History
Millions of NSDAP documents have been posted online this year. Germans are increasingly looking into their ancestors’ wartime experiences. Will digital archives break through the wall of family amnesia? By Paweł Zarychta A few months ago, the acclaimed German writer Judith Hermann published her autobiographical novel entitled Ich möchte zurückgehen
Science
Why has a behaviour that is widespread in the natural world and has recurred many times throughout human history become subject to one of the strongest human taboos? By Kasper Kalinowski On 9 March 1945, at 9 am, the commander of a Japanese battalion, Major Matoba – who was later taken
Culture
Ian Rankin, author of the John Rebus series, has never really experienced a dip in form, even though he has sold tens of millions of books. After a break of several years, he returns with A Heart Full of Headstones. By Piotr Kofta The contemporary crime novel is governed by
Culture
A vice-president with African-American or Asian roots, such as Kamala Harris, was unthinkable even to people whose job it is to make up stories in Hollywood. By Piotr Tarczyński No American politician aspires to the role of vice-president; no one enters politics in the hope of one
Psyche
Agata Sikora, essayist: Millennials were promised a world without major conflicts — all they had to do was get on with their lives. The price of this peace of mind was to be withdrawal from public life and the belief that only the private sphere matters. By Monika Ochędowska and Agata
Spirituality
Prof. Maria Beisert: Catholic moral norms diverge from what we know about human beings. Contemporary knowledge about sexuality says something different. By Edward Augustyn Maria Beisert Edward Augustyn: Did you read Katarzyna Wasiak's piece, Professor? Maria Beisert, sexologist: Yes. I hear many questions there that are probably the
Science
FR PROF. MICHAŁ HELLER, cosmologist: The mathematics underlying multiverse theory can enchant. But some people find these concepts infuriating. By Fr Michał Heller, Łukasz Kwiatek, Tomasz Miller ŁUKASZ KWIATEK, TOMASZ MILLER: How did it come about that science started talking about the "multiverse" — the existence of universes other
Society & Culture
They don't catch thieves, don't detect drugs, and their positive impact on our health is questionable. So what exactly are cats for? By Zuza Lamża At the end of 2019, sad news spread across the media: after a long struggle with a bone disease, Lil Bub
In antiquity, board games enjoyed enormous popularity across every culture and social class. To understand why, archaeology had to break free of a 19th-century vision of humanity — and turn to digital methods. By Kamil Kopij You buy a board game. You open the box, tip out dozens of tokens
American universities have been taken over by a "safety culture." Psychologists disagree on what its long-term consequences will be. By Jarek Gryz A woman and a man walk into a car dealership intending to buy a car. Though the car is for her, the salesman addresses himself
The adaptive immune system is one of the most complex products of evolution. Many of its mechanisms remain poorly understood. By Magdalena Kulma Although the COVID-19 pandemic has somewhat skewed our perspective, it remains a fact that hundreds of years of scientific and medical progress have taught us how
How should we interpret art that provoked no controversy at the time it was made, but rather fit comfortably within the prevailing conventions? Can it be charged today with the gravest of offenses? By Urszula Pieczek and Maciej Topolski On a warm day, July 4, 1862, thirty-year-old Charles
Why, in today's world of endless possibilities, would anyone still insist on being a sculptor? By Piotr Kosiewski The exhibition "Sculpture in Search of Place" at Warsaw's Zachęta has taken over the gallery's main exhibition halls, but also the staircase, and even
Astronomical observations suggest that the matter we know makes up only a few percent of everything that exists. By Sebastian J. Szybka Science reveals that reality has many layers, some of which are not directly accessible to our senses. Physicists, reaching into one of these layers – the quantum world of
The Pope says "I call," asking where the technological race is heading as it pushes ethics aside. By Sylwia Czubkowska Project Stargate – the massive, $500 billion investment in data centers, computing power, and supercomputers – was announced by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank. Its name naturally echoes the science fiction
The extinction of the dinosaurs, the emergence of pollinating insects and fruit trees, intercontinental journeys – a great many things had to happen in the world before the apes could be born from which humans would evolve. By Łukasz Kwiatek Under almost every article and video about human evolution, you can
Church courts in Poland are unpredictable, and their rulings inconsistent. As a result, some people receive a positive verdict almost immediately, while others wait years or walk away with nothing, feeling wronged. By Ignacy Dudkiewicz "It seemed like my case was straightforward. There were documents, witnesses, a church lawyer
GLP-1 analogues have transformed the treatment of obesity and the lives of many patients. But the popularity of Ozempic and Mounjaro also reveals something uncomfortable about a new ideal of thinness, class inequality, and a market that sells hope at a high price. By Michał Kuźmiński "Everyone looks
Patti Smith singing in a church at the Venice Biennale? For Fr. Antonio Spadaro, this is not a provocation but a "sound prayer." And a sign that the Church needs art that disturbs. By Edward Augustyn, from Venice and Fr. Antonio Spadaro Edward Augustyn: Patti Smith singing in