Human Development

Every week, millions of readers visit Slate for the irresistible “Dear Prudence,” an advice column that promises a healthy dose of reality and good humor alongside its indispensable suggestions and life lessons. The ever-hilarious and insightful Danny Lavery was one of “Dear Prudence”’s most beloved columnists, and he recounts his time as Prudie in this side-splitting, candid collection—complete with new commentary and exclusive stories—drawing out the broader themes of his informative, unfailingly illuminating guidance.

What is the best way to think about the world? How often do we consider how our own thinking might impact the way we approach our daily decisions? Could it help or hinder our relationships, our careers, or even our health? As acclaimed mathematician David Sumpter shows, thinking about thinking is something we rarely do, yet it is something science questions all the time. He has spent decades studying what we could all learn from the mindsets of scientists, and Four Ways of Thinking is the result.

How to Analyze People is a guide to understand people and human behavior, leading to more fruitful relationships and business affiliations.

Discover the transformative lessons from one of humanity’s oldest teachers - the wolf - with this enthralling and accessible guide to help us restore our connection with nature, our communities, and our deepest selves.

Superhuman by Habit examines habit building in depth. It covers the principles and philosophies of habit building, as well as the practical nuts and bolts implementing those habits. The second half of the audiobook is dedicated to specific habits in every major area of life, covering the pros and cons of each, the path to implementing them, and specific notes about each one.

In 1997, Yiannis Kouros ran 188 miles in 24 hours. In 1984, at age 42, Maria Moreira gave birth to her 10th set of twins. In 1973, Terry Tao learned to read when he was two years old. Tao started college at age nine, and at 24 was appointed a full-time professor at UCLA. What does it feel like to be exceptional? And what does it take to get there? Why can some people achieve greatness when others can’t, no matter how hard they try? Just how much potential does our species have? Evolutionary biologist Rowan Hooper has the answers.

The journey from sexual curiosity to finally coming out can be confusing without proper guidance and empowering role models. In Same Sex in the City, Lauren Levin and Lauren Blitzer provide women - gay, straight, and bi-curious alike - with firsthand insight into the advantages and challenges of being a lesbian. In prose that is at once honest and uplifting, the Laurens relate their own experiences and those of the women they interview, as well as offer serious advice, titillating anecdotes, and a positive attitude for girls who know they're gay - and for those who are wondering about their sexuality but are not yet sure whether their Prince Charming is really a Cinderella.

Do you believe people's brainwashing occurs only in films? Do you believe using the subconscious mind is something that only crazy people would attempt to do? The reality is that we are imperfect as human beings. We have shortcomings. And if you study these weaknesses and get to understand them, you will have enormous authority in your hands. When you master the correct methods of manipulation, the real ones, you can fully affect the thinking of other people and make them do what you want.

The project was simple: An attractive, successful magazine journalist, Robin Rinaldi, would move into a San Francisco apartment, join a dating site, and get laid. Never mind that she already owned a beautiful flat a few blocks away, that she was 44, or that she was married to a man she'd been in love with for 18 years. What followed - a year of sex, heartbreak, and unexpected revelation - is the topic of this riveting memoir, The Wild Oats Project.

When he became an undertaker, Rupert Callender undertook to deal with the dead for the sake of the living. This book is his brilliant, unforgettable story—the life and work of the world’s first punk undertaker—but it's also about ordinary, everyday humanity and our capacity to face death with courage and compassion, to say goodbye to the people we love in our own way.

Social isolation can shatter our confidence. In isolating times, we're not only lonely, but we're ashamed of our loneliness because our society stigmatizes people who are alone without support. As a single, 58-year-old woman who finds herself stranded after major surgery, Val Walker has woven into the narrative her own story. A well-established rehabilitation counselor, she was too embarrassed to reveal on social media how utterly isolated she was by asking for someone to help, and it felt agonizingly awkward calling colleagues out of the blue.

Do you have it in you to read people correctly through verbal and nonverbal clues they are continuously and subconsciously giving away? The magic weapon to understanding and helping people is to identify their inner feelings and emotions. People who are able to identify the feelings of others and channel them in the right direction can be wonderful leaders. It will not only help your personal relationships, but it will also increase your professional performance and social skill.

Your child has identified as non-binary, and many parents won’t have had the first clue what was coming. You probably don’t know what to think or what to feel. You don’t know how to act, what you are supposed to do, and how to give your child the support they need. That’s why I wrote this guide for parents, a guide that you can refer to at any point during your journey when you are uncertain of what to do, how to feel, or when you just want to understand how someone else managed the situation.

Meredith Maran lived a daughter's nightmare: she accused her father of sexual abuse, then realized, nearly too late, that he was innocent. During the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands of Americans became convinced that they had repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse, and then, decades later, recovered those memories in therapy. Journalist, mother, and daughter Meredith Maran was one of them.

Relationships are integral to our work and personal lives, yet so many of us struggle with the development and sustenance of positive connections with others. Now, based on behavioral science and developmental psychology, these two comprehensive publications explore an often-overlooked societal skill: social and emotional intelligence.

Since ancient times, men have insatiably searched for answers; and during the early days of our consciousness on this planet, we had a much purer mind and body, which allowed us to discern things better, with more agility and clarity, during which we were able to gain awareness of how certain things work, especially how we interact with ourselves and our environment. The discoveries were amazing, divine, and magical to be conservative. Those discoveries changed the course of humanity forever!

Our society is riddled with men behaving badly. Sexual harassment, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and misogyny run rampant through politics, Hollywood, professional and amateur sports, college campuses, and our daily work environment. Change happens when parents embody and model what they want to see in their children. The nine lessons presented in Dissolving Toxic Masculinity are designed to help us raise boys who embrace an attitude of compassion, empathy, kindness, and respect for women. It's time we rise to the challenge.

Did you know your brain has superpowers? Berit Brogaard, PhD, and Kristian Marlow study people with astonishing talents - memory champions, human echolocators, musical virtuosos, math geniuses, and synesthetes who taste colors and hear faces. But as amazing as these abilities are, they are not mysterious.

Delve deep within a person, and learn exactly what makes them unique through the use of analysis, cold reading, and other unusual tricks you’ll learn listening to this book. Convince others you can read minds by learning how every psychic has achieved their success with the power of cold reading. You’ll understand the psychology of advertisement and how you can use the science of manipulation psychology from a simple scene, photograph, or spoken word.

In this audiobook, I'll show you exactly what to do when you're there - between her legs- and wanting to give her ultimate pleasure. I'll teach you how to be that guy - the one she'll always remember as her best lover and brag to her girlfriends about.