#power-dynamics

#power-dynamics

I already said thank you, but should I say anything else? GENTLE READER: What would you say? Something along the lines of, I have no use for this, so I'm going to get rid of it? Countering generosity by mentioning what a failure it was does not make anyone's Christmas merrier. Not even yours, next Christmas, when this client will have been discouraged by the effort to please you and will give up trying.

A new tragedy is being mourned over on TikTok when it comes to modern love. It's a sense of power dynamics known as the " swag gap." This specifically refers to a subtle but undeniable imbalance felt in " coolness " between two partners. When one person just seems to have it, and the other simply doesn't. Maybe one partner, the seemingly "cooler one," walks into every room like they own it, perfectly styled and effortlessly confident,

Have you ever noticed someone in power who seems rather indifferent to the opinions of others? Perhaps you've witnessed a leader who doesn't seem tuned in to the experiences of the people they lead. It's not just your imagination, and it may not be that the person was always like that. Instead, it appears that having power actually impairs a person's ability to empathize. If that isn't concerning enough, people are unaware of this power-induced tendency in themselves, thus falling victim to a blind spot.

Get ready, Berlin! The city's vibrant art scene is about to experience an electrifying event that defies categorisation. Join the enigmatic Jon Darc as he unveils "MORAST," a captivating musical ritual that intertwines concert, confession, and ceremony in a breathtaking spectacle of sound and performance. On November 29 and 30, 2025, at Ballhaus Ost and WABE, prepare to be transported into a shadowy realm where the depths of desire are both explored and celebrated.

The student is Maggie Resnick, played by the dependably charismatic Ayo Edebiri. She's a struggling doctoral candidate in the philosophy department at Yale, and she puts her request to Alma Imhoff, brought to life by a striking Julia Roberts, over dinner. The pair are sitting in Alma's elegant apartment, a tasteful space warmed by rich wood paneling, amber light sources, and distinctive sconces.

Those most vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault and abuse are, unsurprisingly, those who have less power or are treated with less respect: undocumented migrants; women in precarious employment; women with disabilities; LGBTQ women; young women and girls. Paradoxically, that helps to explain why the assault of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico's president, has drawn such outrage domestically and internationally. A drunken man tried to kiss her neck and grabbed her chest as she spoke to citizens in the capital's streets.

Almost immediately in The Outer Worlds 2, the player receives news of a corporate shake-up: Auntie Cleo and Spacer's Choice, two of the in-game retail brands, have merged to form Auntie's Choice. Less a chain of stores and more a feudal power, Auntie's Choice manages its employees - serfs, really - with the cruelty of the balance sheet, its military business far more important than the faux-cheery public-facing purveyor of somewhat-useful crap customers can't get from anyone else.

A new paper by Mei Kei Leong and colleagues (2025), from Taylor's University in Malaysia, provides important perspectives on narcissism's facets and its connection to toxicity in leaders. Noting that "the desire for admiration and power" drives them to "engage in more self-promotion and seek recognition than less narcissistic leaders," the literature is less clear on whether these strategies work or not.

Something odd happened on our team five years ago that I now witness in many workplaces across the nation. One of our team members (we'll call her Dina) turned in a project that was so poor, her supervisor met with her to offer some corrective feedback. Dina wouldn't have it. Her reaction stumped me. She called out her supervisor on his correction, claiming she'd been attacked. Then, she claimed her supervisor wasn't psychologically safe.

The thing is, power dynamics themselves aren't the problem. It's that Western society teaches us that power belongs only to dominant groups, when in fact there are many layers and forms of power. There is also power that resides within each individual, and power we wield when we move together even amidst difference. The key is to activate these other forms of power in strategic planning.

From her ripped-from-the-pages-of- Architecture Digest home right down to her Loewe loafers, you immediately glean a certain girlboss-ery that invites easy admirers and even easier adversaries. She champions women-or so we're told until her favorite student, Maggie Price (Ayo Edebiri, who is sadly no match for Roberts), claims that Imhoff's colleague and friend, Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield), sexually assaulted her after the pair left a gathering at her home.

