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Lematrix
Stanisław Lem
Lematrix
The Illusory Worlds of Stanisław Lem
Magazine / culture
The books of science fiction writer Stanisław Lem contain interesting – if disturbing – visions of the world around us as a mere illusion.
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The Fig Tree Remembers
The Fig Tree Remembers
A Lesson in Co-Existence
Magazine / culture
In her latest book “The Island of Missing Trees”, novelist Elif Shafak gives voice to a fig tree, raising pertinent questions about borders and belonging.
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To Know Beautifully
To Know Beautifully
Where Art and Science Meet
Magazine / science
Art and science might seem unconnected and dissimilar, yet the combination of these two disciplines is as wonderful as it is suprising.
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The Shackles of Freedom
The Shackles of Freedom
On the Unbearable Burden of Choice
Reading / society
In modern European and American societies, we are encouraged to celebrate our individual liberty. But, paradoxically, sometimes freedom can paralyse our minds.
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short story
Captain Nobody
Reading / literature
We imagine how Captain Nemo might have looked, had he been a Polish aristocrat fighting Russian tyranny, as Jules Verne originally intended in “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”.
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Shall We Meet at Half Past Lust, or a Quarter to Folly?
Shall We Meet at Half Past Lust, or a Quarter to Folly?
The Charm of Raymond Peynet’s ‘Lovers’
Magazine / culture
A Polish artist and graphic designer reflects on his connection with Raymond Peynet’s illustrated ‘lovers’, whose naive simplicity shaped his own vision of love.
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The Queen of Backyard Games
cross-border reportage
The Queen of Backyard Games
A European Witch Hunt
Reading / society
What does it mean to be a witch in 21st-century Europe? Our new cross-border reportage tries to answer this question by looking for the granddaughters of the witches that Europe was never able to burn. The heroes of the final part include the Kraków-based artist and activist Cecylia Malik.
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October in History
October in History
Diary of an Eternal Pessimist
Reading / society
Our eternally pessimistic correspondent gives his historical highlights for the month of October.
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big think
How a 15-Minute 'Awe Walk' Drastically Improves Mental Health
Reading / science
Move over, forest bathing.
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After Skool
Why You Shouldn’t Want To Live Forever
Media / Video
We present you with another video by After Skool.
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Minsk’s Dirty Secret
Minsk’s Dirty Secret
Inside Europe’s Cleanest City
Reading / society
Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is ranked among the top three cleanest cities worldwide. On the surface, this is certainly true. But is this a good thing? And what happens when we peek underneath its shiny veneer?
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Poematic
always
Reading / literature
“twenty-five years later, I spit blood into the tub...” Marcin Orliński presents a piece by a Polish poet.
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22nd October 1909
22nd October 1909
Anniversary of the Month
Reading / science
On this day in 1909, Poland’s most important shrine – the Jasna Góra Monastery – was broken into; the painting of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa was stolen. But who committed the theft?
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A Life in Song
A Life in Song
The Tempestuous Music of Violeta Parra
Magazine / culture
The singer-songwriter Violeta Parra pioneered the renewal of traditional folk music in her native Chile. She left behind a number of albums, as well as a trail of heartbreak.
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Revenge on the White Bourgeois
Revenge on the White Bourgeois
An Interview with Burhan Qurbani
Reading / culture
Director Burhan Qurbani talks about his latest film “Berlin Alexanderplatz” and the mirror it holds to contemporary German society.
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A Splash of Pepper Vodka
A Splash of Pepper Vodka
A Polish Approach to Illness
Reading / society
In Poland, a number of folk remedies exist for treating common health ailments. Far from being useless, these remedies do have health properties and help people deal with the drag of being unwell.
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big think
Serotonin Plays a Key Role In Patience and Impulse Control, Research Says
Reading / science
There is a neurological link between serotonin levels and the brain’s ability to control impulses and patience levels.
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Poematic
funeral
Reading / literature
“to dust you won’t return / not quite.” A poem by a contemporary Polish poet.
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Pessimism Is Irresponsible
Pessimism Is Irresponsible
An Interview with Anne Applebaum
Reading / society
Anne Applebaum talks with Aleksandra Lipczak about being a ‘Polish mother’, and her fascination with Poland, politics and history.
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As Loud as Possible
As Loud as Possible
Urban Noise Pollution
Magazine / society
When was the last time that you were truly surrounded by silence? City life is inevitably always accompanied by noise, and it’s a growing problem for our health.
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Marcin
Polak
Polak
The Ideal Walk
Reading / society
A philosopher discusses different kinds of walking.
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Włodzimierz Karol
Pessel
Pessel
Swept Up by Cultural Scholars
Reading / culture
Garbology might seem like a rubbish research field, but it can give important insights into human behaviour.
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Fiction
Franco’s Black Pearls
Reading / literature
A century or so ago, Vilnius was a very different place to today. Kristina Sabaliauskaitė takes us on a trip past the streets and characters of the city once known as Wilno, in this excerpt from her collection of stories about modern Lithuania’s capital.
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Script Hunting
Script Hunting
An Interview with Tomasz Bąk
Magazine / science
Neurolinguist Tomasz Bąk talks about the letters and symbols of various world alphabets, as well as how brain diseases can affect language.
