WTH is President Zelensky so happy? Arthur Brooks on how we can be like Ukraine's president and find purpose and happiness in our lives
What the Hell Is Going On
AEI Podcasts
4.4 • 633 Ratings
🗓️ 13 April 2022
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Amid the death and destruction from Russia’s invasion of his country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky surprised many when he pronounced last month that his “life today is wonderful.” How can Zelensky—whose war-torn homeland is experiencing increasingly intense fighting and growing civilian casualties—be so optimistic despite the dire circumstances? Is it possible for everyday people to realize the same sense of happiness, courage, and purpose? Is there a secret to happiness and purpose that we can use in our everyday lives to achieve true success?
Arthur C. Brooks joined Marc and Dany to discuss the roadmap for finding purpose, meaning, and success in life, his journey to form new life practices and transform his future, the folly of being addicted to achievement, and his latest #1 bestseller “From Strength to Strength: Finding Happiness and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life.”
Arthur Brooks is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and Professor of Management Practice at the Harvard Business School. Before joining the Harvard faculty in 2019, he served for ten years as president of the American Enterprise Institute. Brooks is the author of 12 books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller From Strength to Strength,” and national bestsellers “Love Your Enemies” (2019) and “The Conservative Heart” (2015). He is also a columnist for The Atlantic, host of the podcast “How to Build a Happy Life with Arthur Brooks,” and subject of the 2019 documentary film “The Pursuit,” which Variety named as one of the “Best Documentaries on Netflix” in August 2019. He gives more than 100 speeches per year around the US, Europe, and Asia.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is brought to you by the American Enterprise Institute. |
| 0:03.0 | If you like what you hear, please subscribe, rate, review, and share. Thanks for listening. Here's our show. What the hell's going on? What the hell is going on? What the hell is going on? I don't know what the hell is talking about. You don't have to know what the hell is on it. What hell's the matter with these guys? We don't know what's going on. What hell's going on? |
| 0:01.1 | Who in God's name knows what hell's going on who in god's name |
| 0:21.8 | knows what it's all about hi i'm daniel petka. And I'm Mark Tiesin. |
| 0:37.8 | Welcome to our podcast. |
| 0:39.2 | What the hell is going on? |
| 0:40.8 | Mark, what the hell is going on this week? |
| 0:43.1 | What the hell is going on is we're seeing evidence of horrific war crimes in Ukraine. |
| 0:49.2 | We're seeing fierce battles taking place. |
| 0:51.8 | The Ukrainians are fighting their hearts out, but it's bloody. |
| 0:55.1 | There's lots of casualties. And yet, President Zelensky is this happy warrior who actually was |
| 1:01.7 | asked in an interview recently, how do you feel? And he said that he was happy. Let's play the |
| 1:07.0 | clip of what he said. It's hard to answer it. |
| 1:13.9 | Life is as it is. |
| 1:18.0 | My life today is wonderful. |
| 1:21.6 | I believe that I am needed. |
| 1:27.3 | I think that's the most important sense of life that you are needed, that you're not just an emptiness |
| 1:29.7 | that breathes and walks and eats something. |
| 1:34.5 | I think that's quite incredible, that he could be in the midst of this huge battle with all |
| 1:39.2 | these things happening. |
| 1:40.0 | When he said that, it reminded me of my mom. |
| 1:43.7 | And for our listeners who are familiar with my Washington Post column in this podcast, we've talked about it before, my mom fought in the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. |
... |
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