Hope and the 'good enough' life

Thinking Allowed

BBC

Science, Society & Culture

4.4 • 973 Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Laurie Taylor talks to Daniel Miller, Professor of Anthropology at University College London, about his highly original exploration of what life could and should be. It juxtaposes a philosophical enquiry into the nature of the good life with an in-depth study of people living in a small Irish town. Just how much can we learn from a respectful acknowledgment of what far from extraordinary people have achieved? By creating community, they’ve provided the foundation for a fulfilling life, one that is ‘good enough’.

Also, Carol Graham, Senior Fellow in the Economic Studies Program at The Brookings Institution, argues for the importance of hope - a concept little studied in economics. She argues that individual unhappiness and public policy problems can’t be solved without the belief that we can make things better.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:30.3	BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts.
0:36.5	This is a Thinking Loud Podcasts from the BBC and for more details and much, much more about
0:42.3	thinking aloud, go to our website at
0:44.7	BBC.co. UK. Hello I grew up in Crosby it's a small town in
0:51.4	Merseys a place which no doubt had some attractions of its own,
0:55.2	but what always made it tolerable to me was that it boasted a regular ribble bus service to the heart of
1:01.2	Liverpool. In only half an hour I could step off the bus
1:04.2	and be among the shops and cafes and cinemas and clubs and all the bustle of a
1:08.9	great city. It was a liberation in Sinatra's words I could actually feel those little town blues melting
1:16.1	away. Well I have some powerful literary allies in my longing for the metropolis, think of
1:21.6	Chekhov's characters in the Three Sisters,
1:24.0	Arena going, oh I only want to go to Moscow, I beg you, let us go, there's nothing on earth,
1:30.0	better than Moscow.
1:32.0	And in more contemporary literature the deficiencies of
1:36.6	the claustrophobic little town a little Irish town is perfectly captured
	...

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