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Psychology

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

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Latest Popular

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

A shirtless man with multiple ears growing out of his body in strange places, in a dimly lit room.

essayFilm and visual culture

Power and flesh

As struggles over the human body escalate, we should return to the work of cinema’s greatest anatomist: David Cronenberg

Travis Alexander

Photo of a musician with curly hair playing acoustic guitar on stage wearing a colourful shirt with audience members in the background.

videoChildhood and adolescence

A project takes teens from war-torn regions to schools in Canada

25 minutes

Black and white photo of children playing in a street against a rough wall with a sign, some moving energetically.

essayChildhood and adolescence

Hidden in plain sight

Jewish children who were ‘hidden’ in Christian families during the Holocaust have much to teach us about memory and trauma

Carolyn Ariella Sofia

Painting of shells on a table with a floral vase a potted plant and a bird on a balcony overlooking water and cliffs.

essayNeurodiversity

A poet on Mars

Could autism explain Virginia Woolf’s unique voice? Her extraordinary eye for detail and connections suggests it might

Camille Caprioglio

A person in blue jeans and black jacket resting in an alcove in an old red brick wall.

essaySleep and dreams

What sleep is

It is our biggest blind spot, a bizarre experience that befalls us every day, and can’t be explained by our need for rest

Vladyslav Vyazovskiy

Illustration of a person in a pink shirt gently embracing a fawn in a forest setting.

videoAddiction

After 17 years of addiction, Raina finds a lifeline in compassion

15 minutes

Two women sitting in a car, one is wearing glasses and a headscarf, the other has short hair and red sunglasses.

videoGender

In an act of resistance, Elahe forgoes a hijab at a family party

27 minutes

Black and white photo of a young boy playing simultaneous chess against three suited men watched by a crowd.

essayNeurodiversity

The puzzle of the ‘idiot savant’

The convergence of singular talent and profound disability confounded scientists eager to place humans into neat categories

Violeta Ruiz

Graphic with a vertical split between a red and brown background, with a brown circle at the centre of each half.

essayNeuroscience

Brain man

How can you have a picture of the world when your brain is locked up in your skull? Neuroscientist Dale Purves has clues

Asif Ghazanfar

A man with a bird tattoo outlined over an older tattoo of SS insignia on his shaved head, in a tattoo parlour with orange walls.

videoTechnology and the self

Inside a tattoo parlour where hateful images are covered for free

11 minutes

A man and a woman on a path next to a grassy area, both holding phones; the man is shown from behind and appears to be taking a selfie while a large stag walks behind him.

essayTechnology and the self

Record everything!

Our memories are precious to us and constitute our sense of self. Why not enhance them by recording all of your life?

Yannic Kappes

Black and white photo of a group of men in matching shirts at a “Male Couples Circle of Hope” event with balloons and snacks.

essayHuman rights and justice

Sometimes democracy works

Same-sex marriage is an astonishing case of progress propelled by democracy, in the face of public spite and misinformation

Michael Fuerstein

Photo of a middle-aged man climbing a red ladder on a tall brick industrial chimney with a cityscape in the background.

videoWork

Like a cheery Sisyphus, Fred dismantles an industrial chimney one brick at a time

12 minutes

Photo of a car’s interior at night with motion blur, showing a driver’s arm steering through illuminated streets.

essayIllness and disease

Katie’s story

Frontotemporal dementia is rare and ruthless. When it robbed Katie of her husband at 33, his story became her life’s work

Lynn Hallarman

Photo of a smiling boy with short hair outdoors, viewed through a digital camera frame. Background shows a fence and greenery.

videoChildhood and adolescence

A neglected Dominican sugar town, as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old local

11 minutes

A large, colourful mural on a building, depicting people, with two individuals walking by on the pavement.

essayChildhood and adolescence

Society needs hope

Youths around the world are in a profound crisis of despair. Adults must help them to believe that the future will be better

Carol Graham

Blurry night photo through car window showing police lights and a figure, creating a dramatic scene with blue lighting.

videoDemography and migration

The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border

30 minutes

Vintage black and white photo of a woman in a garden sitting beside a large urn with a sleeping dog lying nearby.

essayFamily life

Glorious and mundane

I once exalted in the extraordinary. But as I’ve learned from Virginia Woolf, indelible beauty is also found in the everyday

Diana Saverin

Black and white photo of a thoughtful woman and two children, one holding a crying baby, indoors near wooden doors.

essayEthics

Why love matters most

For Iris Murdoch, morality is not about duties and rules but stopping our ego fantasies and attending to others with love

Cathy Mason