In Afghanistan, young girls and women struggle under the Taliban’s gender apartheid. But Laila Haidari continues to defy the harsh regime. — Since the Taliban took over in 2021, Ogai Amail, a resident of Kabul, sums up best the desperate living conditions of ordinary Afghanis. “From the day they have come, life has lost its meaning,” said Ogai Amail, “Everything has been snatched from us, they have even entered our personal space.”

“This is the best time in history to be born a girl; make the most of it” Your mother told me the most delightful news last night over a steaming bowl of noodles: she’s expecting you. I’m so thrilled that my fingers can’t keep up with my jumbling thoughts, so…

How do you stay calm when happiness turns into horror? — I felt Ellie’s fingers loosely holding my hand. Her excited chatter echoed in the woods when a hunch made me look behind me. There was nothing, only trees rustling in the summer breeze. I grabbed her hand tighter than was comfortable for a two-year-old. I looked left and right and…

The country is shocked and angry, but one thing is missing from the public debate. — Her name is Ashling Murphy. At twenty-three, she was a gifted violinist, a primary school teacher, and a beloved family and community member. She went for a run on January 12th, on a popular trail beside the canal, in the small Midlands town of Tullamore. At 4 pm, a stranger…

Does the ‘Cult of the Child’ do our society more harm than good? — A few weeks ago, the first episode of Love Island UK (season eight) brought a pandora’s box of rampant individualism. Watching thirty oiled-up narcissist singletons strutting across our screens this summer, we’ll get a chance to reflect on our age of entitlement. And now it seems we, as parents, are…

The single mom’s story goes viral, with people praising her ‘old school’ parenting. — After receiving a call from her twelve-year-old’s teacher, to say that her son had repeatedly called a female classmate ‘fat and ugly’ in a string of abusive texts, Samm Jane — a single mom from Warwickshire, UK — was left fuming. But Jane, 32, didn’t leave school to deal with…

Don’t worry. Your soulmate is out there — for a small fee. — If you’re unlucky in love and sick of tawdry Tinder hookups, then an AI soulmate might be for you. The Replika app lets you chat with a friend bot for free, and you can choose its gender, hair, skin color, and pretty much anything else. When you’re ready to take…

Or how your mind can heal when you immerse it. Filing away stubborn corners in my sculpture, I came to terms with a thunderbolt that had cracked my life wide open. Obsessing over extracting the right shape out of an unwieldy soapstone block taught me about creating a new life…

Modern parenting is never straightforward, but live by this simple advice and it’ll make looking after your kids much easier. — Before I got pregnant, my sister-in-law warned me bringing up kids was tiring. She has two; her parents brought up her son. Raising her second one, my niece — a college graduate now, took a lot more effort on her part. She wasn’t used to the physical slog of raising…