A World Full of Witches (Aeon)
by Gregory Forth
All over the world, societies fear individuals who work in alliance with demonic forces to harm those around them. They often have a striking number of attributes in common, from flying to cannibalism. What makes witches so universal?
Imagining a Ringed Earth (Nautilus)
by Sean Raymond
Think of a ringed planet, and you’re most likely picturing Saturn. But rings are a relatively common feature in our solar system. Now, scientists have found evidence that the Earth once had its own rings.
Two Hot Years (Yale Environment 360)
by Elizabeth Kolbert
Since the spring of 2023, the world has been warmer than climate models anticipated. What does that say about the data the models are using and our ability to respond to change?
The Real Life of Freud’s Anna O (Public Books)
by Jonathan Foiles
Bertha Pappenheim, who would become famous as Freud’s “Anna O,” helped develop the “talking cure” and went on to be a feminist organizer. She also suffered from real illness, diagnosed at the time as hysteria. Today, doctors are still trying to understand patients like her.
How to Remember a Face (Sequencer)
by Max G. Levy
Some people are good with faces and others aren’t. But how does our ability to visualize our friends and acquaintances—a crucial part of our species’s social life—actually work?
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