''Aeon'' is a digital magazine of

idea In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

s, philosophy and culture. Publishing new articles every weekday, Aeon describes itself as a publication which "asks the biggest questions and finds the freshest, most original answers, provided by world-leading authorities on science, philosophy and society." The magazine is published by Aeon Media Group, which has offices in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

History

''Aeon'' was founded in

in September 2012 by Paul and Brigid Hains, an Australian couple. It now has offices in London,

and

. On 1 July 2016, ''Aeon'' became a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

with the

Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) is the regulatory authority for charities and not-for-profit organisations within Australia. The Commission was established in December 2012 as part of the ''Australian Charitie ...

, in the categories of advancing culture and advancing education. Aeon also registered its affiliate, Aeon America, as a 501(c)(3) charity in the US, in the education category. In April 2020 Aeon launched a sister site, ''Psyche'' magazine, named for the Psyche concept in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, which publishes ideas, guides and videos on psychology,

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

. In 2022, they launched SophiaClub, a "program of cultural events".

Format

''Aeon''s content consists of long-form, in-depth essays and short

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

under the banner of Aeon Video. ''Aeon'' also used to publish Aeon Ideas, which consisted of short-form articles. These are now published on the new publication, ''Psyche''.

''Aeon'' Video

''Aeon'' Video's program is composed of curated selections, short documentaries that are exclusive to ''Aeon'', and original series produced by ''Aeon''. The most notable of these is the ''In Sight'' series, which features interviews and discussions with leading philosophers, scientists, thinkers and writers. Several of ''Aeon''s exclusives have been chosen as

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Staff Picks, including Dramatic and Mild, American Renaissance, Grandpa and Me and a Helicopter to Heaven, Cutting Loose, Glas, and World Fair.

Contributors

Contributors have been a wide array of academics, journalists, and

science writers Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, including: * Peter Adamson, *

Martin W Angler Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * Ma ...

Alain Badiou Alain Badiou (; ; born 17 January 1937) is a French philosopher, formerly chair of Philosophy at the École normale supérieure (ENS) and founder of the faculty of Philosophy of the Université de Paris VIII with Gilles Deleuze, Michel Foucault ...

Julian Baggini Julian Baggini ( , ; born 1968) is an English philosopher, journalist and the author of over 20 books about philosophy written for a general audience. He is co-founder of ''The Philosophers' Magazine'', and has written for numerous internationa ...

* Philip Bal *

Shahidha Bari Shahidha Bari (born 1980) is a British academic, critic and broadcaster in the fields of literature, philosophy and art. She is a professor at the University of the Arts London based at London College of Fashion. She is a host of the topical arts ...

* Jamie Bartlett *

Matthew Battles Matthew Battles (born 1968) is a writer, artist, and since 2022 the editor of Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum magazine, '' Arnoldia.'' Until 2022 he was the associate director of metaLAB at Harvard University. Battles is the author or co-author of ...

* Sven Birkerts *

Armand D'Angour Armand D'Angour (born 23 November 1958) is a British classical scholar and classical musician, Professor of Classics at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Jesus College, Oxford. His research embraces a wide range of areas acro ...

David Deutsch David Elieser Deutsch ( ; ; born 18 May 1953) is a British physicist at the University of Oxford, often described as the "father of quantum computing". He is a visiting professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for ...

* Vincent T. DeVita *

Frans de Waal Franciscus Bernardus Maria de Waal (29 October 1948 – 14 March 2024) was a Dutch-American primatologist and ethologist. He was the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior in the Department of Psychology at Emory University in ...

* Vincenzo Di Nicola * Tim Footman *

Allen Frances Allen J. Frances (born 2 October 1942) is an American psychiatrist. He is currently Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine. He is best known for serving as ch ...

* Karl J. Friston *

Jessa Gamble Jessa Gamble (born April 25, 1979), née Sinclair, is a Canadian and English author and co-owner of the science blog The Last Word on Nothing. Her book, ''The Siesta and the Midnight Sun: How Our Bodies Experience Time'' (Penguin Group), document ...

Michael Graziano Michael Steven Anthony Graziano (born May 22, 1967) is an American scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there ...

