Under a Friendly Spell

How friends influence us, for better and for worse, throughout life.
by Carlin Flora

Knock Out Bad Habits, Cultivate Good Ones

My guess is that at least one of your bad habits (eating too much, sleeping too little, surfing the web instead of working, snapping at your family members) is in the front of your mind right this instant.  Read More

Has a Friend Saved You? (Literally or Figuratively)

Tell me about a friend who has truly helped you. Read More

Have You Ever Friend-Dated?

Rachel Bertsche's unconventional dating spree was a great success. Read More

A World Without Women?

"A world without women" sounds like science fiction. But the gender imbalance is real: 160 million women are "missing" around the globe. Read More

Shopping with Darwin

A Q and A with Gad Saad about consumer behavior. Read More

Why We're Terrible Predictors

In his fascinating new book, Duncan Watts, a principal research scientist at Yahoo! Research and former professor of sociology at Columbia University, takes a critical look at common sense and shows how dangerously bad we are at predicting certain outcomes. Read More

Black Swan: Art and Madness

The new film "Black Swan," directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, is a mesmerizing tale of a young woman's descent into fear and paranoia. Read More

Self-Help for Rebels

PT blogger Chris Guillebeau seems like a nice, normal young man. But don't let that preppy v-neck sweater he sports on the back of his new book fool you: His mission is to get people to question conventional paths, and to do so while fulfilling his quest to visit every country in the world by his 35th birthday, in 2013. (He's hit 149 out of 192). Read More

Katherine Rosman on Investigating Her Mother's Life

I recently asked author Katherine Rosman a little more about her book, If You Knew Suzy: A Mother, A Daughter, a Reporter's Notebook, which PT excerpted. After her mother died of cancer at age 60, Rosman, a reporter for the The Wall Street Journal, explored several unfamiliar corners of her mother's world. Read More

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye...

Today we say goodbye to Matthew Hutson, who has been PT's News Editor for the past four years. Read More

Could Therapy Bring More Happiness Than a Big Pay Raise?

If I offered you a voucher for therapy sessions totaling $1,300 or a cash prize of $41,000, which would you choose? Read More

"Precious" and the Power of Writing

The crux of the new film "Precious" has a basis in research psychology. Read More

Write a Tribute to Your Best Friend

Don't forget to write a tribute to your best friend in the comments section of Irene Levine's latest post!

The writers of the best entries will win a copy of Dr. Levine's new book, Best Friends Forever. 

Here's my tribute (done purely out of of gratitude, since I already have the book.)  Read More

Author Bill Wasik on Viral Culture

Bill Wasik, a senior editor at Harper's magazine, has been conducting social science experiments on the side for several years now. He's best known for creating "flash mobs," wherein a large number of participants follow emailed instructions to converge on a designated public spot for a few minutes of inexplicable mayhem. Read More

Martha Beck's Fight Against Fibromyalgia

Martha Beck, Ph.D., a preeminent life coach, author, and columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine, lived in severe pain for 12 years. From the time she was 18 to when she was finally diagnosed with fibromyalgia, she suffered from debilitating pain that doctors—and even some of her own family members—were convinced was "in her head." Read More

New Year's Resolution: Get Happy

While reporting on happiness for the January cover story, I surveyed some of PT's bloggers (and a few favorite past interviewees) to get their very best happiness advice.

I asked them two questions: 1. What is the best piece of advice you have for readers hoping to be happier this year? 2. What one change in the way we live as a culture could help us all to be happier? Read More

Getting Over a Narcissistic Mother

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What's It Like to be a Triplet?

A few months ago, I had coffee and cake with Sue and Jimmy Marchetta and their three 12-year-olds. I wondered: What's it like being a triplet, or parenting them? Their short answer was that it is completely normal. They've never known any other family configuration. Read More

Two Deadly Disorders in One

Here's a scary statistic: Women with Type 1 diabetes are at least twice as likely to develop an eating disorder as other women. What's really disturbing is their method of weight control. Read More

Cute on the Brain

Any infant left on a doorstep can safely bet that whoever finds her will be compelled to protect her. Nature cleverly designed babies to be adorable: They would be too much of a drag to care for otherwise. Read More

Weird and Wonderful

Dr. Kramer's post about a young woman who thinks of her autism as a different way of being, not as a disorder, got me thinking about how people can stretch their brains around disabilities with amazing results. Read More

Battering: Dangerous Dependency

A disheartening new CDC report states that nearly a quarter of women in the United States have been victims of domestic violence. Read More

Me in Brief

Speaking of self-documentation, how many words would you need to tell your life story? Read More

Charm School

I found this improbable tale of school reform heartening: A visionary principal, who is an Hasidic Jew, has greatly turned around a dismal and dangerous junior high in the South Bronx, where students are mostly African-American and Hispanic. Read More

Self-Portraits on Speed

We all know today's youth are a bunch of narcissistic exhibitionists. Well, maybe not quite. Read More

Pets Are People, Too

Pets can relieve loneliness. Read More

Carlin Flora

Carlin Flora is a journalist in New York City. She was a member of PT's staff from 2004-2011, most recently as Features Editor.

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