Six qualities make you cool, according to science. Trying too hard isn’t one of them
There’s a lesson here for politicians or political analysts who put great store in image management
Unthinkable
Unthinkable coumns by Joe Humphreys
Netflix recommendations, IQ scores and Duolingo streaks: the top 5 most useless metrics
Unthinkable: Not all rankings are worth paying attention to, but here’s one that is
Why Donald Trump has the mind of a cat
Making sense of the 47th US president is not easy, but a 17th century philosopher could have the answer
Have you given up alcohol yet? Planned your career pivot? Try the stoics’ approach instead
Unthinkable: Stoicism is not about outcomes, about getting what you want, or even about being happier or healthier
Hate growing old? This advice will help you navigate it
Advice from philosophers, including don’t stop playing, and don’t over-invest in your children
Eoin Lenihan’s Vandalising Ireland proposes an idiosyncratic new direction for Ireland
Unthinkable: We’re all anti-globalist now: an idea of the left has became a rallying call of the right
The chatbot will see you now: is this the future of Irish medicine?
Evidence of AI progress is mounting whereas humans ‘haven’t had a software update in 200,000 years’
Culture wars have come for Dublin’s Winter Lights festival
Posts on X are channelling rage at the wokerati accused of being out to ban Christmas
Dreading Christmas dinner with your family? You may be an otrovert
Psychiatrist Rami Kaminski has identified a new ‘personality style’ but is it just a pleasing label for stubborn individualists?
How to think like a bee and stop comparing yourself with others
Unthinkable: Resentment animates much of our political debate today. Here’s a three-point plan to tackle it
Simon Harris may be wrong about migration figures but he wasn’t dogwhistling
Policing language has damaged progressive causes - it’s time to retire the linguistic ‘harm hunters’
Debate about the role of the Tricolour in a united Ireland fails the logic test
Unthinkable: Fact-checking isn’t enough to save democracy, we need logic-checking
The Catholic thinker behind JD Vance’s religious conversion
Unthinkable: French philosopher René Girard developed a theory of scapegoating. The US vice president has weaponised it
Maybe some of us are just not meant to be president
Unthinkable: Many of us aspire to wealth, status and titles such as ‘president’, even when our vocation lies elsewhere
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices