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Why You

A self is a story of why you are you — a selective retelling of the myriad chance events between the birth of the universe and this moment: atoms bonding one way and not another, parents bonding with one partner and not another, values binding you to one culture and not

Recently Discovered: an NYC Underground Railroad Stop

The Merchant’s House Museum was NYC’s first landmarked building, but until this year, the function of a small hidden passageway in the house was unknown. When historians and preservationists examined it in detail, they found that it was built by the first owner of the house,

Zoning Out Is Good For You

Sleeping cleans your brain . Research suggests that zoning out, daydreaming, and being bored can perform a similar function without the need for deep sleep. So put down that phone occasionally and let your brain chill for a bit. Tags: neuroscience · science · sleep · video

Phantom Pains

"These losses—my limb, my students’ hopes, Thoreau’s mammals, the wings falling from our skies—they are not all that distinct from one another. They can’t be, because all of us, all of the material world, we are one and the same thing."

Some Site Goings-On

Hey gang. I took a couple of days off at the beginning of the week to visit some colleges with my daughter. She found a potential contender, one that was just fine, and a school that isn’t going to work for her — we both independently zoned out listening to the presentation

Edward Abbey on How to Live and How to Die

The summer after graduating high school, knowing he would face conscription into the military as soon as his eighteenth birthday arrived, Edward Abbey (January 29, 1927–March 14, 1989) set out to get to know the land he was being asked to die for. He hitchhiked and hopped

Desi oon

A jaunty song calls for greater appreciation of Indian wool, as imports undermine the livelihoods of local herders - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Aeon

Waiting for Spring in the Bay Area

MoMA PS1 announces the artists for its Greater New York exhibition, Pride flag removed from Stonewall National Monument, Jennifer Sammet interviews Mary Lovelace O’Nealon for Beer With a Painter, and don't give up on the Bay Area's art scene.