CATEGORIES

A Cruel Renaissance

“Wicked, an abomination, and against all humanity.” These words, uttered in 1416, shine a light on a dark truth: that slavery thrived in Renaissance Europe. Hannah Skoda tells the stories of people living in bondage in a period when ideals of liberty and the nobility of human nature didn't apply to all

Black Communities Have Had to Pay for the Failures of Emancipation

Kris Manjapra speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about his new book, which explores how emancipations of enslaved people have left troubled legacies that still endure today

The Determined Will

Stephen Brewer’s couple are determined to argue about free will.

Diogenes the Cynic (c.404-323 BC)

Martin Jenkins recalls what we know for sure about the philosopher in the barrel.

Paradox Lost

Paul Tissier argues that Russell’s Paradox isn’t really a paradox.

The Goodness of Existence

Jarlath Cox says whether life brings pleasure or pain, the value of being born is the ability to experience at all.

The Lottery' & Locke's Politics

John P. Irish considers through an infamous lottery.

VERY LARGE TELESCOPE FINDS NEW SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE

Scientists spotted the supermassive black hole hiding inside thick cosmic dust

THE MOON-LANDING HOAX

WHY DOES THE THEORY STILL LIVE ON? ALL ABOUT SPACE DEBUNKS A HOAX THAT RAGES AMONG CONSPIRACY THEORISTS EVER SINCE NEIL ARMSTRONG AND BUZZ ALDRIN LANDED ON THE LUNAR SURFACE

THIS MONTH'S PLANETS

A planetary parade featuring Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn is something spectacular to look out for in the dawn sky

SECRETS OF BLACK HOLES

PLACES WHERE THE LAWS OF PHYSICS ARE PUSHED TO THE EXTREME

KILLER UNIVERSE

RELATIVELY SAFE IN OUR PROTECTIVE BUBBLE, SOME FORCES COULD END LIFE ON EARTH FOREVER. IS THE COSMOS OUT TO GET US?

HOW MANY STARS ARE THERE IN THE UNIVERSE?

WITH A FLEET OF: MISSIONS SCOURING THE COSMOS, WILL IT EVER BE POSSIBLE TO COME TO AN ESTIMATE?

PLANET PROFILE: URANUS

The ice giant that's shrouded in mystery has fascinated explorers for decades

HOW DID EARTH GET ITS WATER?

Moon rocks suggest that the water might have been here all along

FEDOR ŠIMKOVIC: BILLIONS OF THEM PASS-THROUGH US EVERY SECOND

The nuclear physicist and ESET Science Award laureate reveals what tantalising information neutrinos can tell us about the cosmos

GREATEST SPACE MYSTERIES

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE, ACCORDING TO ASTROPHYSICISTS, PLANETARY SCIENTISTS AND ASTRONOMERS

DISTANT TARGET ANALYSIS

When it comes to protecting Earth from impacts, it's crucial to know what asteroids are made of. NASA is working on a device to find out

DID MARS' DEEP INTERIOR CAUSE A LOSS OF ITS ATMOSPHERE?

A new study gives insight into how the Red Planet's magnetic field faded away

CANON 10x42L IS WP BINOCULAR

An outstanding choice for super-steady stargazing thanks to fabulous image stabilisation, a waterproof design and large objective lenses

Suleyman was just as bellicose as his father, if not as gratuitously cruel

CHRISTOPHER DE BELLAIGUE talks to Rhiannon Davies about his book charting the early years of Suleyman the Magnificent's reign, when the sultan had to navigate the deadly machinations of the Ottoman court as well as battle Christian powers

“Mary Seacole never aspired to be a pioneer of women's nursing. It is only in recent decades that we have invested her with this status”

Helen Rappaport, who has spent 20 years researching Mary Seacole's life, argues that the Jamaican healer's transformation into a modern cultural icon has obscured the real woman

We decide for ourselves who we think we are - and museums are central to that

In his new BBC Radio 4 series, curator and broadcaster Neil MacGregor explores the changing role of Britain's museums. He explains to Matt Elton why these venues are more vital now than ever

THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BRITAIN

Charles I was dead, Oliver Cromwell was on the rise, and a nation was grappling with a strange new reality - one without a monarchy. Anna Keay tells the story of the 1650s, through the eyes of three of the people who helped shape Britain's republican decade

The brutish empire

ALEX VON TUNZELMANN considers a global investigation into the intrinsic connection between racialised violence and the history of the world's largest-ever empire

1942 CHURCHILL'S DARKEST HOUR

If 1940 was the year in which Winston Churchill's reputation was forged, 1942 was the one in which it was almost destroyed. Taylor Downing chronicles a terrible period for the prime minister - both on the battlefield and in the court of public opinion

How Napoleon (almost) destroyed the French Revolution

The Corsican general proclaimed himself a defender of republican ideals – while doing all he could to dismantle them

An Island Mystery

Three centuries ago, when European explorers first sighted the Pacific island of Rapa Nui, it was home to a thriving population and hundreds of haunting moai statues. But, within a few generations, the landscape was decimated and its population in sharp decline. So what happened? Cat Jarman untangles

Mirroring Multicultural Britain

From its inception the BBC has featured entertainers of colour, but they were often reduced to "exotic” attractions. David Hendy explores how the corporation tried to include diverse voices, from the 1930s to the postwar years

ON THE PROWL

Hunting witches was a lucrative profession, giving plucky vigilantes the opportunity to earn high wages and gain social standing within communities gripped by fear and worry