Stories

Our words and pictures explore the connections between science, medicine, life and art. Dive into a story no matter where in the world you are. (Want to write for us? Here's how.)

A black and white wood engraving of Florence Nightingale, surrounded by patients in hospital beds, photographed on a concrete textured background.
  • In pictures

Florence Nightingale, Victorian design and the treatment of Covid-19

Discover how the design of Britain’s Nightingale hospitals, set up during the first national lockdown, is based closely on Florence Nightingale’s pioneering ideas for the most effective hospital layout.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Worry Lines comic (detail)
  • Comic

Humans are social animals

And yet we still can't agree...

Photograph of a performer dressed in a black and white vertical striped suit. Their sleeves are pulled up to show their forearms. Their right arm is raised up in front of them showing the middle finger of their hand to the camera in an act of defiance. Their hair has a blue tint and their eyes are made up with blue and yellow make-up. They are looking hard, straight into the camera. Behind them, the background is a graduated purple tone.
  • Article

The freedom to provoke

Jamie Hale talks to performer and director Emma Selwyn about the joy of creating work that celebrates, rather than suppresses, autistic behaviours.

Part of Art, activism and access

A selection of English, French, and German bookplates. The pictures on the bookplates include coats of arms, surgery being performed, and a devil trampling on chemistry equipment. the group of bookplates have been photographed against a grey concrete textured background.
  • In pictures

The beautiful language of bookplates

Don’t judge a book only by its cover. Take a look inside, where decorative bookplates reveal stories that cross continents and centuries.

Part of Inside Our Collections

To Err is Human comic detail
  • Comic

To Err is Human

You can't be perfect and also be human.

Mark Thomas’s lockdown check-up

In this six-part podcast Mark Thomas reflects on lockdown life with his elderly mum while investigating the wider impact of COVID-19. Every night Mark calls health and care workers across the country for a chat. Humbling and often heartbreaking, these conversations reveal what life is like on the coronavirus front line.

Books

Get stuck into one of our books, and explore the complexities of the human condition.

You may have missed

Photograph of stroke survivor and artist Chris Miller in an artist studio. A grey textured background frames the artist as he holds a ceramic of a head, which acts as a cartoon likeness of his own face. Miller’s gaze is directed towards the viewer. In the background of the studio the room is layered with artworks. To the left of the frame is a yellow painting on a table top easel.
  • Article

Rebuilding my identity after a brain injury

Chris Miller talks about how a brain injury forced him to reassess his place in the world – physically, personally and socially.

Photograph of an old retractable cine film projector screen and stand, in the corner of a white walled room. To the right of the screen can be seen the reveals of a window with marble-like window sill and moulded wooden panels. On the screen is projected an archive colour film of a woman having just given birth, lying on red bedsheets and pillows. On her left is a man reaching over to hold the baby. To her right is a woman with a tube held in her mouth clearing the baby's airway.
  • In pictures

Testimonies of birth

A 1980s film about childbirth explores how the experience felt for the women featured and offers a glimpse into the big birthing trends of the day.

Part of Inside Our Collections

Detail from 'stuff humans like' comic
  • Comic

Stuff humans like

Humans like a lot of things, but they're not always the same.

Artwork using collage. The collaged elements are made up of archive material which includes vintage and contemporary photographs, etchings, painted illustrations, lithographic prints and line drawings. This artwork depicts a scene from a costal landscape. To the right of the image a large figure of a man wearing a suit and tie rests his head on his right hand, while holding a letter in his left. He stares across the frame to the left. Behind him the background is an expanse of ocean which meets a sandy shoreline. At sea can be seen stormy weather with tornadoes, and dark clouds. On the shoreline trees rise up into snow capped mountains. The silhouette of a small figure stands of the mountain looking out to sea. Also peppering the shore are a rotary telephone, a telegraph pole and a small wooden house. In the water is a large whirlpool with a tall ship disappearing into the depths. Along the foreground are an open refrigerator containing food and an old computer screen. On the screen is a repetition of this collage. In the sky above the scene are an airliner in flight, a blue Saturn-like planet, an astronaut on a space walk, a rainbow and a sunset.
  • Serial
Part6

Finding a cure for homesickness

While technology can mitigate some aspects of homesickness, other components of home are harder to replicate. Find out how 21st-century studies are helping homesickness sufferers find silver linings in their new situation.

Part of The heart of homesickness

Photographic collage using images cut out from magazines and books. The scene depicts a complex and confusing image. To the left side, a sea of arms making fists all stick out horizontally. To the left side a large hand enters the image cradling two more hands which are held out as if asking for help. Behind these hands, against a cliff face a small skeleton can be seen in the foetal position. The centre of the frame contains fragments of fruit, rock faces, foliage and the bow of a ship ploughing through water. The overall tones of the collage are monotone, blacks, whites and greys.
  • Article

Disability in the post-pandemic world

Disabled people have suffered more than most during Covid-19, but there is still a chance to build a kinder society. Dolly Sen explores whether we will come together, or allow more brutal disparities to develop in the worsening recession.

Line drawing of a human holding a potato
  • Comic

What distinguishes the human?

Are we human, or are we just potatoes with feelings?

More articles