Opinion
In an age of tolerance, why is there so much hostility?
We like to think we live in an enlightened age, where each of us has the freedom to form our own opinions. Why then, instead of existing peacefully alongside one another, do we vehemently condemn any who dare to hold a different opinion as wrong? On any number of issues we so often feel that we alone have all the right answers. But is there anything wrong with that?
Guns and the price of freedom
As America reels after another mass shooting, and people around the world ask why they don't impose stricter gun laws, Jennie Pollock looks at why they don't, and how we're all really the same at heart.
The wanton act of reading in bed
Community is hard. But have you ever noticed how the hardest things are often the most rewarding?
Equality and other fictions
Most of our moral passion for justice and outrage at equality stems from a belief that all people are created equal. But that belief makes no sense without God, as Yuval Harari makes clear.
Has God forgotten us in London and Manchester?
The atrocities in Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge are the latest examples in a list of heartache that spans human history. At times like these it feels reasonable to ask if God has left us, or was he ever even there?
Hollow promises of productivity
Books and blogs are constantly offering us the seductive and powerful promise of a more productive life: the end of procrastination, frustration, and incompetence. But our hunger to find out the perfect productivity system reveals something more profound going on in our hearts.
The crucible of unemployment
Unemployment sounds great in theory. Imagine pyjama days every day, no alarm clock jackhammering into your mornings, and time to re-evaluate your entire life priorities whilst catching up on Loose Women. Except, as I recently discovered, it also forces you into deep crisis. Say hello to frozen pizzas and a blossoming relationship with your recruitment agent.
Are women really equal?
There are many ways in which the gender divide still wounds women: from unequal pay to the prohibitive cost of childcare, from unshatterable glass ceilings to unrealistic expectations of beauty, performance and achievement. We may say we value women equally, but in reality there are still many disparities to be overcome, both practically and in our own thought processes. So, how can I know who I am as a woman? Is there a rest from this treadmill?
Self-improvement generation
Why have we seen an explosion in self-improvement literature in recent years? If increased ambition and our tendency to compare ourselves are behind this trend, where does this leave us? How do we cope with being increasingly dissatisfied with ourselves?