Will Storr

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! And You'll Be Okay Forever: Selected Essays “In this unflinching new collection of essays, bestselling author Will Storr continues his unique investigation of the human condition. By turns searingly honest, darkly funny, vulnerable and moving, he examines subjects ranging from status anxiety, grief, depression, self-hatred, love and the uses and nature of art.” Featuring 26 essays, And You’ll Be Okay Forever is essential reading for anyone who enjoyed Storr’s hugely influential books Selfie, The Science of Storytelling and The Status Game." And You’ll Be Okay Forever is available now as an ebook (£3.99) and in paperback (£10.99) amazon.co.uk/dp/1911297708

"'Status' is widely misunderstood as equating to greed or narcissism, or pathological ambition, or a lifestyle of grotesque excess. All of this is wrong...When we give to others that which is useful, they generally respond with respect and admiration." a.co/d/9EPcxCO

Interview with @wstorr on status and how it is changing. Out of @JimmysJobs channels now.

FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! Grab my latest book A STORY IS A DEAL on Kindle for the ridiculous price of 99p. It's basically nothing.

Did Tony Soprano misunderstand how power works? Much of the early seasons of The Sopranos centers on Tony’s relationship with his mother, Livia—a cruel, manipulative matriarch who haunts his subconscious. He dreams about her and still seeks her approval. Even as a crime boss, he remains psychologically entangled with her. In therapy, Dr. Melfi suggests Livia may have had borderline personality disorder and been incapable of genuine love. Tony explodes at the idea. Despite her emotional abuse, he continues to idealize her. At one point, Melfi tells him that his mother is larger than life and holds enormous power over him. Tony objects: “She’s a little old lady.” To him, her physical frailty means she has no power. That’s the contradiction. Livia appears weak, yet she shapes Tony’s anger, guilt, and inner turmoil in ways rival mob bosses never could. A similar dynamic appears with Meadow. Tony feels powerless with her because, in his world, power means force—intimidation, dominance, violence. He cannot use that kind of power on his daughter, so he assumes he has none. What Tony fails to grasp is that power is not just brute force. Livia’s power is psychological, rooted in guilt and emotional manipulation. The show suggests that the forms of power Tony understands best are not the only ones that matter—and may not be the most enduring. From a livestream with @wstorr

What matters more in a story: plot or character? You need both. But character matters more. When we think about the stories that stay with us, we do not remember a tidy list of events. We remember people. In The Sopranos, we remember Tony Soprano. In Star Wars, we remember Darth Vader. In A Christmas Carol, we remember Ebenezer Scrooge. The characters are what stick. There is a simple reason for this. Human beings evolved to pay close attention to other human beings. One leading idea in evolutionary psychology is that language grew out of gossip. Our ancestors survived by sharing information about each other. Who can you trust? Who cheats? Who helps? Who harms? Gossip may sound trivial. It is not. It is a tool for survival. In small groups, you had to know who was loyal and who was dangerous. Getting that wrong could cost you food, status, or even your life. So our minds became very good at judging character. We track motives. We watch for patterns. We ask, again and again: What kind of person is this? That is what stories do. At their core, they ask the same question: Who is this person, really? Plot matters because it creates pressure. It puts the character in hard situations. It forces choices. But the plot is not the point. It is a test. The best stories use events to reveal character. The action strips away the mask. Under stress, we see what someone is made of. From a recent livestream with @wstorr

The Status Game, by Will Storr (2022) “To our brains, status is a resource as real as oxygen or water. When we lose it, we break.”— @wstorr darwinianbusiness.com/2022/01/08/the…

I went to Durham, Oxford and London for a piece about Dominic Cummings in the Observer this morning.

Steven Pinker on sacred beliefs, and Will Storr @wstorr on how people use them to test your loyalties.

Book of the Day 📘: A Story is a Deal by Will Storr. A compelling exploration of why stories persuade, motivate, and shape belief—and how understanding the science of storytelling can transform how we lead, market, and communicate. @wstorr amzn.eu/d/5mKwCod

All too true ⁦@wstorr⁩ theguardian.com/technology/202…

@BonnieShaljean Thanks Bonnie!

@wstorr Just bought it (e-book)... I love your stuff!

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! And You'll Be Okay Forever: Selected Essays “In this unflinching new collection of essays, bestselling author Will Storr continues his unique investigation of the human condition. By turns searingly honest, darkly funny, vulnerable and moving, he examines subjects ranging from status anxiety, grief, depression, self-hatred, love and the uses and nature of art.” Featuring 26 essays, And You’ll Be Okay Forever is essential reading for anyone who enjoyed Storr’s hugely influential books Selfie, The Science of Storytelling and The Status Game." And You’ll Be Okay Forever is available now as an ebook (£3.99) and in paperback (£10.99) amazon.co.uk/dp/1911297708

@jposhaughnessy @tomowenmorgan @KevinMonk Thanks Jim!

@tomowenmorgan @KevinMonk @wstorr I am indeed, @wstorr is the best! infiniteloopspodcast.com/will-storrthe-…

A culture stuck in adolescence will be limited to role models that have won the game of social approval.

We all start biased. What matters is what we choose next. @wstorr

“Wrath” doesn’t sound very justice-y bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

An audio version of my Sycamore Gap piece came out yesterday: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the…

@Musa_alGharbi @MorbidPsych @wstorr @sbkaufman @sapinker @kurtjgray @drturke @AbigailShrier @NellieBowles @EdLatimore The best books I read last year: robkhenderson.com/p/2024

@AndrewWriteCopy @MercureCopy @BowTiedTrance @PedrosWindfalls Good books I read this year: The Death of the Artist by @WilliamDeresiew Shut Your Monkey by Danny Gregory The Status Game by @wstorr Punks, Poets, & Provocateurs by Marcia Resnick