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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

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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

A man and a woman sitting at a café table, both looking off to the side, with a glass of wine and ashtray on the table.

Film

guide

How to find great films to watch

Bored with Hollywood and Netflix? Becoming an adventurous and informed explorer of the cinema world is in everyone’s grasp

by Geoff Andrew

Film

film

From drab to fab – a playful dissection of the Hollywood makeover

Directed by Sue Ding

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

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

A man with a serious expression sits at a table, eating, wearing a black and white polo shirt, with a bottle and food items in the foreground.

Stories and literature

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What is it about film and TV antiheroes that’s so captivating?

They’re entertaining, of course – but research highlights a deeper psychological reason viewers are drawn to the bad guys

by Ana Gantman & Jordan Wylie

A rake with a wooden handle rakes through sand dunes, its trail mixing with shadows from a line of multicoloured flags.

Meaning and the good life

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An artist captures the joys of solitude amid a month living in a beach shack

Directed by Lynne Sachs

Illustration of a giant camera with a set inside, showing a person filming and another entering, with autumn leaves and street lamps outside.

Socioeconomics of mental health

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The therapeutic power in learning to make a film together

A collaboration among workers in India showed the power of making and discussing films for sharing life’s inner challenges

by Varun Kurtkoti

Black-and-white photo of a pensive woman in a herringbone coat and cloche hat, holding a handkerchief to her lips.

Personality

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Dietrich showed how adopting a persona can reveal one’s true self

Kaloprosopia – the art of crafting a persona, as Marlene Dietrich and David Bowie did – can help us access a truer self

by Sam Mills

A person stands on a staircase in dim light, looking at a phone. Sunlight streams through large windows, casting shadows on the walls and stairs.

Place

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A filmmaker’s ode to the beloved Cairo building where he learned his art

Directed by Disha Hisham