Culture

A black and white image split into two sections: a half globe on the left and a crowd of people on the right, with the text "More Humans Are Better" in the center and the number 3 in the top right corner.

The overlooked virtues of a crowded world

In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.

Jason Crawford

A graphic titled "Humanity vs. Nature" showing a human evolutionary timeline, biocentrism, ecocentrism, and ethos depictions of nature, including a tree, a bird, and marine life.

Why harmony with nature is a myth

Slowing growth and limiting development isn’t living in harmony with nature—it is surrendering in a battle.

Jason Crawford

Entertainment

How the internet changed news, according to The Onion

Freethink spoke to Onion staffers about parodying news from the print era into the digital age.

Tim Brinkhof and Stephen Johnson

Series| Crossing the Divide

Crossing the Divide trailer

1:11

77% of people think the country is more divided than it’s ever been. We set out to meet the people trying to change that.

Building Community

How skate punks are ushering in a new era of freedom in myanmar

For decades, Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by a repressive military junta. Then, in 2011, things began to...

Building Community

Skatepunks of Myanmar

8:22

Is the booming skating scene in Myanmar a sign of a more hopeful future for the once isolated country?

Urban Living

5 fascinating ways humans are adapting to cities

There’s a global transformation happening - millions of people are migrating to cities from the countryside.

Building Community

The untold story of Rio’s largest favela

Meet the proud, hopeful, ambitious people determined to build the life they’ve dreamed of.

Building Community

The hidden side of "slum" life

7:35

Life in favelas, or slum cities in Brazil, are often portrayed as some of the bleakest in the world. Faced with...

Building Community

Teaser of 'The hidden side of slum life'

0:36

One of the most significant transformations in humankind is underway but largely going untold.

Failing

3 times our brightest minds made bad predictions

Some of the predictions might look outlandish now, but at the time they actually seemed quite plausible.

Series| Wrong

We’re all gonna starve!

4:26

A revolution in food production turned predictions of a population bomb into a worldwide boom.

Series| Coded

How an exiled cryptographer is protecting journalists in his native Ethiopia

3:57

An exiled blogger teaches journalists in his native Ethiopia how to avoid capture

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