Ah, the '60s! In 1967, the world was Twiggy’s oyster. The English model, whose look and style had become emblems of the Swinging Sixties—think big eyes, a pixie cut, lots of mascara, and androgynous looks—had evolved from a promising teen icon into an international superstar. Her power was undeniable, her zeal for life, irreplaceable.

Yet, when director Woody Allen, 31 at the time, met the young star for a live interview, he clearly sought to knock her down a peg.

In front of the live studio audience, he asked her: “What are your views on serious matters?” At the time, the 17-year-old Twiggy was on her first visit to the United States. Her face crumbled; her lips twisted up, and her eyes looked nervous as she replied, “Like what?”

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“Like, who’s your favorite philosopher?” Allen said, his voice dripping with condescension.

Her eyes lit up in surprise. She laughed, charmingly, in what could almost pass for delight, before admitting, “I haven’t got one. I don’t know any.” She then stuck her tongue out, before adding: “Who’s yours?”

Everything stayed still for a second before Allen, now the surprised one, fumbled around and sheepishly retorted, “Oh, I don’t know. I like them all." At this point in the interview, Twiggy realized what was going on and zeroed in with the accuracy and confidence of a hawk circling its prey. Before Allen could finish speaking, she asked, “Who?”

Meekly, Allen said, “You know, all your basic philosophers…”

This time, Twiggy was ready, almost eager for his reply. “Who?” she shot back like a bullet.

“I don’t know, I just,” began Allen, before Twiggy quipped, “But I don’t know their names. What are their names?”

The uncomfortable clip ends (which you can see below) with Allen looking dumbfounded at the camera, and Twiggy in the background, coquettish as ever, sticking her tongue out.

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Like many others, when I saw this interview for the first time, I thought ‘Wow, what a badass Twiggy is.” Women face this type of misogyny all the time: timid, cowardly men who are insecure about their intelligence, taunting them about what they know or do not know in order to feel better about themselves. It’s horrible to get caught in such a trap. Which makes Twiggy’s gracefulness—the deftness in maneuvering through such an encounter—all the more impressive and delightful.

On YouTube, where the clip was reshared by Igor Aleshin, the comments are filled with admirers of the British fashion star.

“Her retort was perfect, cheeky, funny, and totally deflected him. Well done, Twiggs,” writes @dianesilva1078.

From @mariachalke7905: “How perfectly she deflected his arrogance, but with good humor. He was already showing his colors.”

Then, from @TessaBlackwell-re8jx: “I love how the light dawns in her eyes, like, ‘Oh, you want to play like THAT. And then, it’s all on.”

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In a more recent resurfaced clip, a now 75-year-old Twiggy remembers that fateful day. While doing press for director Sadie Frost’s 2024 documentary about her, Twiggy revealed that everything wasn’t effortless and cheeky for her that day. “He was trying to make me look stupid,” she told reporters. “My heart sank. I remember looking at him, pleading with my eyes for him to stop. If I was the age he was there, in my 30s, I would have never behaved like that towards someone who was only 17.”

Although it’s terrible, the way Woody Allen behaved towards Twiggy—publicly trying to shame a teenager—it’s nice to know that feeling scared and insignificant can really look like this: confident, badass, and undeniably cool. There are so many moments that we stop ourselves from speaking up, from doing the right thing, from asking to be treated with respect, because we’re afraid. But Twiggy as powerfully demonstrates, both in 1967 and now, that rebellion and change can feel scary. And that’s OK.

This article originally appeared last year.

Nearly every parent hopes their child will be better off than they are: smarter, more secure, and more well-adjusted. Many parents see this as a stamp of successful parenting, but something has changed for children growing up today. While younger generations are known for their empathy, their cognitive capabilities seem to be lagging behind those of previous generations for the first time in history.

Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, a teacher turned cognitive neuroscientist who focuses on human learning, appeared before Congress to discuss concerns about cognitive development in children. In his address to the members of Congress, he says, "A sad fact that our generation has to face is this: our kids are less cognitively capable than we were at their age. Since we've been standardizing and measuring cognitive development since the late 1800s, every generation has outperformed their parents, and that's exactly what we want. We want sharper kids."

Student smiling in a classroom, working on a laptop.Photo credit: Canva

Horvath explains that the reason this happens is that each generation has gone to school longer than the previous generation. Gen Z is no exception to the longer duration of time spent in school, but they're the first ones who aren't meeting this normal increase in cognitive development. According to the cognitive neuroscientist, the decline is due to the introduction of screens in the classroom, which started around 2010.

"Across 80 countries, as Jean was just saying, if you look at the data, once countries adopt digital technology widely in schools, performance goes down significantly. To the point where kids who use computers about five hours per day in school for learning purposes will score over two-thirds of a standard deviation less than kids who rarely or never touch tech at school," Horvath reveals.

In most cases, the decline in performance doesn't result in better strategies. The neuroscientist shares that the standardized testing has been adjusted to accommodate lower expectations and shorter attention spans. This is an approach that educators, scientists, and researchers went to Capitol Hill to express wasn't working. But not every country is taking the approach of lowering standards to meet lowered cognitive ability. Denmark went in the opposite direction when it realized their students were slipping behind.

France24 recently interviewed educators in Denmark following their seemingly novel approach to students struggling with cognitive development. Since the beginning of the 2025/2026 school year, Denmark has not only been having students turn in their cellphones, but they've also taken tablets, laptops, and computers out of the classroom. No more digital learning for the majority of the school day. Danes went old school by bringing back physical textbooks, workbooks, and writing assignments. The results have been undeniable. Even the students can't seem to deny the success of the countrywide shift in educational approach.

"I think the biggest issue has been that, because we kind of got rid of the books and started using screens instead, that we've noticed that a lot of the kids have trouble concentrating, so it's pretty easy to swipe with three fingers over to a different screen and have a video game going, for example, in class," Copenhagen........

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