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Relationships, work and leisure

Parenting and families

idea

The history of family offers a liberating view of custom and love

Chronicling the families of the past shows just how much family values, feelings and decision-making can morph over time

by Katie Barclay

Black and white photo of people embracing and saying goodbye at a train station.

Love

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It’s possible to become wiser in who you entrust with your love

Love is not merely irrational – there’s a sense in which it’s also based on reason, which means we can get better at it

by Joel Van Fossen

People at night in front of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow with a woman waving a large Russian flag in the foreground.

Conflict and conflict resolution

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Does national humiliation explain why wars break out?

For a nation, humiliation isn’t just a feeling – it’s a story. Understanding this can help countries move beyond aggression

by Raamy Majeed

Painting of two weasels playing among trees in a vibrantly coloured landscape.

Communication and language

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For this unsung philosopher, metaphors make life an adventure

Susanne K Langer understood the indispensable power of metaphors, which allow us to say new things with old words

by Sue Curry Jansen & Jeff Pooley

Painting of an elderly couple in 16th century attire, man in fur-lined coat and woman in white headdress on green background.

Love

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There’s no good reason to love each other – and that’s a relief

Loving is an unreasonable decision (we are all extremely unpleasant little beasts) and that’s what allows it to survive

by John Kaag

Photo of four men embracing on a beach at night with colourful lights blurred in the background.

Gender

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Too many men lack close friendships. What’s holding them back?

Some masculine norms are a straightjacket, depriving men of the connections they need. It takes bravery to leave them behind

by Angelica Puzio Ferrara

A group of people shown through reflective surfaces creating a layered effect, one wears a purple ribbon.

Communication and language

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To have deeper conversations, try being more of an asshole

Conversation is a game with rules about politeness and norms. To move beyond small talk, you need to risk breaking them

by Idil Çakmur

Photo of a woman with tattoos taking a selfie on a smartphone wearing an off-shoulder dress in front of glass doors.

Virtues and vices

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Social comparison is driving us to despair. It doesn’t have to

In the social media age, it seems impossible not to measure ourselves against others – but we can dodge the worst pitfalls

by Wojciech Kaftański

World map illustration showing physical geography with oceans, continents and elevation.

Ethics

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What makes a map ‘good’? On the ethics of cartography

Rendering the world in a responsible way means wrestling with what gets depicted on a map, how, and for whom

by Nat Case

Painting with surreal figures including a fish-headed person and abstract human forms with a dark sky.

Communication and language

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Let me open a treasure chest to explain how metaphor works

Once maligned by philosophers, metaphors are a key communication tool for extending the power of literal speech

by Elek Lane

Photo of a red taxi with passengers in an urban setting, a sign saying “Life is War” visible in the background.

Freedom and choice

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Relationships are important, but so is feeling free to end them

Comparing ‘relational mobility’ and people’s average happiness across different cultures reveals some intriguing patterns

by Thomas Talhelm & Liuqing Wei

Photo of a pregnant woman in a pink vest and white skirt, holding a red bag, walking in an urban area.

Parenting and families

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Moving through the world pregnant, my body became everyone’s

And I knew that, once I became a mother, I would be only more visible, more public, more available for scrutiny

by Katie da Cunha Lewin