Podcast

Aeon Magazine

Philosophy, Society & Culture

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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at Aeon.co. Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

Philosophy chart
#128
Episodes
204
Releases
Twice a week
Typical length
25 min
On air since
2025
Latest episode
16 hours ago

Episodes

204 episodes, newest first

  1. Believing and thinking

    Show notes

    The separation of church and state has an unspoken psychological basis: we choose what we believe, but not what we think.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    26 min
  2. The self-making world

    Show notes

    Long mocked and misunderstood, Lamarck’s radical idea that organisms shape themselves and their world is making a comeback.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    29 min
  3. In praise of the dilettante

    Show notes

    A wayfaring cosmopolitan who never gets stuck, the dilettante is the right anti-hero for our hyper-specialised age.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    21 min
  4. The physics of getting fired

    Show notes

    Physics offered me a sense of order and purpose. But when life got messy I realised it had a much deeper insight to give.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    21 min
  5. Love with nowhere to go

    Show notes

    Grief is not only for the dead. When we are unable to honour other profound losses, we become strangers to ourselves.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    23 min
  6. How to build real peace

    Show notes

    From Colombia to Syria, I’ve seen that capitalist logic can’t help to rebuild postwar countries but cooperatives can.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    27 min
  7. Traction!

    Show notes

    Tribologists study friction: what happens when things rub together. It’s indispensable, from the wheel to the paths of stars.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    16 min
  8. Other people

    Show notes

    Disconnection is at the heart of today’s crises. So my husband and I chose a radical and revealing remedy: living communally.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    31 min
  9. How intuitions work

    Show notes

    Just as seeing a tree gives you reason to believe it’s there, sensing that a stranger is creepy gives you reason to walk away.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    29 min
  10. Horrible, unmanly, indispensable

    Show notes

    Renaissance Italians saw the gun as the Devil’s work. But soon they embraced this unchivalrous – and necessary – weapon.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    27 min
  11. How to be a (Roman) man

    Show notes

    Cicero’s ideal of manly virtue stressed the performance of self-control and bravery, not boastful egotism and domination.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    25 min
  12. The ladder of knowledge

    Show notes

    What we claim as ‘true’ is not a ceiling we are forever failing to reach but something that changes as we climb toward it.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    20 min
  13. Deskilling the body

    Show notes

    We are, moment by moment, doing less sensing, navigating, remembering, walking, choosing, and attending.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    24 min
  14. Is everything conscious?

    Show notes

    If the question makes no sense to you, try spending some time with the principle of sufficient reason.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    29 min
  15. The ghetto on the lagoon

    Show notes

    Sixteenth-century Venice wanted to expel its Jews but couldn’t do without them. Its compromise was the world’s first ghetto.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    25 min
  16. How to assemble science

    Show notes

    Humanity produces a staggering amount of new knowledge every day. The question is how to make sense of it all.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    26 min
  17. A life in episodes

    Show notes

    For a decade, I’ve posted episodes of my memoir to Facebook. My readers correct my understanding of my past.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    34 min
  18. Life on a hair trigger

    Show notes

    A world of violence sustains itself through guns, poverty and other social ills, but also through the minds it creates.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    25 min
  19. Reason is more than a tool

    Show notes

    If intelligence is merely optimisation then machines will outrun us. Kant tells us why human reason is so much more.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    24 min
  20. Don’t use the ‘C-word’

    Show notes

    A cancer diagnosis carries with it fear and upheaval. For many patients the cellular changes do not warrant the label.

    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 share knowledge and insight with everyone, everywhere. Discover essays and videos at https://aeon.co.

    Aeon essays are only ever written and edited by human experts. We use AI for audio narration only.

    30 min