Menu
Psyche
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN

Pam Weintraub

Senior Editor, Aeon+Psyche

Pam is an editor and writer specialising in psychology, neuroscience and the sciences. She has previously worked as executive and features editor at Discover, where her acquisitions were widely anthologised and received numerous national awards; a consulting editor at Psychology Today; and in a range of roles at Omni magazine, from senior editor and editor-at-large to founding editor of Omni online. She is author of 16 books on medicine, psychology and lifestyle, including Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic, which won the American Medical Writers Association book award in 2009. She can be found on Twitter @pam3001.

Edited by Pam Weintraub

Photo of a busy night street market with people and colourful tricycles in the Philippines, lit by street lights and signage.

Communication and language

idea

The tentacles of language are always on the move

An evolutionary biologist explains how human language can shift as slowly or rapidly as organisms adapting to life on Earth

by Klaus M Stiefel

A person walking a dog along a tree-lined path during sunset, with a warm orange glow illuminating the scene. The person wears a white and green top with a blue jacket tied around their waist. The dog is walking slightly ahead on a leash.

Emerging therapies

idea

Could dreams during anaesthesia help to heal life’s trauma?

Scientists are studying the dreamlike states produced by anaesthesia – and their potential benefits for people with PTSD

by Shayla Love

A wooden box filled with vintage black-and-white photographs, showing portraits and various scenes, some faded with age.

Parenting and families

idea

I’m childfree by choice. Should I feel guilty about ending my line?

My uterus is not my ancestors’ vessel for future progeny. What’s the impact of my choice on my family’s genetic lineage?

by Starre Vartan

A person walking on a pier towards a lighthouse, holding a book behind their back, with the sea on the right under a grey sky.

Pleasures and pastimes

guide

How to wander

Whether in a city or the wilderness, near or far, there’s joy to be had in a journey where the destination doesn’t matter

by Jordan Fisher Smith

Five people wait to cross by Victoria’s Secret posters; some use their phones, while others look around.

Body dysmorphic disorder

idea

Body neutrality gives me the freedom not to love my body

How body neutrality, not body positivity, allowed me to acknowledge the fraught relationship between myself and my body

by Payal Dhar

Black-and-white photo of young children dancing in a studio, with one girl in the foreground, mouth open and hair swinging.

Home

idea

How war destroys the childhood sense-scape we call ‘home’

What we grow up with determines the gestures, textures, spaces, sights, smells, sounds and thoughts we call ‘home’

by Julia F Christensen

Woman with long dark hair sitting at a desk, using a typewriter. Art of a smiling face in the background.

Memoir

idea

Learn the art of journaling and archive your life

Journaling is an art and a daily practice that allows you to write your life and find your way, one sentence at a time

by Sarah Boon

A boy eats at a table while a smiling woman holds a kitten in a rustic kitchen with peeling walls and various items on a counter.

Food and drink

idea

La cucina povera delivers the fare we need to sustain us now

La cucina povera made do with whatever was available in nonna’s kitchen garden, and remains the perfect fare for our times

by Louise Fabiani

Silhouettes of people observing and photographing a beluga whale through an aquarium glass in a dimly lit blue environment.

Animals

idea

Human exceptionalism imposes horrible costs on other animals

We owe it to other animals and to ourselves to resist human exceptionalism. Accepting their inner lives is the first step

by Barbara J King

Ancient artefact with gold sun, moon, and stars on a dark blue-green background, likely depicting an early astronomical observation.

Wonder and the sublime

idea

Bronze Age people looked to the skyscape to navigate their lives

Long before stargazing helped humans navigate the Earth, the skyscape gave Bronze Age people mystery and wonder

by Kata Karáth

Busy city street at dusk with people walking, illuminated by bright lights from buildings and vehicles, including a lit-up truck and taxis in the background.

Disability

idea

A few simple steps could empower the world’s largest minority

What makes people like me disabled is not our bodies but the societies we live in. Let me inspire a rethink in your attitudes

by Paras Shah

A doctor examines a patient’s mouth using a small light. The patient is wearing glasses and has their mouth open wide.

Therapeutic relationships

idea

Homeless, delusional, and brave, Mrs A taught me a powerful lesson

How a homeless woman with frostbitten feet taught me what it means to stand up for another when the stakes are high

by Patricia Steckler