Cultural diversity
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Creativity
idea
To be creative, Chinese philosophy teaches us to abandon ‘originality’
Whether grieving a death or connecting to colleagues, creativity enables an artful life, according to Chinese philosophy
by Julianne Chung
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Sex and sexuality
idea
What rude jibes about Caesar tell us about sex in ancient Rome
‘Every woman’s man and every man’s woman’ was a slur Julius Caesar’s political opponents levied. What did it mean?
by Aven McMaster
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Sports and games
film
Softness controls hardness – a fighter’s gentle approach to life
Directed by Josef Reeve
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Virtues and vices
idea
Persianate ‘adab’ involves far more than elegant manners
Across 13th- to 19th-century Persianate culture, ‘adab’ meant more than manners – it was proper social and aesthetic form
by Mana Kia
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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
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Place
film
Journey to the Bering Sea in search of a deep ‘not knowing’
Directed by Sky Hopinka
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Symbols and myth
idea
Why the first Buddhas in art wore finely folded Greek tunics
How the iconography of Greek art influenced the development of an increasingly standardised image of the Buddha in India
by Garrett Ryan
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Spirituality and religion
idea
One good way to understand religion is to break it apart
To understand what religion means, don’t reach for the dictionary. Better that you take it apart, break it, even throw it away
by Joseph Blankholm