Philosophy

In his new memoir, “Aflame: Learning From Silence,” Pico Iyer reflects on how spending time in quiet retreat saves him from the noise and distractions of the everyday world and brings him joy.

Structural geologist Marcia Bjornerud, a Lawrence University professor, said our popular perception that rocks and landscapes are inert is a misconception.

You know that feeling of being at a concert when everyone’s singing together, and you suddenly feel euphoric? Or looking over the edge of a canyon and getting goosebumps? Or […]

Lulu Miller is known for her work on curiosity-driven radio shows and podcasts, including “Invisibilia” and “Radiolab,” where she is now a co-host. She is also the author of the […]

On Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble’s desk at the Daughters of St. Paul Pauline Publishing House in Boston is a small skull. She uses it to meditate on death. This nun, […]

It’s been a lonely year. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of loneliness were skyrocketing around the world. Dr. Vivek Murthy — who later became Surgeon General within the Biden […]

At Our Lady of the Angels Convent, nuns gather to play cards, create art and pray the rosary. The women who live here come from two communities: School Sisters of […]

Was alchemy science or magic? Perhaps both, depending on whom you ask. Medieval alchemists sought to transmute base metals into gold. Their holy grail was the “philosopher’s stone,” a kind […]

As of this week, there have been more than 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. More than 300,000 people have died from the illness; in the United States alone, […]

“A Sand County Almanac” is built around deceptively simple essays describing Aldo Leopold’s personal experiences with nature. They shaped his concept of the “Land Ethic,” a human, moral responsibility to […]