How to respond to offensive comments in a thoughtful way
When someone insults you or people you care about, this advice can help you figure out whether to speak up and what to say
by Alicia del Prado
Relate
The bonds that tie us: family, friendships, love and community
Metaphors open up our minds – but can also shut them down
The best analogies in poetry and science really crackle, but when do they expand our thinking and when do they constrain it?
by Claire O’Callaghan
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
How to be an emotional leader
In times of change and pressure, a set of skills known as ‘psychological flexibility’ can help you and your team to thrive
by Selda Koydemir
How to make someone feel seen and heard
Validation skills are not only useful for therapists. Learn them and you’ll improve your personal and work relationships
by Caroline Fleck
Guides
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How to make a long-distance relationship work
Whether an hour or an ocean apart, there will be challenges, but this therapist shows how to make the most of the upsides
by Charlie Huntington
How to maintain a healthy gut
With a few lifestyle and dietary changes, you can protect your gut microbiome, boost your immunity and improve your mood
by Vincent Ho
Popular
How to make someone feel seen and heard
Validation skills are not only useful for therapists. Learn them and you’ll improve your personal and work relationships
by Caroline Fleck
Why it’s possible to be optimistic in a world of bad news
The original optimist, Leibniz, was mocked and misunderstood. Centuries later, his worldview can help us navigate modern life
by Sumit Paul-Choudhury
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
How to be an emotional leader
In times of change and pressure, a set of skills known as ‘psychological flexibility’ can help you and your team to thrive
by Selda Koydemir
How to make a long-distance relationship work
Whether an hour or an ocean apart, there will be challenges, but this therapist shows how to make the most of the upsides
by Charlie Huntington
How do we start learning to ‘read’ other people’s minds?
Studies of young children give us insight into the building blocks of an ability that most of us use every day
by Josephine Ross & Martin Doherty
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
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
Popular
View allHow to make someone feel seen and heard
Validation skills are not only useful for therapists. Learn them and you’ll improve your personal and work relationships
by Caroline Fleck
Why it’s possible to be optimistic in a world of bad news
The original optimist, Leibniz, was mocked and misunderstood. Centuries later, his worldview can help us navigate modern life
by Sumit Paul-Choudhury
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
How to be an emotional leader
In times of change and pressure, a set of skills known as ‘psychological flexibility’ can help you and your team to thrive
by Selda Koydemir
Videos
View all
Prison letters animate Diane’s attempt to understand a distant father
Directed by Diana Cam Van Nguyen
Sweet illustrations capture women’s stories of first-time queer attraction
A girl upends her grandparents’ ‘love story’ in this hilarious animation
Shuli’s mother has known he was gay for years. Can they finally talk about it?
Caregiving is the highest form of love in this powerful family portrait
No kidding! Inside one childless comedian’s choice to get a vasectomy
A makeshift community of people and migratory birds converge on a strip mall
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
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
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
True solidarity requires Burke’s ‘sympathetic revenge’
Social media utterances aren’t enough. Burke’s stand against colonial injustice shows we must confront our own complicity
by Jack Jacobs
How do we start learning to ‘read’ other people’s minds?
Studies of young children give us insight into the building blocks of an ability that most of us use every day
by Josephine Ross & Martin Doherty
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
Why it’s possible to be optimistic in a world of bad news
The original optimist, Leibniz, was mocked and misunderstood. Centuries later, his worldview can help us navigate modern life
by Sumit Paul-Choudhury
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
Disappointment is not just a feeling – it’s a political force
When political regimes fail us, don’t turn to optimism. It’s disappointment that holds the radical potential for change
by Rafael Holmberg
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
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
What a real-life ‘trolley problem’ reveals about morality
We used an electric-shock dilemma to test the strength of people’s moral principles when faced with real-world complexities
by Dries Bostyn
A lawyer’s view of irrelevant influences in the courtroom
Psychology studies cast doubt on old assumptions about legal objectivity. Lawyers and laypeople alike should take notice
by Samu Czabán
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
The curious paradox in how we address each other today
While honouring people’s preferred pronouns, we’ve begun to neglect forms of formal address. Perhaps we need a rethink
by David Benatar
How to manage your finances to do good in the world
Whether you have a little or a lot, your money is always at work. Follow these steps to ensure it’s making a positive impact
by Sarah Bengtsson