{"id":86406,"date":"2025-12-16T17:30:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T17:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.noemamag.com"},"modified":"2025-12-18T20:20:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T20:20:34","slug":"noemas-top-10-reads-of-2025","status":"publish","type":"wpm-article","link":"https:\/\/www.noemamag.com\/noemas-top-10-reads-of-2025","title":{"rendered":"Noema’s Top 10 Reads Of 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your new favorite playlist<\/a>: Listen to Noema’s Top 10 Reads of 2025 via the sidebar player on your desktop or click here<\/a> on your mobile phone.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Daniel Barreto for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

The Last Days Of Social Media<\/a><\/h2>

Social media promised connection, but it has delivered exhaustion.<\/p>

by James O’Sullivan<\/h2>
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Beatrice Caciotti for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

A Third Path For AI Beyond The US-China Binary<\/a><\/h2>

What if the future of AI isn\u2019t defined by Washington or Beijing, but by improvisation elsewhere?<\/p>

by Dang Nguyen<\/h2>
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H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Blanc for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

Why Science Hasn\u2019t Solved Consciousness (Yet)<\/a><\/h2>

To understand life, we must stop treating organisms like machines and minds like code.<\/p>

by Adam Frank<\/h2>
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NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

The Unseen Fury Of Solar Storms<\/a><\/h2>

Lurking in every space weather forecaster\u2019s mind is the hypothetical big one, a solar storm so huge it could bring our networked, planetary civilization to its knees.\n

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by Henry Wismayer<\/h2>
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Sophie Douala for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

From Statecraft To Soulcraft<\/a><\/h2>

How the world\u2019s illiberal powers like Russia, China and increasingly the U.S. rule through their visions of the good life.<\/p>

by Alexandre Lefebvre<\/h2>
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Ibrahim Rayintakath for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

The Languages Lost To Climate Change<\/a><\/h2>

Climate catastrophes and biodiversity loss are endangering languages across the globe.<\/p>

by Julia Webster Ayuso<\/h2>
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Vartika Sharma for Noema Magazine (images courtesy mzacha and Shaun Greiner)<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

The Shrouded, Sinister History Of The Bulldozer<\/a><\/h2>

From India to the Amazon to Israel, bulldozers have left a path of destruction that offers a cautionary tale for how technology without safeguards can be misused.<\/p>

by Joe Zadeh<\/h2>
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Blake Cale for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

The Moral Authority Of Animals<\/a><\/h2>

For millennia before we showed up on the scene, social animals \u2014 those living in societies and cooperating for survival \u2014 had been creating cultures imbued with ethics.<\/p>

by Jay Griffiths<\/h2>
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Zhenya Oliinyk for Noema Magazine<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

Welcome To The New Warring States<\/a><\/h2>

Today\u2019s global turbulence has echoes in Chinese history.<\/p>

by Hui Huang<\/h2>
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Along the highway near Nukus, the capital of the autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan. (All photography by Hassan Kurbanbaev for Noema Magazine)<\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n\n <\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>

Signs Of Life In A Desert Of Death<\/a><\/h2>

In the dry and fiery deserts of Central Asia, among the mythical sites of both the first human and the end of all days, I found evidence that life restores itself even on the bleakest edge of ecological apocalypse.<\/p>

by Nick Hunt<\/h2>
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Other Top Picks By Noema’s Editors <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n \n Feature <\/a>\n <\/span>\n Philosophy & Culture<\/a><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n \n Noema\u2019s Top Artwork Of 2025 <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n Noema editors<\/a> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n \n Feature <\/a>\n <\/span>\n Technology & the Human<\/a><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n
\n \n Noema\u2019s Top 10 Reads Of 2024 <\/a>\n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n Noema editors<\/a> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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\n \n \n Feature <\/a>\n <\/span>\n Climate Crisis<\/a><\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n
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\n \n Enjoy the read? Subscribe to get the best of Noema.<\/a>\n \n <\/div>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2574,"featured_media":0,"template":"","wpm-article-type":[3,4],"wpm-article-topic":[22,21,11,19,39,23,20],"wpm-article-tag":[],"class_list":["post-86406","wpm-article","type-wpm-article","status-publish","hentry","wpm-article-type-essay","wpm-article-type-feature","wpm-article-topic-climate-crisis","wpm-article-topic-digital-society","wpm-article-topic-future-of-capitalism","wpm-article-topic-future-of-democracy","wpm-article-topic-geopolitics-globalization","wpm-article-topic-philosophy-culture","wpm-article-topic-technology-and-the-human"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nNoema's Top 10 Reads Of 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our best longform journalism and essays from 2025.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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