Animals
idea
What our use of animal-based slurs and endearments says about us
by David Egan
Trauma
idea
I’m haunted by my night of vodka and reefers with the Taliban
by Sasha Kassam
Virtues and vices
guide
How to be excellent
Plato and Aristotle can help you resist conventional worldly success, direct your energy and find your own highest calling
by Benjamin Studebaker
Popular this month
Emotions
idea
There’s something in my eye: why we happy-cry and what it does for us
by Janis Zickfeld
Grief
idea
Ancient Akkadian poems and medical texts reveal grief’s universals
by Moudhy Al-Rashid
Personality disorders
idea
Some people feel so utterly alone it’s as if they don’t exist
by Kristine Dahl Sørensen & Marit Råbu
Technology
idea
Let’s use bold, beautiful hearing aids to celebrate deafness
by Jaipreet Virdi
Celebrations and festivals
film
Behold the fearsome beauty of Rio’s other carnival, on the outskirts of town
A film by Ben Holman and Neirin Jones
Addiction
idea
If you think you’ve got a porn addiction, you probably haven’t
by Joshua Grubbs
Conversation
guide
How to have more meaningful conversations
Be brave enough to share, kind enough to listen, and you can escape the shallows of small talk to dive deep with another
by Lucy Foulkes
History of art
idea
What art history reveals about the rise of anti-feminist women
by Paula Keller
Parenting and families
idea
It should be OK for parents to express regret about having children
by Jenna Abetz & Julia Moore
History of emotions
idea
‘It cannot be helped’: on facing death as calmly as a pirate
by Rebecca Simon
History of ideas
film
An audiovisual odyssey into the heavens of astronomy and myth
A film by Bill Morrison
Spirituality and religion
idea
Spirituality is a brain state we can all reach, religious or not
by Tal Dotan Ben-Soussan