Memoir

PERSONALITY

Mindie is a talented singer. She also doesn’t have legs. As a teen, it got complicated

A film by Megan Griffiths and Mindie Lind

Water swirling around a concrete structure in low light, creating a reflective and slightly turbulent surface.
CIVIC LIFE

Girl in the water

I’d saved someone from drowning. Had I done the right thing?

by James McConnachie

Illustration of a woman standing in a giant conch shell, nestled among giant books, a large beaded necklace and various other objects, holding a small mirror, wearing a red top on a beige background.
MEMOIR

Love, shame and 325 bags of trash

In my mother’s hoarding house, I found something I wanted to keep

by Deborah Derrickson Kossmann

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

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

A Chinese middle-aged woman tending plants on a rooftop garden with residential buildings and a blue sky in the background.
SEX AND SEXUALITY

Shuli’s mother has known he was gay for years. Can they finally talk about it?

A film by Shuli Huang

Photo of two men in dark clothing sitting and smiling at a round table in a dimly lit room with glasses.
STORIES AND LITERATURE

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

Two people enjoying a scenic sunset with one raising their arms and the other looking sideways, in an outdoor setting.
IDENTITY

Three sisters craft a lyrical tribute to their mother from old family VHS tapes

Directed by Jay Stephen and Ralph Briscoe

Photo of a man in a grey jumper standing on a balcony with a view of a city skyline featuring iconic skyscrapers.
THINKERS AND THEORIES

Why I’ll never forget the day I met Daniel Kahneman for lunch

He was an octogenarian Nobel-winning psychologist, I was a nervous 20-something film producer. Here’s what struck me most

by Namir Khaliq

Photo of a woman using a phone by a sunny window with a city view. She is next to a suitcase and a red chair.
PLACE

The divided self: does where I live make me who I am?

At home in Delhi, I am a more social, interactive person. A quiet balcony in Frankfurt gave me space to be by myself

by Anandi Mishra

The artist Marina Abramović in a long, white dress stands in an abandoned building, lit by studio lights. The walls are rundown and the floor has tracks for camera equipment. The woman faces forward, with her hair in a side braid, and the atmosphere is dramatic and moody.
ARTISTS AND ART HISTORY

In a single, unbroken shot, Marina Abramović surveys her artistic evolution

A film by Art21

Painting of settlers in covered wagons crossing a grassy landscape with mountains in the background and people on horses nearby.
IDENTITY

Ancestor trouble

What happens when you discover a family legend is untrue?

by Patricia Olsen

Photo of a woman in black clothing on a street near a beauty salon with a colourful sign and a travel agency.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE

The day the Taliban banned women like me from working

With my daughters’ education cancelled, I thought the regime had done its worst. Then a new message came from my office

by Nargis

Photo of a dark rocky asteroid with a starry sky background and small particles visible near its surface.
MEMOIR

Seeing myself in a rubble-pile asteroid

Exhausted and adrift, I felt just like Bennu: a heap of fragments of a world that could have existed

by Elizabeth Landau

Photo of a red double-decker bus in a city at dusk with a person reading inside pedestrians on the pavement.
FREEDOM AND CHOICE

Why not driving is my own form of resistance

As romantic petrochemical-fuelled narratives slip into the past, I’ve found my own kind of freedom in a life without a car

by Vicky Grut

A woman reclines on a sofa writing in a notebook while a man stands nearby drinking a beverage in a brightly lit room with books and plants.
LOVE

Each love story is its own small universe. This is Essence and Jihaari’s

Directed by Barry Jenkins

Two people on a train reading Metro newspapers with headlines about royalty and sports transfers.
LOVE

Adventures of an agony uncle

What I’ve learned from 10 years of sifting through other people’s problems

by James McConnachie