New reporting from Wired details the explosively acrimonious fallout of a deal gone horribly wrong, between a San Francisco venture capitalist and a single mother she engaged to be a pregnancy surrogate. The story, which has gone viral on social media, centers on an ambitious and exacting venture capitalist, Cindy Bi, and a woman referred to in the story as Rebecca Smith, a pseudonym to protect her privacy, who agreed to be a surrogate for Bi and her husband.

The Oscar-winning actor is making her Venice film festival debut with the psychological thriller from the Italian director Luca Guadagnino. It premieres out of competition on the Lido on Friday evening. The drama is set in the world of higher education and stars Roberts as a beloved professor who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star student (the Bear's Ayo Edebiri) makes an accusation of assault against her friend and colleague (Andrew Garfield).

This season has been less about who is right or wrong in any argument and more about the tactics they use to fight each other. Just like Guerdy was totally right in her fight with Julia, especially after she threw water at her, but the tactics she used to publish Julia's texts made her behavior unseemly to the women.

Do not believe those who say they have voluntarily relinquished power and position for love of peace and quiet. Nearly always, their reason was either levity or necessity. Experience shows that, as soon as they are offered a chance to return to the former life, they leave behind their much vaunted peace and quiet, and seize it with the same fury that fire seizes dry or oily things.

Critics instantly dubbed the lower level the "fart zone," highlighting a psychological response to perceived vulnerability and proximity to bodily functions.

The forced smile of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, giving a Trump-style thumbs up while the U.S. president grins gleefully at her side represents a significant power imbalance in transatlantic relations.

'If a female doesn't want to mate, the male can't do anything about it. That alone gives her power.'

Epstein's case combines elements of child abuse, mysterious deaths, missing evidence, and ties to a powerful elite, raising questions about what constitutes conspiracy.

Capital carries memory. If our relationships with money are complex and connected to our emotional state, then fiduciary duty for impact must measure more than basis points.

Membership in groups such as white, male, straight, and Christian confers advantages that increase the odds of achieving power in the United States.

While the director has namechecked films like Broadcast News and The Apartment, she seemingly forgets a key component of each: They're actually funny, and brimming with the tender considerations of what happens when actualized people crash into each other.

CIA classifies their secrets according to different terminology. There's confidential secrets, there are secret level secrets, and then there are top secret secrets. And the way that they define each of these different levels actually has to do with the impact that would occur if the secret became public knowledge.

The geography of information technology is not neutral; it shapes the conditions under which power systems operate, much like historical agricultural landscapes.

At its core, The Handmaid's Tale's costume design is a matter of status. Each handmaid is given a red 'uniform' - a scarlet letter that distinguishes them as 'other' while making them easily identifiable should they attempt a futile escape.

When you think about a vegetarian, you think of someone who's warm, fuzzy, and "huggy". Well, in terms of the values that people espouse and what they aspire to, it's just not the case.

"If I had declined to participate, it would have marked me as disloyal or difficult," said a former clerk. "It was a constant reminder of how completely the judge controlled my time."

Marketing is about social engineering, studying how choices are made, messages shape behavior, and identities are constructed. It is applied sociology.

In a climate where powerful institutions can easily wreak havoc, 'Targeted' sheds light on individuals caught in the crosshairs of government actions.

The professor is portrayed as a complex figure, bringing to life the intricate dynamics of desire and power, especially in the context of academia and mentorship.

We're equals,' one founder told me. 'We split everything 50/50. Power isn't an issue.' But within two sessions, it was clear-power was the issue. It just hadn't been named.

The fluid political environment demands sophisticated risk assessment approaches, according to Audere Group's regional specialists. Organizations face multiple challenges, from securing supply chains to ensuring regulatory compliance across different zones of control.

Rather than feminising the suit or undermining it through dramatic reinterpretation, Ballance approached the garment on its own terms - working within its structure to gently reorient its logic.

The ideologically intense university environment is a sort of petri dish for this question.