Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience

Addiction Ageing and death Childhood and adolescence Cognition and intelligence Consciousness and altered states Family life Gender and identity Language and linguistics Life stages Love and friendship Mental health Mood and emotion Neurodiversity Neuroscience Personality Pleasure and pain Psychiatry and psychotherapy Self-improvement Sex and sexuality Sleep and dreams Social psychology Spirituality Teaching and learning Technology and the self Wellbeing

Latest Popular

A person playing a stringed instrument with focus on the tuning pegs and the blurred player in the background.

videoMusic

Why millennia of history echo in each strum of a Persian tar

4 minutes

essayIllness and disease

The spiral of suffering

For people with chronic illnesses, the relief and recognition of online communities can set up a toxic psychological trap

Siddhant Ritwick & Tomi Koljonen

Photo of a group of rugby players wearing jerseys and helmets hugging and smiling after a match in a close-up shot.

videoGender and identity

The patient labour of building ties in a city far from home

20 minutes

Art deco painting of two women, one nude holding a rose, surrounded by birds and a person playing a lyre in red and black.

essayThe ancient world

The erotic poems of Bilitis

A lush translation of this late-discovered lesbian poet added to the legacy of Sappho, but there was a trickster at work

Cat Lambert

Photo of a person climbing a pole reaching for prizes, including a teddy bear and toy guitar, against a cloudy sky.

videoSports and games

Teens battle grease and gravity in this lively street game

5 minutes

Silhouetted figure at a desk with US flag nearby, backlit by sunlight through curtains.

essayPolitical philosophy

Incandescent anger

Politics today is driven by grievances that can never be assuaged. For democracy’s survival, we must grapple with this dynamic

Paul Katsafanas

Two felt figures sit together facing a desert landscape under a warm sky.

videoLove and friendship

A millennial and her centenarian friend take a unique road trip

15 minutes

Black and white painting of a hand holding a spear aimed at a tree with glowing leaves against a dark background.

videoHuman rights and justice

Why is this Kenyan artefact in storage at a German museum?

30 minutes

A group of people in striped clothing and headscarves standing in shallow water, raising hands towards a cloudy sky.

essayPhilosophy of religion

Undefinable yet indispensable

Despite centuries of trying, the term ‘religion’ has proven impossible to define. Then why does it remain so necessary?

Kwame Anthony Appiah

Black and white photo of an elderly man with a thoughtful expression wearing a light coloured shirt.

videoArt

How Robert Frost summoned a classic from life’s timeless moments

10 minutes

Black and white photo of a woman and child walking on a cobbled street in an industrial town with chimneys in the background.

essayFamily life

Maternal paradox

‘Scientific motherhood’ promised to create high standards for child-rearing. But it’s really a system designed to police women

Sherry Chan

A woman sleeping on a bed in a floral wallpapered room with a lamp and a window.

essaySleep and dreams

Sleep is delicious

The idea that we should reduce sleep to an efficient minimum in our lives gets something fundamentally wrong

Sara Protasi

Black-and-white photo of a man diving mid-air against the sky, arms extended and wearing swim briefs.

videoRituals and celebrations

The Mexican cliff divers who take dazzling leaps into the unknown

23 minutes

Abstract painting with a guitar and geometric shapes in vibrant colours including yellow, green and blue.

essayMusic

The guitarist’s palette

In the hands of a great musician, the gloriously simple guitar can create the most complex works of art. Here’s how

Craig Ogden

Photo of a messy room with a person lying on a cluttered sofa surrounded by books posters boxes and string lights.

videoLove and friendship

The ‘soul brotherhood’ between a son and his caregiving father

6 minutes

Watercolour painting of a person crouching, sketched with soft colours and lines, on a light background.

essayPhilosophy of mind

From cells to selves

Contemplating the world requires a body, and a body requires an immune system: the rungs of life create the stuff of thought

Anna Ciaunica

Close-up photo of hands passing a small wooden cup during a dimly lit gathering with bottles visible in the background.

essayConsciousness and altered states

A wondrous brew

Ayahuasca has gone global. But do corporate managers in China’s megacities have the same visions as shamans in Peru?

Alex K Gearin

Black-and-white photo of hands framing the sky with a modern building in the background.

videoLove and friendship

What people’s hand gestures reveal when they’re asked about love

9 minutes

Vintage sepia photo of two women in Victorian attire sitting in a parlour room with floral wallpaper, reading opposite each other at writing desk.

essayTechnology and the self

‘I awoke at ½ past 7’

Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame

Elena Mary

Photo of a smiling woman in a green sweater talking with friends in a cosy, colourful cafe interior.

essayNeurodiversity

Mask on/mask off

People with ADHD and autism have to mask their instincts if they want to be included. But the strain exacts a very high price

Gilly Kahn

Photo of a group of people walking through a field with yellow flowers under bare trees on a sunny day.

videoChildhood and adolescence

Seven years on the road, finding utopia in the lives of women

8 minutes

Photo of a person with a backpack walking up a narrow outdoor staircase between brick buildings and lush greenery.

videoHome

Cheng visits his hometown, awash in the tides of history and time

20 minutes

Collage art of a man’s face with colourful lines and words on a vibrant pink and teal background.

essayMusic

Mapping Bob Dylan’s mind

Generative AI sheds new light on the underlying engines of metaphor, mood and reinvention in six decades of songs

Prashant Garg

Photo of two women seated indoors, one using a phone the other reading a newspaper, with plants and wooden furniture.

videoHome

Can young and old coexist at a feminist co-living residence?

21 minutes