Stories

We tell stories about health and human experience. Our words and pictures make connections, provoke new thinking and share lived experiences.

  • Article

The blue space blueprint

It’s easy to overlook the litter choking our cities’ waterways, but the litter-picker’s manifesto is one to follow if we dream of a better world. Leila Taheri explores the psychology of littering and litter-picking, and imagines a radical future for our urban blue spaces.

  • Long read

Acts of love and resistance in Sudan

Growing up in Sudan, Jumana Eltgani knew the highs of water flowing and the lows of dry days. Her family’s clay zeer kept water cool and easy to share. Now, amid war, that spirit of generosity is keeping her neighbourhood alive.

Part of Inside our collections
  • Article

The vilest of all beverages

Drinking water was risky in the Middle Ages. But that didn’t stop people from drinking it – warily, enthusiastically, and sometimes with disgusting consequences. Historian Katherine Harvey explores the sometimes strange beliefs medieval people had about water.

  • Article

The price of pure water

Like millions of people across West Africa, Tracy Egbele’s family has no access to safe tap water, and buys plastic-packaged water instead. She highlights the serious problems facing this fragile system, and the daily health risks people are forced to take as a result.

  • Article

Island of thirst

Surrounded by saltwater but starved of the fresh kind, Aegina’s residents rely on tankers and plastic bottles to get by. Mirela Dialeti explores how life on this Greek island balances on a hope that a new underwater pipeline will finally bring change.

Getting physical

Becoming more active has to be the most popular new year's resolution. Whether it's going to the gym, joining a sports team or learning to dance, there are so many ways to get more exercise. Here are six stories that might inspire you to get physical this year.

  • In pictures

Backstroke to the future

Now one of the most popular forms of exercise, the health-giving properties of swimming have not always been recognised. Dive into a gallery that charts the course from water as site of danger to a space of health.

Part of Inside our collections
  • Article

Rediscovering a love of the game

Sexism and homophobia in football prompted Lara Goodwin to stop playing the sport at 19. Today, while discrimination in the game is still rife, Lara has found hope – and like-minded players – in an inclusive east London club.

Yoga gets physical

A new emphasis on the link between exercise and health, in the early 20th century, inspired a culture of physical self-improvement. Lalita Kaplish explores how yoga influenced and was inspired by this global phenomenon.

Part of A history of modern yoga
  • Article

Finding my body through the wilderness

Writer Jennifer Neal used vigorous exercise classes to try and heal herself in the years following an assault. But it was only while hiking outdoors that she found true strength.

Part of Feeling through nature
  • In pictures

Ludwig Guttmann and the birth of the Paralympics

For millions across the world, the Paralympics is a spectacle of human endurance and physical achievement. But the Paralympian movement started life as a hospital rehabilitation programme, developed by neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttmann.

Part of Inside our collections
  • Article

Dancing for joy

Dancing is a mood enhancer, it increases social bonding and it improves creativity. Maybe you really can dance all your troubles away.

Part of Aspects of joy
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Comics

Explore new perspectives on bodies, brains and health with our guest comic artists.

Books

We publish thought-provoking books exploring health and human experiences.

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  • Article

Signing my skin colour

When Sabrina Tirvengadum tried to sign her skin colour as ‘Brown’ in BSL, her tutor insisted she use ‘Black’ instead. The experience led Sabrina to question why sign language couldn’t reflect her identity.

  • Article

Travelling for your health

A growing number of Victorians travelled to Europe for their health, but their experiences were not always what the doctor promised.

Part of Inside our collections
  • Book extract

In search of Black Mary

From the depths of a vanished well rises the story of Black Mary – a 17th-century Black healer. In this extract from the anthology 'Thirst', Gaylene Gould pieces together the fragments of Mary’s life in search of her long-lost well.

Part of Inside our books
  • Article

Medieval deaf communication

Communicating with hand signs has a long history. Researcher Jude Seal examines the evidence for signing in Medieval Europe among both deaf and hearing communities.

  • In pictures

Patient power

Needle, a small London-based group, led the early fight for patient rights. Leona Letts reveals how they championed giving patients a louder voice in their own care.

Part of Inside our collections
  • Photo story

The surgical toolmaker's craft

When it comes to precision surgical tools, only the hand and eye of a skilled toolmaker will do.

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