Community
![People dining at long tables adorned with blue tablecloths in a narrow, lantern-lit street lined with old buildings and blue-and-white flags.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/c66d7bed-5e64-4603-b4ce-93c9e6f7c193/rt-rtx119pd.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Community
idea
Take a seat: the long table is an antidote to loneliness
While some consider the long, shared dining table outdated or inconvenient, it is actually a powerful social tool
by Antone Martinho-Truswell
![People at a rally holding flags and banners with various languages, advocating for voting rights and unity, standing behind a barrier on a city street.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/c56f5ca0-e638-40ff-91d8-c12adf15d5be/rt-nyc56683.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Community
idea
Does embracing local customs help immigrants feel at home?
Moving from Belgrade to Toronto, learning the social ‘rules’ fostered my sense of belonging. But there’s an important caveat
by Ljiljana Radenović
![Volunteers in blue vests handing out hot meals to people on a city street.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/c38ed2ca-8617-4900-ba80-821a5900abd4/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Civic life
guide
How to be a hands-on citizen
You can be so much more than a well-informed consumer: it is in your (and our) power to change society from the ground up
by Jon Alexander
![Black and white photo of three children standing outdoors under a cloudy sky. The boy on the left wears a flat cap and checked shirt with trousers, while the two girls on the right wear patterned headscarves and dresses, smiling and looking into the distance.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/3fd47621-b4f7-4dde-bcc5-3c058d6afae5/the-hutterites-psyche-landscape-1v2.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Values and beliefs
film
For Hutterites, ‘love thy neighbour’ is both gospel and practical necessity
Directed by Colin Low
![A muslim woman in a colourful orange sari reaches up to touch a decorative panel above a shrine](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/de4c3635-42b3-49e4-8c89-0bb03e94448e/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Mental health across cultures
idea
Why a Sufi approach to healing mental illness is so powerful
In Sufi shrines, rituals offer sufferers a path beyond the fear and isolation of their mental distress
by Bhrigupati Singh
![Person wearing an electronic ankle monitor, resting on a floral-patterned sofa with a red cushion and a book beside them.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/8dd86acd-cb00-4d19-af57-c75ec14f79c2/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Stigma and taboo
idea
The families of people who commit sex crimes need care and support
While they deal with a kind of grief, the relatives of those who harm others sexually are subject to blame and judgment
by Azadeh Nematy
![Abstract blue figures in a dark room; some sitting around tables with candles, others standing or sitting on a bar counter. The image signifies a lively, crowded bar during a power outage.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/10494759-d3e9-4540-8d3e-a149251a8c11/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Community
film
When the lights went out and the city came together over two days in Toronto
Directed by Sharron Mirsky
![A man gesticulates and recites poetry at a club event](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/c67db614-97f2-4de7-8d29-4afa6700ee6e/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Poetry
idea
Why spoken word poetry is so much more than a poetry reading
As poetry returns to its roots as a performance art, it’s providing many with a powerful source of healing and community
by Erica Fletcher
![As a man holds open one side of a double glass door, another man opens the other side. The glass in the doors is almost opaque](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/7eaf3953-efd7-4d39-aa59-59ce201f3777/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Disability
idea
Blindness transformed my social world, and I changed with it
One of the biggest challenges in becoming blind late in life has been overcoming sighted people’s negative assumptions
by Jeffry Ricker
![A man and woman sit by a calm lake during dusk, with mountains in the background and a dog resting near the woman.](https://images.aeonmedia.co/images/33c4b7ac-d8d7-4632-be3f-2d0c3fd3d7f7/original.jpg?width=3840&quality=75&format=auto)
Home
film
Life on Bruny Island, population 750, is suffused with trade-offs and joys
Directed by Guido Pezz