X CLOSE

Creativity and the arts

LatestPopular

Impressionist painting of a family in a garden, with a child learning to walk, assisted by an adult, as another adult crouches down with outstretched arms.

Values and beliefs

idea

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

idea

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

Two people look at a scientifically based recreation of a Neanderthal man’s head, adorned with feathers and fur, enclosed in a glass case at a museum. The setting is under strong indoor lighting with a blue wall background.

Communication and language

idea

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

A vintage photo of six women wearing wide-brimmed hats, smiling and laughing together. One woman is holding a steering wheel, suggesting they might be on a fun outdoor adventure. The background shows a natural, slightly blurry setting.

Film

idea

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

A young couple in handcuffs lean against a 1950s police car beneath a brooding prairie sky

Mind and brain

idea

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

idea

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

Two performers are dancing on a stage in front of an audience. The scene is vibrant, featuring red and purple lights, with spectators taking photos and videos.

Dance

idea

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

A woman is grappling with another woman who has a bloody nose

Stories and literature

idea

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

A marble figurine seated in a chair plays a harp

Music

idea

Ancient Greek ideas of attunement can breathe new life into music

In Athenian philosophy, attunement is important not only in music, but also for moods, attitudes and states of mind

by John Bagby

A woman in an orange sweater is practising her golf swing in a narrow, cobblestone alleyway lined with bicycles, adjacent to a building with large windows.

Play

idea

The achievement society is burning us out, we need more play

This is about more than a self-help switch – it will take structural changes to reject capitalism’s productivity obsession

by Alec Stubbs

Black and white photo of a boy walking across a littered street, with signs saying ‘No Hang Out Here’ and ‘Keep Away!’. Behind him, a man lies on the ground under a fire escape.

Transcendent experience

idea

Our days are both rough and slippery. Hope brings traction

I want to defend and buoy hope – it’s a fragile, quirky thing, but it has the power to help us act in the face of finitude

by John Lysaker

The African American singer and pianist Nina Simone is pictured alone, singing against a spotlight that resembles a moon in the darkness. She has her eyes closed.

Emerging therapies

idea

Could that tingle down the spine be a way to rediscover joy?

In new research, scientists have looked into the potential benefits of giving people with depression the aesthetic chills

by Shayla Love