Deep dives on human behaviour and social etiquette

July 12, 2024 4:13 PM

I've read through the entire human relations archive here. I've read all of Captain Awkward. Gone way back into the Slate advice archives. Read r/relationships before all the posts were fake. What's next?

I feel like I've read every advice column on the internet. I don't find the short ones that are just like "Q: should I bring a gift to a party that says no gifts???? A: yes" satisfying. I want overthinking and analysis of human behaviour, motivations, etiquette, and social mores. What's good right now?

posted by wheatlets to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

Help I Sexted My Boss
posted by hworth at 4:23 PM on July 12

I assume you've read the Dear Sugar archives.

For etiquette, it's a podcast, but you might like Awesome Etiquette.
posted by moosetracks at 4:37 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

I adore this kind of content too. I'm going to guess you've been through Heather Havrilesky's Ask Polly, then?

The NY Times Style section has some good human behavior content, including the Modern Love column and lots of news stories on people and trends. And the trends include things like non-monogamy, for example.

The Atlantic is also great for this. They do deep dives into issues of parenting, relationships, and more.

And, in a slightly different direction, maybe you could scratch that itch with some 19th century British women novelists like Jane Austen, and then dive into Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth is excellent for this.
posted by bluedaisy at 5:03 PM on July 12 [2 favorites]

Ask a Manager, if you don't know it, is focused on workplace issues, but much of it involves social human behavior (and how it can go very, very wrong). Her advice is mostly focused on how to solve the issues in the workplace but I think it's applicable for a lot of situations (other than "go to HR" and such).
posted by edencosmic at 5:21 PM on July 12 [12 favorites]

Baggage reclaim?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:55 PM on July 12

Came to share my deep, deep love for Dear Sugar, both the column and the plural podcast Dear Sugars with Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond, who I told once, "You know you guys are the really kind, tender mom and dad that we all wished for but didn't have."
posted by fairlynearlyready at 6:49 PM on July 12 [3 favorites]

Ask Ronna, with Ronna and Bryan is a podcast I enjoy.
posted by lizard music at 7:03 PM on July 12

When you say human behaviour, do you like body language analyses? If so-

YouTube's Charisma on Command has a slight vibe of "young male level up to pickup artist tips" but it's really interesting. He looks at a lot of celebs in interviews and assesses their body language.

Here's Janine Driver's interesting TedX talk decoding a few murderers' body language.

TikTok / Instagram star Guided Inspiration does really interesting body language analyses where she points out, and mirrors, the body language of people in various media clips.
posted by nouvelle-personne at 7:47 PM on July 12

Andrew W.K. had an advice column for a while with The Village Voice that you may have missed, circa 2014. It's fun bc he's (perhaps) surprisingly good at writing an advice column, but also he's still a rock star who declares that "when it's time to party, we will party hard." I'm having problems getting their archives to work smoothly but here's an internet archive link to give you the feel. He has a great response to someone who asks if they can still party hard after battling addition and leading a straight-edge lifestyle. In part, he explains "When you want to change your life more badly than you don't want to change your life, you will change your life. And that counts as partying. I think there's a common misconception that true partying must always involve drugs and alcohol. In reality, the only thing that true partying must involve is partying."
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:05 PM on July 12 [1 favorite]

Esther Calling by Esther Perel. Also a podcast. It's on The Cut so you'll eventually need a subscription if you want to keep reading but it comes with a good magazine so it's not so bad.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:51 AM on July 13

It’s not quite the same as an advice column but I subscribe to New York Magazine online for a couple of reasons including the “How I Got This Baby” series as well as “The Sex Diaries.”

It scratches that bro you really live like this? vibe.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:21 PM on July 13

I scratch that same itch with a couple advice-driven podcasts.

Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch
Is My Child A Monster? A Parenting Therapy Podcast
posted by BeBoth at 11:56 AM on July 17

Esther Perel’s Where should we begin podcast
posted by poxandplague at 1:28 AM on July 19

If you're interested more in overanalysis than in advice that's personally useful to you, looking at forums focused on subcultures that do a lot of that might work well for you. Offhand, I'd say polyamory, anti-fascist, and anarchist (I know!) spaces might have discussions you'd find intriguing.
posted by metasarah at 9:57 AM on July 22

Carolyn Hax, Washington Post - both her column and her live chat archive
posted by concinnity at 4:48 PM on August 19