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An ancient Greek clay jug with red stripes and inscriptions against a dark background.

Communication and language

idea

I am an article about the speaking objects of ancient Greece

Talkative drinking cups and threatening oil flasks tell us how the written word asserted its authority in an oral society

by Teddy Fassberg

People sitting and walking through a city square on a sunny day, with a red brick building and large advertising posters covering other buildings.

Stories and literature

idea

Your life is not a story: why narrative thinking holds you back

Our stories help us make sense of a chaotic world, but they can be harmful and restrictive. There’s a liberating alternative

by Karen Simecek

Two men smiling in low light, seated at a round table with drinks. One man is wearing a hat.

Stories and literature

guide

How to tell a better story

Personal stories have the power to connect, entertain, persuade. Use a pro storyteller’s tips to pick and prepare a great one

by Micaela Blei

A stylised figure drawn in glowing red lines stands on a cliff reaching towards a dark sky full of stars above a calm sea. The scene has a mystical atmosphere.

Symbols and myth

film

A Navajo creation story illustrates why humans must forge their own path

Directed by Dallin Penman

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

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

Wooden shelves filled with books, framed pictures, small ornaments, a bowl, and various decorative items.

Stories and literature

guide

How to nurture a personal library

An escape, a sanctuary, a place of pleasure, a memoir. Take these steps to ensure your library is just what you want it to be

by Freya Howarth

Abstract painting of people in a park; a man in a suit walks, a woman in a green dress stands, and another person sits on a bench reading.

Virtues and vices

film

A simple morality tale finds rich depth in the hands of a master animator

A film by Georges Schwizgebel

A dark, moody painting of a cloaked figure with a faint smile, partially illuminated, and a small, grimacing animal-like face on their shoulder.

Sex and sexuality

idea

My take on ‘Venus in Furs’ as a modern-day dominatrix

My experiences as a 21st-century femdom echo the gendered themes that feature in Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel

by Gia Marcos

An illustration of two deer running in a forest, surrounded by text in a historical script, bordered in red.

Grief

idea

After my mom died, I found comfort in a medieval Andalusi tale

Ibn Tufayl’s story of a man mourning the gazelle who raised him helped me appreciate the interconnection of all things

by Veronica Menaldi

Cubist artwork depicting a fragmented still life with a book, glass and other objects in earthy tones.

Stories and literature

guide

How to gain more from your reading

There’s more to words than meets the eye. Deepen your appreciation of literature through the art of slow, attentive reading

by Robert DiYanni

Open book with sketches of a handgun on the left page and a peach with geometric lines on the right page, on a dark surface.

Poetry

film

An English teacher asks his class: ‘What’s the opposite of a gun?’

Directed by Anna Samo and Lisa LaBracio