How 'Love' Conquered Marriage: The Historical Accident That Became the Norm
For most of history, marrying for love was considered as foolish as it was dangerous—so how did passion become the foundation rather than the enemy of marriage?
The Shocking Origin of Human Rights: Why Medieval Lawyers Matter More Than Enlightenment Philosophers
The philosophical revolution you credit to Voltaire actually began with medieval monks arguing about property law.
When Privacy Didn't Exist: How Solitude Went from Punishment to Luxury
For most of human history, wanting to be alone meant something had gone terribly wrong with you
The Radical Idea That Ruined Friendship: How 'Equality' Killed Intimate Bonds
How equality's triumph made friendship's necessary partiality feel like a moral failure we'd rather not examine
How 'Genius' Went from Divine Possession to High IQ Score
From sacred inspiration to Romantic mystique to IQ scores—the strange journey of a word that once meant a guardian spirit
The Strange Death of Honor: Why Reputation Stopped Mattering More Than Life
From deadly duels to viral tweets: how the collapse of honor culture created modern dignity—and why the internet is bringing honor back
When Debt Was Sacred: How We Turned Moral Obligations into Math Problems
From sacred bonds to spreadsheet burdens—tracing how debt lost its soul and gained compound interest
How 'Culture' Replaced God: The Sacred Mission of Art in Secular Times
From tilling soil to saving souls—the surprising story of how 'culture' became Western civilization's secular religion
The Day Zero Became a Number: How Nothing Changed Everything
How a concept born from Hindu meditation on emptiness survived Islamic translation and European terror to make modern mathematics possible
The Invention of Being Yourself: How 'Authenticity' Became Our Highest Value
Discover why 'being true to yourself' would have baffled most humans in history—and why that matters for finding peace with who you are
The Birth of Boredom: Why Nobody Was Bored Before 1750
Discover why the emotion you feel daily didn't exist three centuries ago—and how its invention reshaped human consciousness forever.
The Invention of the Economy: When Money Became More Real Than Reality
Before the 18th century, 'the economy' didn't exist as a concept—discovering this forgotten invention reveals choices we didn't know we had.
How 'Tolerance' Became a Virtue: From Grudging Acceptance to Moral Imperative
Discover why the virtue we champion today began as exhausted compromise between enemies who couldn't eliminate each other
The Myth of the Dark Ages: How Medieval Thinkers Invented Modern Science
Discover how medieval monks questioning God's creation accidentally built the foundations that made Galileo and Newton possible
When Children Were Adults: The Invention of Childhood Innocence
Discover how childhood transformed from a brief inconvenience to a decades-long protected state that shapes modern society
Why Medieval Monks Invented the Modern Workday (And Ruined Everything)
Traces how medieval prayer schedules evolved into modern productivity culture, revealing the monastic origins of our temporal anxieties and work obsessions
The Strange Birth of 'Common Sense': When Obvious Truths Needed Philosophy
Discover how philosophers invented common sense to fight skepticism, only to watch it become democracy's most contested battlefield
When Time Had Colors: The Lost Medieval Calendar in Your Head
Discover how medieval minds experienced time as a living force with seasonal rhythms and sacred personalities before mechanical clocks flattened temporal diversity.
The Day Nature Stopped Being Alive: How We Went from Mother Earth to Dead Matter
Discover how transforming nature from living being to dead machine enabled modern science while creating our deepest crisis
When 'Freedom' Meant Following Rules: The Ancient Liberty We Can't Understand
Discover why ancient philosophers would think your individual rights are slavery and their town meetings were liberation.
Why 'Progress' Used to Mean Going Backwards: The Surprising Medieval Origins of Modern Optimism
Discover how humanity flipped its mental compass from past perfection to future promise, transforming civilization's direction forever