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Painting of a girl with flowing hair holding books, standing on a windy path under a grey sky.

Memory and nostalgia

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Before it was ‘bittersweet’, nostalgia was seen as a parasite

Early modern ideas about nostalgia, infused with the elements of horror, invite us to think more deeply about human longing

by Jac Lewis

Photo of a bee on a vibrant orange flower with a blurred background, highlighting the intricate flower details.

Drugs and psychedelics

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Psychedelics are philosophical tools for demolishing assumptions

By shaking up our sense of how things are, substances like LSD or psilocybin have the potential to promote deep learning

by David J Blacker

A monochrome photo of a person with a shaved head looking down in low light, a tattooed teardrop visible near their eye.

Trauma and PTSD

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Why it matters that trauma affects women and men differently

They are too often ignored, yet sex differences affect the kind of trauma people experience and the effect it has on them

by Klára Hanáková

A surfer riding a wave under a cloudy sky, with another large wave shown behind.

Virtues and vices

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Equanimity is not stillness – it is a mobility of the mind

To grasp the power of this lauded quality, think of it less as a mountain than as a flexible, even playful way of seeing

by Michael Uebel

People in hooded jackets standing in a park with grass and trees, a rainbow in the sky and a building in the background.

Neurodiversity

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Why we should think of neurodiversity like we do personality

It’s a mistake to frame autistic and ADHD traits as either deficits or mere differences. There’s another way to see them

by Joshua May

Medieval painting of a woman writing by a window with a ship on the sea outside, wearing a dark gown and hood.

Change and self-development

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How to find inner peace like Saint Teresa of Ávila

The 16th-century ‘spiritual rock-star’ shows how seeing your soul as a castle can be a source of strength and consolation

by Skye C Cleary

An Indigenous Australian man carrying a child on his shoulders walking through bushland observing a ‘cool’ burn (used to control underbrush), with smoke and flames in the background.

Knowledge and reason

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There is knowledge in the land as well as in ourselves

Indigenous Australian knowledge systems understand what Descartes didn’t – the natural world has important things to tell us

by Andrew Kirkpatrick

A film still of a woman, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games movie franchise, with a braid standing in a transparent elevator looking out with a thoughtful expression.

Film

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Hollywood’s fixation on the wrong stories won’t help our world

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals

by Namir Khaliq

Blurry photo of a supermarket interior with people shopping, bright lighting and shelves filled with products.

Mind and brain

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Having epileptic seizures gave me newfound respect for the brain

Seizures are often described as both terrifying and enthralling. Mine gave me a wondrous new take on consciousness and agency

by Webb Wright

A cocktail in a coupe glass with an orange twist on a wooden table in front of a dark, tufted lounge seating

Addiction

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My great-grandfather poisoned drinkers during Prohibition

In a grim irony, his descendants – my grandmother and mother – struggled with drink. Here’s what I’d tell him about addiction

by Rebecca Lester

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