard thinking about numbers and fair tradeoffs - by Alan Manning Read on Aeon

Looking for a donkey

After two arrests and a national uproar, why is it so tricky to find the donkey once likened to Venezuela’s president? - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Maritime China

Far from turning its back on the sea, the fate of Qing China was tied as much to tides and storms as to cavalry and walls - by Ron Po Read on Aeon