Before Taylor and Travis, There Was Helen and John

She Was an Actress. He Was a Shortstop. We Can Learn From the Press Parade Around This 19th-Century Power Couple

Everyone who’s the least bit plugged into the NFL or popular culture, or has spent at least five minutes out of a coma the past few months, knows why the Kansas City broadcast keeps cutting to the Chiefs’ luxury suite. Shots of Taylor Swift cheering for Travis Kelce are now seamlessly part of television coverage. Is it love? Is it a publicity stunt? Why does the media follow their every move so breathlessly—and why is America following along?

Only time might answer the first two questions, but history can help with …

by Scott D. Peterson | January 11, 2024

When ‘Honor’—and Bureaucracy—Stand in the Way of Marriage

Indian Law Protects Intercaste and Interfaith Unions. But Many Couples Still Can’t Wed

by Khushbu Sharma | December 13, 2023

In May 2022, a video depicting a 25-year-old man in Hyderabad being publicly murdered by his wife’s family members in retaliation for the couple’s interfaith relationship went viral on social …

To Make Families Good for Democracy, Broaden the Notion of Family Itself

An Insular Focus on Our Closest Relations Can Distort Our View of One Another and the World

By Elizabeth Brake | December 15, 2016

Since at least the time of Aristotle’s Politics, families have been considered the building block of society. Strong families produce the stability—and reproduce the future citizens—needed for society to flourish. …

How the Memory of a Handshake Helps Put Tragedy in Perspective

The Overwhelming Stream of Depressing News From Around the Globe Makes Personal Connections Even More Meaningful

By Gordon Dossett | July 29, 2016

After mass shootings and other random acts of violence, the media responds in patterns all too familiar—heart-breaking accounts of the loss, a search to understand why (as if that answer …

To Start Talking, Stop Texting

Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age

By Sherry Turkle | May 10, 2016

Text messages can make us feel constantly connected to the people we care about. But texting, and the ubiquitous presence of our phones, can also have the opposite effect. Who …

My First Great Love Hates My Guts

I Fear That His Judgment of Me Is True

By Andrea Marks | October 29, 2015

The first time I thought someone might actually hate me, I had just received an email from my first boyfriend, three years after we broke up. He was replying to …

relationships