Why Do We Need Sadness?
Teach Me A Lesson with Greg James and Bella Mackie
BBC
4.8 • 957 Ratings
🗓️ 10 October 2022
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Greg and Bella are back with a brand-new term of teachers teaching their favourite lesson! To kick us off we have RE teacher Mr Bonfield with a lesson about sadness – why do we need it?
To mark World Mental Health Day, Mr Bonfield looks to three great philosophers - Aristotle, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer - to see what they thought the point of sadness was. Wouldn't the world be a happier place without sadness? Or could understanding sadness be the secret to unlocking happiness?
As the lesson unfolds, Greg and Bella find out what Pixar films, superheroes, and pop songs can teach us about sadness - and find out why a whale called Blue 52 might be the saddest animal on the planet. They’ll explore why the colour blue is linked with sadness, discuss the things that make them cry and talk about the historical heroes who lead their best lives despite the challenges they faced. Greg also reflects on how the poem Guesthouse by the ancient poet Rumi changed how he thinks about sadness, and Bella talks about her own experiences with anxiety.
Mr Bonfield ends the lesson by finding out what Greg and Bella’s strategies are for beating the blues – from exercise to laughing with friends, being creative to having a hug.
Bad students of all ages are welcome. Expect brilliant teachers, captivating subjects but absolutely no homework.
Get in touch with the podcast - email us at teachme@bbc.co.uk
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | There are loads of ways to listen to BBC sounds. You can enjoy your favorite shows on most smart speakers. |
| 0:05.7 | Ask to open BBC sounds and play a desert island discs. |
| 0:09.8 | Or listen on your TV. Make yourself a cup of tea and put your feet up. |
| 0:13.9 | And if you need to pop out, keep listening in the car. |
| 0:16.8 | So you won't miss a single pick from this week's castaway. |
| 0:19.8 | It's a little embarrassing. |
| 0:20.9 | As a rap fan, I always feel I'm kind of committing |
| 0:23.6 | sacrilege by doing it so badly. Music, radio and podcasts everywhere you are |
| 0:28.9 | listen on BBC Sounds. BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts. |
| 0:36.0 | By the end of this podcast, we're going to answer the question, |
| 0:39.0 | why do we need sadness? |
| 0:41.0 | I'm Greg James. |
| 0:42.0 | I'm Bella Mackie. And look we're back with a new term of |
| 0:45.5 | brilliant teachers teaching incredible lessons and we wanted to kick off our fourth term |
| 0:49.7 | with another meaty topic and that's something that's very close to your heart better |
| 0:57.2 | And that's sadness |
| 1:18.7 | So it's good to that genuinely make you laugh still after 48 years of your marriage. Did you ever ever study sadness officially at school or was it more of an extra curricular accident? |
| 1:20.1 | So it didn't mean this to turn into a comedy roast but it has turned into one and I'm quite excited by it. |
| 1:25.6 | No, we covered lots of sad topics at school. |
| 1:31.6 | Like, wars and famines and memorably Pompeii being burnt to the ground, no one surviving. |
| 1:41.0 | But no, I don't think we ever covered sadness as an idea or an emotion. |
| 1:45.6 | Okay. Yeah what about you? No I was incredibly happy every day. Well that's weird |
... |
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