Psychology
video
Childhood and adolescence
The unique fellowship between teens and young puffins on a remote Icelandic island
20 minutes
essay
Technology and the self
Tomorrow people
For the entire 20th century, it had felt like telepathy was just around the corner. Why is that especially true now?
Roger Luckhurst
essay
Ageing and death
Peregrinations of grief
A friend and a falcon went missing. In pain, I turned to ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ – and found a new vision of sorrow and time
Emily Polk
video
Rituals and celebrations
Flirtation, negotiation and vodka – or how to couple up in 1950s rural Poland
5 minutes
video
Technology and the self
In the town once named Asbestos, locals ponder the voids industry left in its wake
16 minutes
essay
Mental health
The last great stigma
Workers with mental illness experience discrimination that would be unthinkable for other health issues. Can this change?
Pernille Yilmam
video
Cities
A lush, whirlwind tribute to the diversity of life in a northern English county
3 minutes
video
Stories and literature
Robert Frost’s poetic reflection on youth, as read in his unforgettable baritone
5 minutes
video
Sex and sexuality
After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation
14 minutes
essay
Wellbeing
Learning to be happier
In order to help improve my students’ mental health, I offered a course on the science of happiness. It worked – but why?
Bruce Hood
essay
Consciousness and altered states
Acid media
How perforated squares of trippy blotter paper allowed outlaw chemists and wizard-alchemists to dose the world with LSD
Erik Davis
video
Language and linguistics
Closed captions suck. Here’s one artist’s inventive project to make them better
8 minutes
video
Anthropology
Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?
4 minutes
video
Subcultures
Drop into London’s eclectic skate scene, where newbies and old-timers find community
5 minutes
video
Technology and the self
A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised
19 minutes
video
Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes
essay
Metaphysics
The enchanted vision
Love is much more than a mere emotion or moral ideal. It imbues the world itself and we should learn to move with its power
Mark Vernon
essay
Human rights and justice
My elusive pain
The lives of North Africans in France are shaped by a harrowing struggle to belong, marked by postcolonial trauma
Farah Abdessamad
video
Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
essay
Neuroscience
How to make a map of smell
We can split light by a prism, sounds by tones, but surely the world of odour is too complex and personal? Strangely, no
Jason Castro
video
Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
essay
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
The therapist who hated me
Going to a child psychoanalyst four times a week for three years was bad enough. Reading what she wrote about me was worse
Michael Bacon
essay
Consciousness and altered states
A reader’s guide to microdosing
How to use small doses of psychedelics to lift your mood, enhance your focus, and fire your creativity
Tunde Aideyan
essay
Family life
A patchwork family
After my marriage failed, I strove to create a new family – one made beautiful by the loving way it’s stitched together
Lily Dunn