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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
A colourful abstract drawing of two people talking on the left, and three others walking with baskets on the right. There are boats in the background and watercolour splashes.
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video

Anthropology

Why are witchcraft accusations so common across human societies?

4 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

People seated in a diner with red accents, a waitress serving, and a woman in a green sweater sitting by the window adjusting her hair.
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essay

Social psychology

The magic of the mundane

Pioneering sociologist Erving Goffman realised that every action is deeply revealing of the social norms by which we live

Lucy McDonald

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

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

7 minutes

An older man stands proudly in front of his house near Leipzig, east Germany after reunification in 1990. A German flag hangs from a ground floor window.
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essay

Economic history

Deservingness

In post-communist eastern and central Europe, history is intensely personal and economics is saturated with moral feeling

Till Hilmar

A monochrome drawing of a surprised young person looking downwards, with wide eyes and slightly open mouth.
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Biography and memoir

The busboy who comforted Robert F Kennedy as he lay dying shares his story

3 minutes

A black-and-white image of a man and a woman in a bar, both holding drinks. The woman is looking at the man with a serious expression.
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essay

Social psychology

Don’t let them fool you

The fear of being duped is ubiquitous, but excessive scepticism makes it harder to trust one another and cooperate

Tess Wilkinson-Ryan

A person uses a phone with cartoon faces in the background representing online interactions.
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video

Social psychology

Social contagions can cause genuine illness, and TikTok may be a superspreader

10 minutes

A street scene with a shoe shiner, a man reading a newspaper, and people wearing traditional attire in front of a vibrant, orange wall.
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essay

Ethics

Through the eyes of another

It’s impossible to shed our individual biases. So the best way to establish objectivity is by taking on new perspectives

Heidi Maibom

A group of people stands indoors with a woman in front holding a rifle, wearing a beanie and a patterned jacket.
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essay

War and peace

The will to fight

Throughout history, the most effective combatants have powered to victory on commitment to core values and collective resolve

Scott Atran

Animated man with clenched fists in a fighting stance, wearing glasses, a red jacket, and a brown tie with a crowd in the background.
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video

Social psychology

A harrowing account of a 1970 ‘leadership seminar’ spotlights self-help’s dark side

11 minutes

Two men beside a wooden biplane near a hangar in an open grassy field, possibly from the early 20th century.
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essay

Social psychology

A good scrap

Disagreements can be unpleasant, even offensive, but they are vital to human reason. Without them we remain in the dark

Ian Leslie

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video

Anthropology

Sitting by the fire with a nomadic tribe, a physicist ponders the many shapes of wisdom

2 minutes

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Mood and emotion

Grieving Kobe Bryant, Conor wonders: why do untimely celebrity deaths hit so hard?

6 minutes

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Social psychology

Feeling connected to objects is a fundamental – and fraught – part of human nature

5 minutes

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Ethics

Does everyone deserve a respectful burial? How a terrorist’s body divided a city

22 minutes

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Social psychology

Disturbed loner? Gentle recluse? Opinions on an infamous Maine hermit run the gamut

23 minutes

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video

Film and visual culture

‘From dream to reality!’ The 1960s spoof that marked the dawn of self-aware advertising

9 minutes

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idea

Love and friendship

Dating on the rebound – when looking for love can be a lifesaver

Claudia Brumbaugh

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Music

The violinist staging a concert of unity at the border between North and South Korea

18 minutes

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video

Social psychology

Do you feel like a fraud after a success? It can mean you’re doing something well

4 minutes

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essay

Death

This mortal coil

The fear of death drives many evils, from addiction to prejudice and war. Can it also be harnessed as a force for good?

Jeff Greenberg

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Childhood and adolescence

‘I want to take the bullet and save my friends’ – the grim reality of safety drills in US schools

3 minutes

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Human rights and justice

‘They told us to stay put’: the South Korean ferry disaster that sank lives and trust

29 minutes