Most people think they know what a culture swap looks like. They imagine traveling, trying new food, or learning another language in school. But there’s another kind of culture swap that happens ...

A single smile can shift your entire day. The science shows how strangers offer connection, clarity, and comfort in ways that ...

SANTIAGO, Chile — As darkness fell on a festival that had filled the streets all day, the party shifted indoors, to the tiny restaurants and bars around the hilly park called Cerro Santa Lucía.

As children, most of us were raised to not talk to strangers. The rule is meant to keep us safe, but carrying the idea into adulthood can cause us to miss out on enriching conversations. A new study ...

The Atlantic recently published an article called, “The Surprising Benefit of Talking to Strangers.” We already know how important friendships and other close relationships are to our mental health ...

The prospect of striking up conversations with random strangers in coffee shops, or bars, or on the bus started to feel daunting. Eventually, I just stopped doing it. Article continues below this ad ...

If you know me, you know I can talk with almost anyone, from the cashier at Hannaford to the local bank's president. I am endlessly curious about people, so I really enjoy talking with people and ...

Depending on your natural level of extraversion, you may view chit-chat with strangers more like a mild form of torture than a mood booster (as an introvert, I hear you). But the research is clear: ...

Don’t talk to strangers.”Practice makes perfect.” These two childhood phrases seem wholly unconnected, but recently, I discovered that they work well in conjunction with one another. Since I was ...

Hello! I’m Deborah Netburn, the faith and spirituality reporter for the L.A. Times filling in this week for your usual newsletter writer, Laura Newberry. Laura is one of my best friends at the paper — ...