Kaja Perina

A Riddle For All Ages

When my son was old enough to understand the basic concept of infinity (but hardly its nuance), he presented me with a “trick riddle.”

When my son was old enough to understand the basic concept of infinity (but hardly its nuance), he presented me with a “trick riddle.”

A Lesson From Junior High Exile

The inner voice is both symptom and salve, partly indicating what you believe about yourself and partly indoctrinating you into a way of thinking, as I discovered in a middle school library long ago.

The inner voice is both symptom and salve, partly indicating what you believe about yourself and partly indoctrinating you into a way of thinking, as I discovered in a middle school library long ago.

Enter the Epiphany Machine

Struggle, whether creative or emotional, can be a trapdoor to another place entirely.

Struggle, whether creative or emotional, can be a trapdoor to another place entirely.

Notes from our issue on love and lust, parenting in the age of "childolatry," cultivating math aptitude and more..

Don't Eschew the Future You

Could correctives to our future-focusing flaws become as widespread as are strategies to boost willpower and grit, our culture’s cognitive obsessions du jour?

Could correctives to our future-focusing flaws become as widespread as are strategies to boost willpower and grit, our culture’s cognitive obsessions du jour?

The Language of Secret Keeping

There is no vocabulary for the myriad ways in which a beloved’s secret can burden the person to whom it is revealed, though the possibilities are endless and, like many attempts to capture emotional complexity, quite possibly Germanic: Geheimnisaustausch? Stockholm-secret-keeping syndrome?)

There is no vocabulary for the myriad ways in which a beloved’s secret can burden the person to whom it is revealed, though the possibilities are endless and, like many attempts to capture emotional complexity, quite possibly Germanic: Geheimnisaustausch? Stockholm-secret-keeping syndrome?)

The Beauty of Trade-Offs

The fact that behavior itself is an endless exercise in trade-offs is fair warning not to become overly reliant on a single strategy or way of being.

The fact that behavior itself is an endless exercise in trade-offs is fair warning not to become overly reliant on a single strategy or way of being.

Secrets of the Whistleblower

It is far easier to keep secrets of state than secrets of the heart. When the two become conflated, beware. Bradley Manning needed to air the combat footage that haunted him, such as the “Collateral Murder” Apache helicopter attack video, but equally he needed to air his emotional torment. Multiple secrets are, for most people, multiply difficult to contain.

It is far easier to keep secrets of state than secrets of the heart. When the two become conflated, beware. Bradley Manning needed to air the combat footage that haunted him, such as the “Collateral Murder” Apache helicopter attack video, but equally he needed to air his emotional torment. Multiple secrets are, for most people, multiply difficult to contain.

Enter Psychopath, Exeunt Certainty

To say that you can spot a law-abiding psychopath is almost an oxymoron, though it’s never stopped me from trying. Psychopaths are by definition masters of emotional disguise.

To say that you can spot a law-abiding psychopath is almost an oxymoron, though it’s never stopped me from trying. Psychopaths are by definition masters of emotional disguise.

Judging Books—and Leaders—By Their Covers

Has Obama really aged ten years since 2008? Would Lincoln's visage preclude him from contemporary politics? Our judgments about faces will always be a blend of science and subjectivity, hard to untangle and rife with intrigue.

Has Obama really aged ten years since 2008? Would Lincoln's visage preclude him from contemporary politics? Our judgments about faces will always be a blend of science and subjectivity, hard to untangle and rife with intrigue.