When memories from fiction become part of who you are
Scenes from books, movies and games sometimes carry as much weight as events from people’s own lives. We’re finding out why
by Osman Görkem Çetin
Stories and literature
We can live well, even though we don’t have a higher purpose
The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom
by Alexis Shotwell
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
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
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
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
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
A Navajo creation story illustrates why humans must forge their own path
Directed by Dallin Penman
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
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
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
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
What does switching from paper to screens mean for how we read?
It’s well established that we absorb less well when reading on screen. But why? And can we do something to improve it?
by Lili Yu, Sixin Liao, Jan-Louis Kruger & Erik D Reichle
Why Indian Buddhism has gardens, not monasteries
Wishing trees, jewels, unfading flowers – what place do these sensual pleasures have in the ascetic life of Buddhist monks?
by Simran Agarwal
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
The myth of machine consciousness makes Narcissus of us all
The idea that AI can be conscious is a mistake. It’s just a very shiny mirror of humanity, reflecting what we want to see
by David Bentley Hart