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Psychology

Essays and videos offering insights into the self, relationships, cognition and neuroscience
AddictionAgeing and deathChildhood and adolescenceCognition and intelligenceConsciousness and altered statesFamily lifeGender and identityLanguage and linguisticsLife stagesLove and friendshipMental healthMood and emotionNeurodiversityNeurosciencePersonalityPleasure and painPsychiatry and psychotherapySelf-improvementSex and sexualitySleep and dreamsSocial psychologySpiritualityTeaching and learningTechnology and the selfWellbeing
Illustration of a person sitting in a room with a bed and various objects. The background is pink, and the objects include a lamp, books, clock, plants, lava lamp, slippers, and a small ball. The person appears to be drawn in a simple, sketch-like style.
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video

Sex and sexuality

After a sextortion scam, Eugene conducts an unblushing survey of masturbation

14 minutes

Close-up of a woman with blonde hair and a nose ring. She has a serious expression. The background is a foggy landscape with soft pink and grey tones.
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video

Technology and the self

A deepfake porn victim confronts the pain of having her likeness stolen and vandalised

19 minutes

Painting of a nude woman standing on a seashell, with two figures blowing wind from the left and a woman offering a cloak on the right.
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video

Art

More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution

19 minutes

A drawing of a hand figure standing on its pointer and middle fingers with a smiley face. Behind is a cave with drawings of human shapes on the walls.
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video

Sex and sexuality

For ages, solo sex was hardly taboo. What led to its centuries-long dry spell?

4 minutes

Elderly person with a serious expression and a cigarette in their mouth, wearing a grey sweater, standing in front of a house with a curtain and wooden chair.
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video

Gender

The ‘sworn virgins’ of Albania who trade femininity for freedom

10 minutes

Ancient Greek marble relief of a centaur engaging in combat with a human, displaying intricate muscle details and dynamic movement on a stone background.
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essay

Art

All those naked Greeks…

Men in ancient Greek art exercise, fight battles, pursue lovers and mourn lost friends, all without their pants on. Why?

Sarah Murray

A man sitting in a large jar holds a lantern, surrounded by four dogs, with an ancient town scene in the background.
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essay

History of ideas

Self-satisfaction

The ancient Cynics taught that masturbation is about more than pleasure: it suggests how to live simply and autonomously

M D Usher

An old drawing shows people in a shop with shelves displaying phalluses. Two women examine items while a man and woman converse in the background.
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essay

Stories and literature

The honesty of pornography

Often vilified as a weapon of male supremacy, pornography in fact has much to tell us about ourselves and our culture

Kathleen Lubey

A classical artwork depicting multiple nude figures in passionate embraces against a lush, outdoor background with trees and distant mountains.
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essay

History of ideas

The invention of free love

Percy Shelley thought romantic love freed men and women from the strictures of monogamy, but did it free them equally?

Neil McArthur

A minimalist drawing of two women in robes, reaching out to each other against a beige background.
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video

The ancient world

Sappho’s homoerotic poetry was beloved in ancient Greece – and burned centuries later

5 minutes

Model of a grey building with a red door, surrounded by grass and small figurines, representing an institution.
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video

Human rights and justice

The staggering cruelty of Ireland’s Church-run ‘mother and baby homes’

18 minutes

Victorian-era portrait of a man and woman; the woman holds a small framed photograph, in an ornate gold oval frame.
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essay

Love and friendship

Tainted love

Love is both a wonderful thing and a cunning evolutionary trick to control us. A dangerous cocktail in the wrong hands

Anna Machin

Woman gazing at her reflection in a hand mirror, wearing pink earrings and lying on a patterned red rug.
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video

Teaching and learning

The vulva dialogues – inside a sex-ed class that rebels against genitalia shame

11 minutes

Illustration of a man’s face flanked by four women’s faces above four hands set against a yellow background. The women have various skin tones and coloured hairstyles.
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video

Personality

Art students divulge (and animate) the dating pet peeves they find unforgivable

3 minutes

Traditional Japanese artwork showing a couple kissing, their kimonos parted to reveal their nakedness.
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essay

Biology

Slow sex, long life

Tokyo’s imperial archives advise what science now confirms: the secret of longevity lies in the gentle arts of the bedroom

Denis Noble

Black-and-white photo of a bald man beside a bookcase in a room decorated with his portrait and religious icons.
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essay

Sex and sexuality

Idealising the predator

How did certain French intellectuals get away with preying upon young girls, shamelessly, in public and over decades?

Lily Dunn

Group of rowdy men in suits at a bar, raising their arms and cheering, with drinks and cigarettes on the table.
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essay

Gender

Are men animals?

Diagnosing men as violent and oversexed beasts is tempting but it’s a regressive idea built on dubious analogies

Matthew Gutmann

A black and white photo of a smiling man being carried by a group of men dressed as nuns, all looking joyful.
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video

Human rights and justice

When the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence canonised Derek Jarman

24 minutes

Two children smiling and laughing in a classroom with a bright yellow wall and shelves with binders and books.
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video

Sex and sexuality

What does the Dutch model of comprehensive, ‘shame-free’ sex-ed look like?

9 minutes

Teacher pointing to a diagram of the female reproductive system in a classroom, students watching attentively.
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essay

Education

Sex on the curriculum

Sex education is a battlefield over morals and young bodies, and has exposed fractures in American life for over a century

Kristy Slominski

Woman operating a vintage printing press.
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essay

Stories and literature

Literary prostitutes

I self-published erotica to make ends meet. Could I follow in Anaïs Nin’s footsteps or was I doomed to churn out filth?

Sam Mills

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essay

Stories and literature

Shameful

Women who write about their pain suffer a double shaming: once for getting injured, twice for their act of self-exposure

Katherine Angel

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essay

Sex and sexuality

The case of Norman Douglas

He was a literary lion and an infamous pederast: what might we learn from his life about monstrosity and humanity?

Rachel Hope Cleves

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essay

Biology

The penis: a life

Boned, spined, spiked, corkscrewed or double-headed: why did so much variety arise when a simple tube would do?

Emily Willingham