My friend Greta gives the most amazing pep talks. She starts by asking you, ‘What’s the title of your pep talk?’ And after you tell her the title – anything from ‘You feel like you’re stagnating, but ...

To be liked by others is often treated as a paramount aim. The quest for social approval begins in childhood, and it continues in a range of ways throughout the lifespan as people try to find their ...

Note: if you are publishing in English online, you must not republish until 3 days after the above date and an embargo clause to this effect will be included in your ...

The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom ...

Rachel Moran is an international speaker, feminist campaigner and the founding member of SPACE (Survivors of Prostitution Abuse Calling for Enlightenment) International. She is the author of Paid For: ...

What do people look at and what meanings do they make when a Kandinsky is on show in a power station guarded by a muscleman?

Small talk – those fleeting conversations with someone you don’t know well, or are meeting for the first time – is few people’s favourite thing, and many people’s least favourite thing. But, as Matt ...

Everything interesting comes from some sort of imperfection.’ A sculptor amplifies the deep weirdness of the human form ...

Whether an act seems ‘good’ depends on how you look at it. Brain research reveals what happens when the lens changes ...

Mzia, a 77-year-old elevator operator in Tbilisi, Georgia, journeys far from her building for the first time in 19 years ...

A tender look at five mothers facing formidable hardships, who set out to break the cycles of addiction, poverty and neglect ...