* Toby Green * Pekka Hämäläinen * Sabine Hossenfelder * A.L. Kennedy * Marek Kohn * Olivia Laing * Janna Levin *

Tim Lott Tim Lott (born 23 January 1956) is a British author. He worked as a music journalist and ran a magazine publishing business, launching ''Flexipop'' magazine in 1980 with ex-''Record Mirror'' journalist Barry Cain. Early life and education In 1 ...

Mahmood Mamdani Mahmood Mamdani, FBA (born 23 April 1946) is an Indian-born Ugandan academic, author, and political commentator, based in New York City. He is the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and a Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and ...

* Francis T. McAndrew * George Musser *

Alondra Nelson Alondra Nelson (born April 22, 1968) is an American academic, policy advisor, non-profit administrator, and writer. She is the Harold F. Linder chair and professor in the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, an independ ...

* Wendy Orent *

David Papineau David Papineau (; born 1947) is a British academic philosopher, born in Como, Italy. He works as Professor of Philosophy of Science at King's College London and the City University of New York Graduate Center, and previously taught for several ye ...

* Ruth Padel *

Massimo Pigliucci Massimo Pigliucci (; born January 16, 1964) is an American philosopher and biologist who is professor of philosophy at the City College of New York, former co-host of the '' Rationally Speaking Podcast'', and former editor in chief for the online ...

Steven Poole Steven Poole (born 1972) is a British author, journalist, and video game theorist. He particularly concerns himself with the abuse of language and has written two books on the subject: ''Unspeak'' (2006) and ''Who Touched Base in My Thought Showe ...

John Quiggin John Quiggin (born 29 March 1956) is an Australian economist, a professor at the University of Queensland. He was formerly an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and Federation Fellow and a member of the board of the Climate Change A ...

* Emma Rothschild * Claudio Saunt * Anil Seth *

Dava Sobel Dava Sobel (born June 15, 1947) is an American writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. Her books include ''Longitude'', about English clockmaker John Harrison; '' Galileo's Daughter'', about Galileo's daughter Maria Celeste; and ''T ...

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...

* Eric Schwitzgebel * Camilla Townsend * Moshik Temkin * Bryan W. Van Norden *

Nigel Warburton Nigel Warburton (; born 1962) is a British philosopher. He is best known as a populariser of philosophy, having written a number of books in the genre, but he has also written academic works in aesthetics and applied ethics. Education Warburton ...

* Margaret Wertheim * E.O. Wilson *

Ed Yong Edmund Soon-Weng Yong (born 17 December 1981) is a British Americans, British-American science journalist and author. In 2021, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for a series on the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the author of two ...

Critical reception

Editorial director Brigid Hains won the Australasian Association of Philosophy's Media Professionals' Award in 2018. Margaret Wertheim's essay "How to play mathematics" is featured in the anthology ''Best Writing on Mathematics 2018'', published by

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

. Rebecca Boyle's essay "The end of night" was featured in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

'' The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2015'', under the title "The Health Effects of a World without Darkness".

's essay "The end of sleep?" was named the best feature of 2013 by the Association of British Science Writers. In 2013, Hamish McKenzie of ''

Pando Daily PandoDaily, or simply Pando, was a web publication offering technology news, analysis, and commentary, with a focus on Silicon Valley and startup companies. History PandoDaily was started by former TechCrunch writer Sarah Lacy on January 16, 201 ...

'' named Aeon the 'best example of a magazine built for the age of mobile'. Many Aeon essays have been featured in the

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

Top Science Longreads: Ross Andersen's essay " The vanishing groves" was featured in 2012, and his essay "Omens" was featured in 2013; Lee Billings’ essay "Drive-thru astronomy" was featured in 2013; and Veronique Greenwood's essay "Cows might fly" was also featured in 2013.

Partnerships

Aeon has had partnerships with several organisations and publications, including the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Centre for the Study of Existential Risk The Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) is a research centre at the University of Cambridge, intended to study possible extinction-level threats posed by present or future technology. The co-founders of the centre are Huw Price (B ...

MIT Press The MIT Press is the university press of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The MIT Press publishes a number of academic journals and has been a pioneer in the Open Ac ...

and HowTheLightGetsIn Festival. It has an audio partnership with the audio app, Curio.

Creative Commons republication

The now-discontinued Ideas articles are available for republication under a

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

license. These pieces have been syndicated by online media outlets such as ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

References

External links

''Aeon'' website
{{italic title Cultural magazines published in the United Kingdom English-language magazines Magazines published in London Magazines established in 2012 Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines published in the United States