Pranay Sanklecha was searching for meaning and purpose so he became an academic philosopher, you might guess what happened next. Read by Jonathan Booth.

Aeon is a digital magazine, publishing profound and provocative thinking by leading thinkers on science, philosophy, society and the arts.

Aeon

Philosophy was once alive

Does it take a bad person to be a good athlete?

Selfishness channels ambition, envy drives competition, and pride aids the win. Sabrina Little argues that such traits can boost athletic performance but harm personal character and relationships. But does it really take a bad person to be a good athlete? Read by Gina Rogers.

Performance-enhancing vices

Mental health: the last great stigma

Mental health discrimination at work persists as a multi-layered problem characterized by fear, misconceptions, and under-enforced laws. Pernille Yilmam reflects on how workplaces can be made fairer and more supportive. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

The last great stigma

For 3,000 years, humans have tried to understand the embryo. However, as John Wallingford explains, recent scientific and stem cell research advances are revolutionizing our understanding of human development and challenging our legal, ethical, and biological definitions of life. Read by Michael Satow.

After 3000 years of science, the embryo is very different

In order to help improve his students’ mental health, Bruce Hood offered a course on the science of happiness. It worked – but why? Here, he reflects on what the sciences of happiness say about the self and others. Read by Simon Mattacks.

Learning to be happier

A route is desperately needed for human societies to prosper while the planet heals. Ville Lähde reflects on the complex debate about decoupling economic growth from environmental harm. Read by Ron Butler.

How to think about the prospects of truly green growth

How the beauty bias impacts our professional lives

With most jobs, looks should be regarded as irrelevant to our suitability and remuneration. Yet appearance discrimination, or ‘lookism’, is pervasive in the workplace. Andrew Mason considers whether lookism in employment can ever be justified. Read by Michael Bott.

The scourge of lookism

The U.S. today has extraordinary levels of gun ownership and rising firearm deaths. Megan Kang examines the root of America's gun culture and argues that hanging onto them as a venerable tradition is to misread history. Read by Emily Woo Zeller.

Why America fell for guns

When we think of changes in Earth’s history as changes of dynasties, we miss out on understanding how life really works. Riley Black reflects on the oversimplified view of species dominance and extinction and highlights the importance of the intricate relationships between organisms and the ecological impacts of such events. Read by Betsy Foldes Meiman.

Earth's story is not about dynasties but communities

You might have the unconditional love of family and friends and yet feel deep loneliness; philosophy can explain why. Kaitlyn Creasy reflects on the unlikely factors behind this phenomenon. Read by Gina Rogers.

How is it possible to be loved and yet to feel deeply lonely?

Space: the final ethical frontier

Earthbound exploration was plagued with colonialism, exploitation, and extraction. Can we hope to make space any different? Philip Ball reflects on the ethical issues raised by human spaceflight. Read by Jonathan Booth.

The final ethical frontier

The sexual revolution of the 1960s changed how society views intimacy, romance and even marriage. Daniel Tutt discusses this new normal, how it manifests among different social classes, and the dangers it brings. 

Matrimony and the market

Dogs on India's streets are happier than Western pets

Village or street dogs in India have independent and happy lives without a pet's constraints. So why are they being persecuted? Krithika Srinivasan and Chris Pearson discover the history behind India's disdain for dogs.

The free dogs of India

Is the classroom always the best environment for children to learn in? Naomi Fisher and Heidi Steel discuss how many parents find that their children thrive as soon as they pursue alternative education. 

Unschooling

Laws are in place to protect children from long working hours and exploitation. So why aren't they protected from parents who monetise their lives online? Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore discusses this troubling trend.

Honey, I sold the kids

Does the answer to AI sentience lie in animal minds? 

As the power of AI grows, so do fears of machine sentience. Kristin Andrews and Jonathan Birch argue that we must examine the minds of animals to determine if AI is really capable of feeling.

What has feelings?

Breeding dogs to be cute is animal cruelty

With their big eyes and flat faces, small dogs are designed to be cute. But, as Jessica Pierce explains, the infantile features that make them so adorable are also preventing their ability to live healthy animal lives.

Where went the wolf?

From the Kalahari Desert to Australia, Vivek V Venkataraman explains why hunter-gatherer societies' deep appreciation of rest puts the industrialised world to shame.

Lessons from the foragers

Secrets hurt their keeper

Did you know that keeping secrets can considerably affect your mental health? Michael Slepian discovers why this is and how you can overcome it.

Secrets hurt their holders

A fully vegan diet can be challenging to adopt, but how about aiming to get close? After spending years researching animal ethics, Peter Godfrey-Smith explains why simply doing your best to reduce meat and dairy consumption is good enough.