Editorial Gananath Obeyesekere, a man larger than life, passed away today. His death marks the end of an intellectual force that reshaped the very foundations of anthropology, psychoanalysis, and the critique of
“Language can become a screen which stands between the thinker and reality. This is the reason why true creativity often starts where language ends.” — Arthur Koestler, The Act of Creation Last
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During the two years I spent writing “American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America,” I encountered numerous mini-Trumps. These self-proclaimed pastors — very few had any formal religious training
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Changing one’s mind is often treated as a weakness in public debate, yet psychologists increasingly argue it may be one of the most valuable cognitive skills we possess. In an analysis published
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A Neanderthal infant skeleton described in research highlighted by New Scientist has revealed that our ancient relatives may have started life significantly larger and grown far more rapidly than modern human babies.
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Standing in the dust of Çatalhöyük—a 9,000-year-old Neolithic site known to archaeology since the 1960s, yet virtually non-existent in discussions about political science and law—a question haunted me: “How come no one told
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On a volcanic plateau in central Anatolia, Turkey, some 15,800 years ago, a female dog gave birth to a litter of puppies. The young pups did not survive long, possibly only a
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Humans have long considered themselves separate from the rest of the natural world, a view embedded in philosophy, religion, and modern science. Yet emerging research is challenging this assumption, revealing that the
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When we think of premodern governance, we often default to an image of concentrated authority: imposing rulers presiding over intricately layered hierarchies—pharaohs, emperors, and kings whose power seemed inseparable from the territorial
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Archaeologists working in south-eastern Spain have uncovered rare evidence that sheds new light on how textiles were produced more than three millennia ago. The discovery of charred wooden timbers, plant-fiber ropes, and
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Few biographers have proved so reluctant, but when the raw materials that would become The Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi reached Charles Dickens’ desk in the autumn of 1837, he was far from impressed. “I
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