For several centuries, life has become increasingly monitored, legible, and uniform. Can we endure our centralized societies?
Sci-Hub has become foundational for scientific research. What if we didn’t need it at all?
Xi wants to guide China’s thinkers with a clear party line. But that line is just one rallying point in a complex intellectual ecology.
Wolf Tivy and Ash Milton discuss what defines elites and why we are stuck with an upper middle class today instead.
While in Tokyo for the Summer Olympics, I instead saw the spectacle of Japan’s aspiring new elites.
Wolf Tivy and Ash Milton discuss China’s role in industrial civilization and what we can learn from it.
The Japanese Empire founded Kenkoku University to create new pan-Asian elites. Despite their own defeat, they succeeded.
In the midst of Japan’s chaotic Sengoku era, a radical Buddhist sect carved out a new regime. Then came the real test.
Michael Zargham joins Wolf Tivy to discuss the dynamics of complex systems and what they can tell us about governing societies.
Fundamental change only comes from outside established paradigms. Without room for new founders, progress is impossible.
In postwar France, Charles de Gaulle unified executive power with a technocratic state and a national story. His model still endures around the world.
The threat of mass panic lurks behind our mechanisms of political control. What if we were allowed to fear?
Reject the marginal gains. Change the balance of power.
Viren Murthy joins Ash Milton to discuss the philosophy of world order from the Japanese Empire to modern China.
To understand the return of China’s party-state, look no further than its love affair with ketamine.
From Amazonian terra preta to industrial civilization, humanity has always been a world-transforming species.
Science has become a bank for political legitimacy. It hasn’t survived intact.
Samo Burja joins Wolf Tivy from the conclusion of his expedition to Göbekli Tepe. Topics include the age of civilization, whether we could find pre-Ice Age cities, and the implications of long history.