The Best Friends Can Do Nothing for You
If your social life is leaving you unfulfilled, you might have too many deal friends, and not enough real friends.
The Dark Side of Box Tops for Education
The school-funding program recently switched from offering rebates for physical labels to an app, frustrating many users and highlighting some of the program’s long-standing contradictions and inequalities.
9 Pieces of Advice to Help You See Relationships More Clearly
In some cases, “Dear Therapist” columns help us understand a situation from another person’s point of view; in others, they give us the language we need to name a situation.
When Your Closest Friends Are From Elementary School
“When I see people from Peretz school, it’s as if nothing has changed. The comfort, the ease, the knowing of each other is the same.”
The Hidden Toll of Remote Work
Switching to Zoom forever might be convenient, but it’s a recipe for loneliness.
Trump’s Presidency Is Over. So Are Many Relationships.
Joe Biden wants the country to heal from its political divisions. But some people say they aren’t ready to reconnect with their estranged friends and family members.
What You’re Saying When You Give Someone the Silent Treatment
Social ostracism has been a common punishment for millennia. But freezing someone out harms both the victim and the perpetrator.
Are You Dreaming Too Big?
Lifelong, hard-to-achieve goals might not make you happier. Small steps will.
What If This Was the Last Year Your Loved One Was Lucid?
Dementia patients have deteriorated in social isolation. They’ve been robbed of both their health and some of their last clear memories with family members.
Overcoming American Masculinity to Build a Deep Male Friendship
“I was by myself in a country that felt huge and overwhelming. I felt tiny, and Abhi was my anchor.”
How to End a Conversation Without Making Up an Excuse
A certain notion of politeness requires pretending the ideal interaction would go on forever. That’s ridiculous.
Here’s 10,000 Hours. Don’t Spend It All in One Place.
Evidence shows that hyper-specialization is not the best strategy for happiness.
A Year at Home Showed People New Sides of Their Loved Ones
The pandemic made our worlds smaller, and as a result many came to know the people they live with more deeply.
Changing Your Mind Can Make You Less Anxious
Humans are programmed to think we’re right at all costs. Fighting that instinct will set you free.
Becoming a Parent During the Pandemic Was the Hardest Thing I’ve Ever Done
This completely different person I’ve become since I gave birth is someone virtually no one knows.
We Have to Grieve Our Last Good Days
Why people dwell on their final pre-pandemic memories
Snow Days May Never Be the Same
The availability of virtual learning means schools don’t necessarily need to shut down for the weather. But the loss of snow days is the loss of a source of joy for kids.
Work-Life Balance Has to Include Friendship
“We’re able to be our fully human, vulnerable, type-A selves with a group of people who get us in a way that your partner or your kids may not.”
A Counterintuitive Way to Cheer Up When You’re Down
When you most need to get happier, try giving happiness away.
There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise
When Michaeleen Doucleff met parents from around the world, she encountered millennia-old methods of raising good kids that made American parenting seem bizarre and ineffective.