ON MEDITATION… With Kirsty Young and Yuval Noah Harari

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Sony Music

Society & Culture

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s claimed that meditation can fix everything. If you speak to anyone on the topic, they claim it will reduce your anxiety, make you slimmer, result in you earning more and mean your relationships are all perfect. It might be popular, but it’s notoriously hard to keep up. Broadcasting legend Kirsty Young admits she feels she’s ‘really bad at meditation’ BUT it doesn’t stop her having a go at it every day, even if it’s just for a few minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Israeli historian and writer, Yuval Noah Harari, who claims he has failed at meditation, despite meditating for two HOURS every day. But he makes the point that in meditation, you constantly fail – but that’s a good thing. I hope these two brilliant minds inspire you as much as they did me. First up, it’s Kirsty Young. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This episode is brought to you by Airbnb. I wanted to tell you about one of my favorite
0:05.1	recent trips. Early this month, Justin and I stayed in the most gorgeous Airbnb apartment in
0:10.6	Berlin. We spent our days eating way too much cheese, wandering through Christmas markets with
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0:29.5	touristy neighbourhood but still close to everything. The beautifully tired kitchen and cosy living area
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2:26.6	Now, it's sometimes claimed that meditation can fix just about anything. If you speak to any advocate on the topic, they'll claim it reduces your anxiety, it makes you healthier,
2:31.8	it might even result in you earning more and mean your relationships
	...

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