Beats: Disability “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Where We Live and How We Die What a year of death looks like around the world.

    The Power of Play: A Reading List A crash course on how fun and leisure can change the world

    The Most Subversive Way to Travel Perhaps the humble bicycle, a transportation mode that puts people in contact with one another and gives them back that control they seem to crave, offers a unique opportunity to remake those realities for the better.

    Was Gamification a Terrible Lie? Turning work into play was sold as a miracle for increasing productivity–but was that ever really plausible?

    Let Robots Handle Your Emotional Burnout at Work But as robotics and computing evolve, some researchers foresee a future where technology can relieve the long-held emotional burden of some of these professions. They think we owe it to the service workforce to offer a new frontline of robotic protection. In fact, they think it’s far overdue–but does that actually mean just automating these jobs away?

    A vast stack of containers on a ship

    Postcards From a Supply Chain

    A series that traces consumer goods back through the global shipping system to their source.
    Dan Williams
    Jan 21, 2015

    The Human Machine

    A series about the increasingly blurred lines between us and our machines.
    Ian Steadman
    Aug 23, 2017

    A Visual History of the Future

    Decades ago, artists’ imaginings formed high expectations about the world to come. Were these just fantasies–or was it the work of pioneers whose visions of the future actually helped to shape it?
    Darren Garrett
    May 30, 2018

    Beats: Space

    Space is where we project our dreams–and our nightmares–of the future.

    Beats: Food

    Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

    Beats: Disability

    “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Beats: Health

    Access to health care is as much a matter of public policy as it is the size of a person’s pocketbook; within a doctor’s office, many factors affect the quality of treatment.

    How to Save the Olympics

    In the end, what could save big sporting events is not a focus on sustainability, or even technology, but a change in mindset. It’s about seeing these events as an opportunity for long-term change, rather than just a one-off spectacle.
    Simon Copland
    Jul 26, 2016 5 min read

    Chatbots Can Create Characters, but Only Humans Can Tell Stories

    While bots can now write fiction, they lack the depth and nuance of human storytellers–for now
    Guy Gadney
    May 25, 2016 3 min read

    Why Aren’t We Teaching Math for the Real World?

    Math is still important, but we have the priorities wrong in the current framework.
    Steven Johnson
    Mar 24, 2016 9 min read