Issue 1350

Don't go compare
We may be beset by social media insecurities and a pandemic but the lesson Matt Haig wants to emphasise is that things do get better. The author turned mental health advocate tells Saskia Murphy about parallel universes, aliens learning to love humanity – and how to take a relaxed approach to home schooling.

A woman's problem
Kath Sansom’s long campaign for women’s health was vindicated last month when a government review criticised the use of vaginal mesh, pregnancy tests and an epilepsy drug. But it’s taken its toll on her, finds Saskia Murphy.

Artificial highs
What use are higher wages for a breadwinner if they’re not shared equally with their families? Historian Emma Griffin has trawled through hundreds of autobiographies from the Victorian age to find lessons for the modern economy.

Plus
News, arts and entertainment, columnist Roger Ratcliffe on being paid to eat, Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs’s letter to his younger self, crossword, Sudoku and more.