Aeon Magazine

Aeon Magazine

By: Aeon

Language: en

Categories: Society, Culture, Philosophy

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons. Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and videos that seek to illuminate the big questions of life. Free to read and now free to listen, Aeon’s mission is to sh...

Episodes

Red tape on a blue planet
Jan 09, 2026

All our laws and rules to protect coral reefs now stand in the way of radical action to save them from heat death.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit...

Duration: 00:27:46
The tragedy of Trần Đức Thảo
Jan 08, 2026

How the persecuted Vietnamese philosopher became one of the first theorists of the divide between colonised and coloniser.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and...

Duration: 00:25:01
The spiral of suffering
Jan 06, 2026

For people with chronic illnesses, the relief and recognition of online communities can set up a toxic psychological trap.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays...

Duration: 00:23:09
The erotic poems of Bilitis
Jan 05, 2026

A lush translation of this late-discovered lesbian poet added to the legacy of Sappho, but there was a trickster at work.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine...

Duration: 00:22:17
Why nothing matters
Jan 05, 2026

It took centuries for people to embrace the zero. Now it’s helping neuroscientists understand how the brain perceives absences.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing es...

Duration: 00:21:41
The last letter
Jan 05, 2026

Condemned to death by firing squad, French resistance fighters put pen to paper. Their dying words can teach us how to live.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital...

Duration: 00:24:36
Moral resilience
Jan 05, 2026

Nurses experience deep suffering when they can’t act according to their moral compass. Our research shows a way forward.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing es...

Duration: 00:41:58
There are no pure cultures
Jan 05, 2026

All of our religions, stories, languages and norms were muddled and mixed through mobility and exchange throughout history.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and...

Duration: 00:33:42
Reality is evil
Jan 05, 2026

Everything eats and is eaten. Everything destroys and is destroyed. It is our moral duty to strike back at the Universe.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine...

Duration: 00:30:07
The other Homo sapiens
Jan 05, 2026

We are just one branch of a diverse human family tree. Aside from Neanderthals, who were they – and why did we replace them?.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit di...

Duration: 00:34:51
Incandescent anger
Dec 23, 2025

Politics today is driven by grievances that can never be assuaged. For democracy’s survival, we must grapple with this dynamic.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine pu...

Duration: 00:24:31
Are doctors replaceable?
Dec 22, 2025

Medical error kills hundreds of thousands yearly. If AI is sophisticated enough to help, doctors must not stand in the way.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine...

Duration: 00:24:08
Philosopher of pride
Dec 19, 2025

For Mandeville, humankind has a bottomless need to be liked: it is this perennial craving that forms the foundation of society.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine...

Duration: 00:19:56
Long live the aeonophiles!
Dec 18, 2025

The discovery of organisms that have been alive for many thousands of years requires a revolution in how we understand life.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine...

Duration: 00:20:27
A life of joy and work
Dec 16, 2025

I am banned from working now, but as I look back on my long, challenging career in Afghanistan I feel hope for the future.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a...

Duration: 00:34:20
Green dominion
Dec 15, 2025

Coursing through Catholicism is a radical tradition of environmental justice that will help combat the climate crisis.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and videos...

Duration: 00:25:40
Undefinable yet indispensable
Dec 12, 2025

Despite centuries of trying, the term ‘religion’ has proven impossible to define. Then why does it remain so necessary?.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and...

Duration: 00:23:42
Can machines suffer?
Dec 11, 2025

We once denied the suffering of animals in pain. As AIs grow more complex, we run the danger of making the same mistake.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit...

Duration: 00:24:43
The empty ideology
Dec 10, 2025

Liberalism hasn’t delivered on its promises in Africa. The alternative will be found in ideas rooted in Africa’s own soil.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital maga...

Duration: 00:21:01
Maternal paradox
Dec 10, 2025

‘Scientific motherhood’ promised to create high standards for child-rearing. But it’s really a system designed to police women.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons.

Aeon is a nonprofit digital magazine publishing essays and vi...

Duration: 00:27:54
The world without hegemony
Dec 07, 2025

As Pax Americana ends, a multipolar order is emerging. The history of Southeast Asia holds lessons for what’s to come.

Aeon audio explores the most profound and relevant ideas, told through essays that help us make sense of ourselves and the world. We ask the big, existentially significant questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on philosophy, science, psychology, society and culture. Each episode features a narrated Aeon essay, a journey into expert concepts and stories that provoke, enrich and expand our horizons. 


Aeon is a nonprofit digital mag...

Duration: 00:33:57