The Story Art & Science

They say evolution made us into storytellers. But in a world drowning in narrative, can we learn to be something else?

He was one of Amazon’s most prolific product reviewers. But when poet and author Kevin Killian died in 2019, he left behind something more profound than just shopping advice.

The group behind National Novel Writing Month, which challenges writers to pen 50,000 words each November, called opposing AI “classist and ableist”. Authors revolted—sparking debate about the very nature of creativity.

Conservatives have long dominated the political battlefield with simple slogans (and simpler thinking). PR legend David Fenton says it's time the left did the same.

Classical. Motown. Mambo No. 5? Six authors on the music that keeps their words flowing.

In hospitals across the world, doctors are putting down their scalpels and picking up novels to better understand the sick.

Long before Putin convinced Russians he needed to liberate Ukraine of Nazis, author Margaret Atwood was observing how the powerful used stories as a tool to oppress.

“After 8:00 p.m. I tend to be very stupid and we won’t talk about this.”

Dreams, italics, the word “lugubrious”—here’s everything America’s newspaper of record wants writers to stop writing.

ChatGPT can write you a poem, an essay, or a Cormac McCarthy novel about a frog on a bicycle. Is this the end of human storytelling as we know it?

Reporters tend to prefer words. But as award-winning data journalist Jack Kerr explains, sometimes a simple spreadsheet and a graph are all you need to make headlines.

Advertisers want to insert commercials into your dreams. And according to this group of scientists, they're pretty close to having the tech to do it.

The Slaughterhouse-Five author believed there were just eight different story 'shapes'—and that they might be of interest to anthropologists. The anthropologists thought otherwise. But why?

Warning: may cause decor envy.

The rock critic-turned-foreign correspondent reflects on a wild career—and shares his tips for those just starting out.

Three thousand songs. One very dedicated Spotify user.

It may not be your standard summer reading. But this collection of prison newspapers from 1800-2020 offers a compelling insight into human creativity.

The bazillionaire once listed a dozen storytelling elements every Amazon TV show had to include. They say more about our obsession with rules than they do about making good TV.

They're often derided for their ‘so bad they’re good’ wordplay. But there’s a skill to crafting the perfect country song title—and journalists would do well to take note.

Proof there’s more to podcasting than Joe Rogan.

If Labor versus Liberal sometimes feels like Campbell’s Soup verus Heinz, that’s no accident.

Ever wondered why politicians flip-flop but never flop-flip? It’s just one of the obscure language rules you didn’t know you knew.

To build trust in COVID vaccines, the island of Jersey turned to behavioural scientist Steve J. Martin. His advice? Use language, not logic.

Got an internet connection? You got yourself a crash course in storytelling, care of these wisdom-imparting videos.

Here’s that inspiration you were looking for.