Karl Ove Knausgaard on the terrible beauty of brain surgery. With photos by Paolo Pellegrin. The surgery is performed by Henry Marsh, author of the superb memoir Do No Harm, one of the best books I read this year.
More Karl Ove Knausgaard. Interview in which Knausgaard discusses his next project: a quartet based around the seasons in the form of letters to his daughter.
A conversation with the French anthropologist Philippe Descola (in German). Beyond Nature and Culture is a superb book in which Philippe Descola challenges the traditional division between nature and culture and argues that there are four modes of thought: animism, totemism, naturalism and analogism. It's not an easy read but well worth the effort.
Five science myths that will not die.
The top 25 science stories of 2015.
For male peacock spiders, the best dancers get the girl.
Causes of death in Shakespeare’s plays charted.
Excellent review of Imagined Communities, the seminal book by Benedict Anderson, who passed away 13 December.
Die Fotografie ist eine Kunst, die uns lehrt, die Wirklichkeit dieser Welt anders zu sehen.