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Personality

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

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Daguerreotype of a man in a Victorian-era suit holding a rod with one eye closed, framed by an ornate gold border.

essayHistory of science

Injury and inhibition

The misunderstood story of Phineas Gage shows that we need a new way of understanding the experiences of brain injury survivors

Ben Platts-Mills

Clay animation of a person pondering at a table with a drink can, against a dark background.

videoPersonality

A ‘little thief’ turned career criminal recounts a life on the wrong side of the law

5 minutes

Digital artwork of a skull with holographic elements and text overlays on a dark background.

videoConsciousness and altered states

‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality

7 minutes

An older man in a red cap and printed T-shirt looking into the distance.

videoVirtues and vices

Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later

16 minutes

Photo of a crowd with a focused young woman looking to the side, surrounded by blurred faces in the foreground.

essayPersonality

The highly sensitive person

Those with this little-known trait think more deeply and feel more empathy. But they also deal with significant challenges

Elaine Aron

Colourful, whimsical house with ornate details and greenery in foreground, photo taken outdoors in daylight.

videoHome

How an artist transformed a dilapidated hunting lodge into a house made of dreams

8 minutes

A man with a long beard wearing glasses holding a net against a backdrop of a grassy field and cloudy sky.

videoAnimals and humans

The wild tale of a young animal keeper, an angry tiger and a torn circle net

10 minutes

Close-up of a man smiling and interacting closely with a puppet of an old man wearing a black beret, both faces nearly touching.

videoArt

A puppeteer makes sense of an overwhelming world by shrinking it down to size

5 minutes

A person at night placing an object in a large bin labelled ‘TRASH ONLY’ on an empty street lit by streetlights.

videoPersonality

A ‘dumpster archeologist’ reconstructs strangers’ stories via what they’ve discarded

14 minutes

A man lies down with his head on a miniature model of buildings and streets, blending into the tiny, urban scene at night.

videoBiography and memoir

The unique life philosophy of Abdi, born in Somalia, living in the Netherlands

29 minutes

A person in glasses smiles amid colourful confetti in the air, with blurry, illuminated urban background and celebratory atmosphere.

videoRituals and celebrations

Meet the entrepreneur whose business is crafting perfect peak experiences

12 minutes

Person wearing a white hazmat suit and a full-face respirator, standing in a dimly lit industrial setting.

videoPersonality

Why cleaning up crime scenes requires a rare mix of grit and empathy

9 minutes

An elderly man with a white beard and blue cap stands on a rocky beach with ruins in the background on a clear day.

videoPersonality

Why one man spent 15 years in ‘self-imposed’ island exile

7 minutes

An elderly man and woman standing in front of an old, rusted steam engine train in an outdoor setting with greenery in the background.

videoFamily life

Fifty years ago, a train collided with Jack and Betty’s car. Here’s how they remember it

9 minutes

Two elderly women in red dresses and sunglasses standing in front of a tropical mural with birds, flowers, and a full moon.

essayPersonality

The myth of mirrored twins

What do the lives of twins tell us about heritability, selfhood and the age-old debate between nature and nurture?

Gavin Evans

Man lying on an orange sofa reading a document with a yellow notepad, faces partially obscured background.

videoLanguage and linguistics

A master palindromist spells out his 40-year ‘love affair with reversibility’

6 minutes

A group of young children and a teacher play with colourful building blocks in a classroom, with shelves and other students in the background.

essayTeaching and learning

Learning styles don’t exist

A teaching approach that is based on students’ preferences sounds laudable. But this misunderstands how learning happens

Carl Hendrick

Child with long hair and a white shirt, arms open wide and mouth agape, standing in a garden with brick walls, greenery, and wooden planks.

essayPersonality

Born that way

Confident or shy, our temperament is mostly baked-in from birth. But how that influences our lives is up for grabs

Gina Mireault

Shirtless youth jumping with arms raised against a blue sky with scattered clouds.

videoSubcultures

The cast of ‘misfit toys’ who keep life on an idyllic tourist island afloat

7 minutes

A sunset landscape with distant mountains. A painting of similar mountains and foreground is superimposed in the centre, showing more details and vibrant colours.

videoTechnology and the self

One woman prepares for the risky solitude of Georgia O’Keeffe’s American West

8 minutes

An illustration of a man lying on a chaise longue talking to man sitting in a chair, surrounded by bookshelves in a cosy room.

videoEthics

An animator wonders: can you ever depict someone without making them a caricature?

10 minutes

A bald man with tattooed back facing a boxing ring; tattoo reads “Poochi, Pride is Forever” with boxing gloves image.

videoPersonality

Why a journeyman boxer finds contentment in the art of losing

6 minutes

Bearded man with glasses and a yellow T-shirt looking up, standing outside near a pavement and trees.

videoPersonality

Wesley wants to solve the rooftop mystery – but does he have what it takes?

14 minutes

Silhouettes of people walking and standing by a railing against a blue evening sky, reflected in a wet surface below.

essayMood and emotion

When hope gets in the way

Hope is usually seen as a positive agent of change that spares us from pain. But it can also undermine healing and growth

Santiago Delboy