Creativity
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A key part of creativity is picking up on what others overlook
We all constantly filter a flood of details coming in. This process helps explain what gives some brains a creative edge
by Madeleine Gross
Music
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Why did bloody knights write love songs about spring blossoms?
The masculinity of medieval knighthood was expansive enough for both graphic violence and the joys of a flower meadow
by Jennifer Saltzstein
Architecture
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How the buildings you occupy might be affecting your brain
Cutting-edge research in the field of neuroarchitecture is revealing the public health implications of building design
by Cleo Valentine & Heather Mitcheltree
Creativity
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Your 10-step plan for achieving a creative breakthrough
We often think of Aha! moments occurring by fluke, but there are evidence-based ways to make it more likely they will occur
by Nick Kabrél
Values and beliefs
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A philosophical approach can help you identify what truly matters
We’re often taught to live according to our values, but this is easier said than done without pausing to reflect deeply
by Valerie Tiberius
Music
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Courtly love songs are a window into medieval sex lives
Song lyrics acted as a sexual script for aristocrats, revealing some edgy practices that ignited their imaginations
by Elizabeth Eva Leach
Communication and language
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This is what a Neanderthal conversation would have sounded like
Neanderthals had language, but it differed from ours in an important way that could help explain our superior art and tech
by Steven Mithen
Film
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Why was a laughing woman seen as lethal, not least to herself?
When early cinema weaponised the sight of women’s laughter, it borrowed from flawed psychiatric ideas about female hysteria
by Maggie Hennefeld
Mind and brain
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What films and literature reveal about the voice in your head
Inner speech is mysterious and hard to study. But movie voiceovers and introspective novels offer fresh ways to understand it
by Shayla Love
Music
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I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians
If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in
by David Rothenberg
Dance
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How dance taught me to embrace my deformity
In the raw style of Tanztheater, I found a way to take my poetry into the physical world and express myself authentically
by Billy Gigurtsis
Stories and literature
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Fiction has a special power to give us insight into our flaws
Losing yourself in a book, film or show provides a useful mirror for character – one that is hard to access in real life
by Martina Orlandi