Culture & Religion

New data shows the way in which we decide what kinds of music we’ll like for the rest of our lives by the time we’re 14.

With his 51st Oscar nomination for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, composer John Williams has mastered the craft of the film score. 

Harvard University’s popular course on Buddhism returns with an interactive feature and great content.

The game is afoot! It seems Shakespeare borrowed language from his contemporaries more directly than we previously realized. 

Each year since 2010, thousands of parents submit photos of their children for consideration in Gerber’s “Spokesbaby” contest. This year the winner made history.

Valentine’s Day celebrations occur all around the world in different ways that reflect local ideas about love.

Wild boars in the sewers of London. Augmented humans of the future. Jason’s high school friend, celebrated children’s author Jacob Sager Weinstein, on imaginary histories and possible futures. 

We should stop “celebrating” Valentines Day in elementary-school classrooms.

If you blinked—or if you were in the wrong market—you might have missed a commercial for Scientology during the Super Bowl. You probably also missed the Twitter pushback.  

San Francisco takes a bold new step regarding marijuana laws and convictions.

The eccentric millionaire has been offered bribes and gotten death threats. Yet, he holds steadfast, as this remarkable treasure hunt stands as his legacy.

Research from my PrejudiceLab at Goldsmiths, University of London shows that people who score high on the collective narcissism scale are particularly sensitive to even the smallest offences to their group’s image.

In her book, The Power of Meaning, Emily Esfahani Smith details the four pillars of meaning, arguing that they’re much more important than chasing happiness. 

The U.S. government has shut down 18 times in the past four decades, but this most recent instance has proven unique.

Researchers now believe raw-meat-based pet food should be labeled extremely dangerous.

New research shows protein synthesis is 40 greater post-workout when eating the whole egg. 

A new law in Germany seeks to close the gender pay gap, but it could ultimately prove counterproductive.

How much genetic diversity is actually needed to keep a population healthy?

Kosher butchers must have a steady hand. Their ritual slaughter, shechita, must result in one precise cut severing carotid arteries, jugular veins, vagus nerves, trachea, and esophagus; it has to […]

Western conventional wisdom about animal ethics is that killing an animal is not the problem; the problem is making the animal suffer. 

Studies and Facebook creators are seeing social media in a much more negative light. 

New research from the American Psychological Association states that money doesn’t affect if you’re happy, but does influence how you find happiness. 

Inspired by Newton’s discoveries, the Clockwork Universe Theory was popular among deists.

Consider carefully the words of Willy Loman and Maya Angelou.

With so many charities relying on these donations to achieve their goals, how do we choose between them? How do we know how much impact our dollars actually have?  

Here it is. Your moment of Comment. Did you make the cut this week? 

Archaeological evidence in the Republic of Georgia pushes back wine’s earliest appearance nearly a millennia. 

The results of this study could change how we approach athletic training.

A new study of lemurs has determined social circles to be the most influential determinant of gut microbiome. What does this mean for humans? 

How far back in time would you need to travel to find a common human ancestor of people living today? The answer is surprisingly recent.