This life-giving element, stored in rock and organic material, moves around Earth in an ancient cycle we have just broken. 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 exp...
Mar 01, 2026•23 min
Acute inflammation helps the body heal. But chronic inflammation is different and could provoke a medical paradigm shift. 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 expe...
Feb 28, 2026•29 min
Virtually everything you think you know about psychopathy has been thoroughly debunked. Why does this zombie idea live on?. 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 ex...
Feb 27, 2026•24 min
The Indian thinker Rammohun Roy believed that good governance must be close: distance made the British Empire cruel. 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 co...
Feb 26, 2026•29 min
From art to religion to sex, instrumentalisation has drained away intrinsic value. But life is about more than material benefits. 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 i...
Feb 24, 2026•26 min
Ecology is pervaded by a nativist dogma against invasive species that distorts the science and undermines wildness. 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 con...
Feb 23, 2026•30 min
Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame. 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 exper...
Feb 22, 2026•29 min
People with ADHD and autism have to mask their instincts if they want to be included. But the strain exacts a very high price. 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...
Feb 21, 2026•22 min
If our ethical beliefs come from our social environment, how do some people find the moral courage to defy convention?. 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...
Feb 20, 2026•24 min
Your inability to focus isn’t a failing. It’s a design problem, and the answer isn’t getting rid of our screen time. 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 co...
Feb 19, 2026•23 min
The Mexican embrace of uncertainty, forged in the crucible of history, captures the true vulnerability of our existence. 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 exper...
Feb 17, 2026•22 min
Our planet was once a harsh, alien, icy world. Yet this deep freeze may have shaped you, me and all life on Earth. 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 conc...
Feb 16, 2026•23 min
Slavery in Latin America, on a huge scale, was different from that in the United States. Why don’t we know this 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 expe...
Feb 15, 2026•33 min
The immense complexity of the climate makes it impossible to model accurately. Instead we must use uncertainty to our advantage. 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 in...
Feb 14, 2026•26 min
Good institutions are social technologies that scale trust from personal relations to entire nations. How do they 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 exper...
Feb 13, 2026•24 min
In their visions of the underworld Dante and Milton were truly subversive, incorporating predecessors into their own repudiation. 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 i...
Feb 12, 2026•20 min
The vision of solarpunk: joining nature with technology in vibrantly inclusive ways to create a world that truly blooms. 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 exper...
Feb 10, 2026•23 min
Sea pandas or sadistic killers? These enigmatic creatures invite contradictory labels that say far more about us than 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 ex...
Feb 09, 2026•29 min
Should we simply assume that all animals can feel pain and are of moral concern? Or is that taking things too far?. 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 con...
Feb 08, 2026•23 min
As a scientific concept the Anthropocene is dead. But it’s such a helpful idea to think with, should we use it anyway?. 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...
Feb 07, 2026•21 min
An age-old debate about human nature is being energised with new findings on the tightrope of cooperation and competition. 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 exp...
Feb 06, 2026•24 min
In Japanese philosophy, unlike the atomised Western self, we are ‘ningen’ (人間), each enmeshed with other humans and nature. 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 ex...
Feb 05, 2026•25 min
The metaphor of rewiring offers an ideal of engineered precision. But the brain is more like a forest than a circuit board. 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 ex...
Feb 03, 2026•27 min
In Southeast Asia’s scam compounds, workers are being enslaved but the boundary between victim and perpetrator is blurred. 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 exp...
Feb 02, 2026•25 min
Images of vast ‘canals’ rippling across the red planet inspired fears of alien ‘engineers’ and changed science forever. 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...
Feb 01, 2026•31 min
Scientific progress depends on disagreement. So why are vaccine sceptics and other science critics not worth listening to?. 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 ex...
Jan 31, 2026•27 min
Despite associations with the idle rich, the fact that inheritances are rising is a sign of a healthy, growing economy. 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...
Jan 29, 2026•24 min
The 17th-century town Cacheu was a hub of West African and European cultures, languages and beliefs (and run by 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...
Jan 27, 2026•24 min
As struggles over the human body escalate, we should return to the work of cinema’s greatest anatomist: David Cronenberg. 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 expe...
Jan 25, 2026•20 min
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 ...
Jan 24, 2026•34 min