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In Tumulus and Wilderness
In Tumulus and Wilderness
The Burial Mounds of Białowieża
Magazine / science
The Białowieża Primaeval Forest is one of the oldest forests in Europe. It is also home to a number of centuries-old burial mounds.
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Keep Your Fasciae Healthy!
healthy living
Keep Your Fasciae Healthy!
The Body’s Universal Connector
Magazine / science
Fasciae, the connective tissue that envelopes all of our internal organs, is one of the body’s last mysteries. Slowly but surely, its importance to our health is becoming clearer.
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The Pandemic’s Black Swan Song
The Pandemic’s Black Swan Song
A Brief History of Global Diseases
Reading / society
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we keep hearing that we are living in the ‘new normal’. But how exactly have previous pandemics changed world history?
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Lily Briscoe’s Painting
Lily Briscoe’s Painting
On a Fictional Work of Art
Reading / culture
A writer channels the spirit of Virginia Woolf to reflect on the significance of a painting from her novel “To the Lighthouse”, both for the character who painted it and for the author herself.
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short story
Our Day of Reckoning Won’t Stay
Reading / literature
1967, the Polish People’s Republic. An upstanding officer of the Citizen’s Militia, one Sergeant Teofil Olkiewicz, is sent to a metalworks to investigate the theft of a drill. He might come back with more than he’s expecting...
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The Dilemma of an Electron
The Dilemma of an Electron
Do Elementary Particles Have Consciousness?
Reading / science
Panpsychists believe that everything, no matter how small, has consciousness. This micro-perspective extends to the most fundamental level of physics.
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Fantasy Forests
Fantasy Forests
The Primeval Trees of Popular Culture
Magazine / science
As natural, primeval forests across the world continue to shrink, might we look towards popular fantasy fiction to better understand how we must preserve the gifts of nature?
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Genetic Marginalia
Genetic Marginalia
Can We Really Inherit Memories?
Magazine / science
The genome is like a cookbook; an old one with stains and notes in the margins. A biologist describes the fascinating discoveries of epigenetics.
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A Flip-Flop on Spitsbergen
Mind the climate
A Flip-Flop on Spitsbergen
The Future of the Barents Sea
Magazine / science
One of the world’s greatest ecosystems is dying before our eyes due to global warming. Our polar correspondent recounts the tragedy of the Barents Sea.
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Better Not to Talk About It
Better Not to Talk About It
An Interview About the ‘Pishtaco’
Magazine / society
Elżbieta Jodłowska – an ethnologist and researcher of the culture of the Indigenous Andean Quechua people – talks about the bogeyman figure of the ‘pishtaco’ in the Andes.
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What Comes After Growth?
Mind the climate
What Comes After Growth?
An Interview about Food Sovereignty and Cooperativism
Magazine / society
Wojciech Mejor – a leading figure in the Polish post-growth movement – talks about food sovereignty, food cooperativism and alternatives to capitalism.
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Julia
Fiedorczuk
Fiedorczuk
Against Apocalypse
Reading / society
What does the word ‘apocalypse’ mean? And how can we understand it in the context of an Earth hurtling towards climate catastrophe?
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Life-Giving Dust
Mind the climate
Life-Giving Dust
From the Sahara to the Ocean
Magazine / science
Saharan dust is a phenomenon that starts in the desert and brings multiple benefits to oceans and plants across the whole of the globe.
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A Rubbish Island
Mind the climate
A Rubbish Island
The Problem of Microplastics
Magazine / society
Microplastics are almost imperceptible to the human eye. Yet their impact on the environment is shocking – as evidenced by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
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What Does the Amazon Rainforest Have to Say? ♫
Media / Audio
American acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton takes us on a sound trip to the first quiet park on Earth, where we can hear the gentle sounds of the Zabalo River, nestled deep in the Amazon rainforest.
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Mr Barker, Oedipuss and Us ♫
Media / Audio
We have more in common with cats and dogs than some people think – especially when it comes to cheekily deceiving each other. Original text by Ludwika Włodek.
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The Oak Chronicles ♫
Media / Audio
An encounter with an ancient oak tree named Bartek, as experienced and retold by a biologist and poet. Original text by Urszula Zajączkowska.
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Life in a Sealed Jar. A Brief History of Terrariums ♫
Media / Audio
Closed terrariums are currently in vogue for urban gardeners, but their history runs all the way back to 19th-century botany. Original text by Joanna Dobkowska.
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The Pear of Love
The Pear of Love
A Recipe for Roasted Aubergine
Magazine / society
The aubergine has a bitter reputation. Yet it is a versatile fruit that can be fried, baked, stewed, steamed, or – best of all – long roasted.
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Roots, Japanese-Style
Roots, Japanese-Style
A Recipe for Braised Burdock
Magazine / society
Burdock root appears to be ordinary, but – as the cuisine of Japan, China and Korea attests – it can easily be transformed into something quite delightful.
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Nicola’s Fungi
Nicola’s Fungi
An Interview with an Urban Mushroom Farmer
Magazine / society
Nicola Dominici talks about opening his vegan restaurant and becoming an urban mushroom farmer in Miami.
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Backyard Fungi
Backyard Fungi
How to Grow Three Types of Mushrooms
Magazine / society
Parasol mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and shiitake can all be easily grown in your backyard or garden. Find out how!