How can we confront the incomprehensible? How can we arrive at a new understanding of the world and politics after the collapse of all certainties? Hannah Arendt asked these questions with an intellectual radicalism that continues to fascinate us to this day. Our leading article on a thinker who still encourages us to think for ourselves.

The disturbing relevance of Arendt's work is well-known. Nowhere is this more evident than in her three-volume work, “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, published in 1951.

Hannah Arendt warned that real thinking demands courage and solitude. In an age of algorithms, outrage, and fear of speaking out, Roger Berkowitz shows why her voice is more urgent than ever and considers whether Arendt would succeed as an influencer today.

What connects Hannah Arendt and Walter Benjamin beyond their shared exile in Paris? Sigrid Weigel and Uta Staiger explore their intellectual paths and surprising parallels between the two thinkers – and examine why their ideas are more relevant today than ever before.

In 1933, Hannah Arendt left Germany and fled to Paris. The eight years she spent there before emigrating to the United States had a profound impact on the life and work of the political theorist. Yet for a long time, researchers largely overlooked this period of her life.

Between exile and arrival, Hannah Arendt found in New York not just refuge, but a stage for her thinking. From cramped rooms to riverside views, the city shaped her intellectual journey — and became the backdrop for some of her most influential work.

Author Madeleine Thien explores the aspect of Friendship as one of the great and palpable joys of Hannah Arendt’s life.

Can you remain loyal to someone who aligned with the Nazis? Hannah Arendt did – and, in the process, wrote a quiet chapter of German postwar history. This was a relationship that tested the very boundaries of thought and morality.

In a time marked by the resurgence of white nationalism, Hannah Arendt’s work on totalitarianism is frequently invoked as a guide to our socio-political crises. From South Africa's perspective, however, reading her work reveals a fundamental paradox.

How does loneliness affect modern man – and why is it a breeding ground for totalitarian rule? Chinese philosopher Chen Wei analyses Hannah Arendt's thinking and shows how political participation can counteract withdrawal into private life. 

Argentine sociologist Claudia Bacci discusses the enduring relevance of Hannah Arendt's thinking in Latin America and asks who could be considered “stateless ” today. 

Three artists, Milena Zović, Anja Ranđelović and Emilija Đonin, who were selected to be mentors as part of the “Conditio Humana” programme in Belgrade, discuss how they are inspired by Hannah Arendt's work.