Give Me Something To Read

Researchers discover a surprising threat to democracy: our brains.

Life after a brain injury teaches you a lot about yourself. But mainly it teaches you about the grind of illness and recovery.

The depravity of Major League Eating.

While some have avoided using the term “addiction” in the context of natural compulsions such as uncontrolled sexuality, overeating, or gambling, let us consider current scientific evidence regarding the brain and addiction.

In those bleak moments when the lost souls stood atop the cliff, wondering whether to jump, the sound of the wind and the waves was broken by a soft voice. “Why don’t you come and have a cup of tea?” the stranger would ask.

AA and its steps have become ubiquitous despite the fact that no one is quite sure how—or, for that matter, how well—they work. The organization is notoriously difficult to study, thanks to its insistence on anonymity and its fluid membership. And AA’s method, which requires “surrender” to a vaguely defined “higher power,” involves the kind of spiritual revelations that neuroscientists have only begun to explore.

Why writers can’t live to please their readers.

For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women?

How do Americans spend their leisure time? The answer might surprise you.

A young psycholinguist confesses her strong attraction to pronouns.