Most cults don’t make the headlines. Here’s how to identify, and avoid, control by psychologically coercive social groups ...

Social scientists have long documented the ‘warm glow’ of altruism, a good feeling that comes from doing a good deed. But ...

Shame swamps any redeeming traits you might have thought you had. Slow down to interrupt the loops that cause self-hatred ...

Mental health awareness may be having unintended consequences – the conversation needs to shift from vibes to precision ...

Katia Ariel is a writer, editor and educator. She is the author of The Swift Dark Tide (2023) and Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch (2025). She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Self-control, grit, growth mindset – trendy skills won’t transform children’s lives, but more meaningful interventions can ...

Research on how we perceive the rate of change shows how you can be strategic about goal tracking and boost your motivation ...

A lot of people think they know how to sharpen pencils, but… they don’t.’ A guide to doing it right, by an artisanal pro ...

How do you move through the world? With a plan and destination in mind, headphones or a car stereo drowning out the world, perhaps? In this short film, the filmmaker Mykhailo Bogdanov makes a ...

Sixteen years ago, in the far north of Norway, just past a bus stop in the town of Alta and down a series of ramps to the edge of a fjord, I found one of the world’s finest displays of rock art. I’d ...

I was taken aback a few years ago when an article went viral admonishing its readers for sending so many ‘thank you’ emails – we’re all struggling with overflowing inboxes, it claimed, and insisting ...