The Latest from Big Think

Text reading "The Latest" in a large, serif font on a light background.
A person stands in front of two dome-shaped adobe houses, embracing homesteading life in Cochise County, with mountains rising in the background under a clear sky.
A writer’s search for an affordable home leads to the desert — and a community building a different kind of American dream.
A white van with its side door open is parked on desert ground next to a Joshua tree, embodying the spirit of van life, with mountains in the background under a clear blue sky.
I’ve lived in a converted van for six years. The freedom is real — but so are the trade-offs people rarely talk about.
People sit around a campfire next to a covered wagon at dusk, some opting out of the warmth to tend cooking supplies on the ground, while the softly illuminated wagon glows in the evening light.
From Amish Country to Slab City, these are the places where Americans reject the mainstream.
A collage featuring vintage papers, a sketch of Bartleby seated, a window frame, and colored circles on a dark background.
The ambiguity of Bartleby shows that opting out can be a form of resistance, retreat, or something harder to judge.
Two men stand beside an early D'Ieteren motor vehicle with large wheels and a lamp, set against a brown and pink background.
This carriage maker didn’t get wiped out by the automobile. Instead, it became one of the most successful car businesses in European history.
An illustration of a house in a forest, with part of a man's face drawn on one side—evoking transcendentalism—nestled among green trees and dark foliage.
How a culture of independence gave rise to a philosophy of self-reliance, solitude, and inner authority.
A grayscale collage features a man’s portrait overlapped with an American flag and a document related to U.S. policy, next to an image of the Great Wall of China with two people walking.
A conversation with Richard Haass about reorienting the U.S. toward long-term thinking and reinstating global stability into the 22nd century.
A man wearing a black cap and blue shirt, reminiscent of Dan Carlin's signature style, is shown against a solid red background.
A conversation with the Hardcore History host on executive power, political independents, and how America drifted into partisan dysfunction.
Collage of planets from the solar system, with Jupiter in the center, astronomical charts, and a gradient blue sky background evoke an accelerando towards the singularity—a visual homage to "A Journey in Other Worlds.
From Gilded Age space dreams to AI’s cosmic endgame, fiction reveals how the drive to shed obligations to others can escalate.
Assorted 2000s-era items including a decorated laptop, Game Boy, CD player, flip phone, iPods, cassette, VHS tape, sewing tools, puzzles, and craft supplies arranged on a colorful background evoke pure nostalgia.
A nostalgia-fueled real-world renaissance is underway, led by young adults striving to counter the cultural pessimism and division that pervades much of online life.
A hand moves a white king chess piece toward a black queen on a stylized, fragmented chessboard with a blue background, symbolizing the strategic tension surrounding the U.S. withdrawal.
With the U.S. stepping away from international organizations en masse, the groups are being forced to find a new balance.
Illustration of a floating cat, cassette tape, pencil, bird, eraser, and a person standing on a hill—all symbols reflecting life's passion—set against a blue and white background.
Trying to solve one’s existential dread by finding a singular purpose is a game won only by not playing.
Three students sit at desks in a classroom, writing on paper. The focus is on the student in front resting her head as she writes, with two others visible working behind her.
Philosopher Gert Biesta on the real reason we should be wary of AI in education.
A child’s silhouette walks through layered arches against a collage of historical U.S. documents and illustrations in blue, red, and brown tones.
The printing press gave us objective truth. Social media made truth tribal again. AI could make it something else entirely.
An aerial view of LIGO Hanford, showing two long, perpendicular arms extending across a flat, brown landscape with a few buildings at the intersection.
The LIGO facilities in the U.S. are the most sensitive gravitational wave detectors in the world. Their future remains uncertain.
cosmic inflation
We used to think the Big Bang started it all. Then we realized that something else came before it, erasing everything that existed prior.
A man with short hair and a beard speaks while gesturing with both hands; he wears a black quilted jacket against a plain light background.
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"King" Willonius Hatcher, a comedian and AI storyteller, asserts that the AI revolution empowers creators to rapidly transform ideas into comprehensive projects—like pitch decks and marketing campaigns—allowing them to enhance their creative output while focusing on their core talents.
A large, circular structure—destined to become the world's best and smallest giant telescope—is under construction inside a spacious industrial facility with scaffolding and bright overhead lighting.
At "only" 25 meters in diameter, the Giant Magellan Telescope is the smallest of three current projects. That might make all the difference.
A sloth hangs upside down from a tree branch against a grid-patterned background with a green semicircle at the bottom.
Being always available is costly. Here's how to reclaim your sharpest hours.
Book cover for "Power Surge" by Thomas Schatz, featuring a collage of film scenes in a style reminiscent of pulp fiction, and the subtitle "Conglomerate Hollywood and the Studio System’s Last Hurrah.
Miramax's explosive success with Pulp Fiction ignited an indie boom, rewrote Oscar campaigns, and blurred the line between independent cinema and the Hollywood mainstream.