“All I have told is true but it is not the whole truth.”

This is how Laura Ingalls Wilder described her Little House books in a speech in 1937. As it turns out, the “whole truth” was stranger than fiction in many ways. In Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Caroline Fraser tells a story that is much darker than … Read More

“You want to aim for what D’Mello and colleagues call a ‘zone of optimal confusion.’”

D’Mello and his research team identified three guiding principles for implementing confusion in the college classroom: it should be appropriate, intentional and in the context of learning; students should possess the ability to successfully resolve the confusion; and when students can’t resolve it on their own, there should be appropriate … Read More

“You’re not going to be able to deal with this problem alone.”

The most radical idea in Johann Hari’s Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions is that treatment for depression shouldn’t focus on medication only.  Because depression has three kinds of causes – biological, psychological and social – treatment plans should include multiple responses and … Read More

“Without my voice, and spirit, I am dust, / This is not what I want, but what I must.”

In these memorable lines from Mike Bartlett’s play King Charles III, the lead character explains his decision to oppose a law the parliament has passed. He knows his actions will throw the modern British system of government into chaos. People will revolt, and tanks will roll into London. … Read More