Oliver Burkeman is the anti-self-help author that everyone interested in self-help should read. He encourages us to embrace uncertainty and imperfection in a world obsessed with self-improvement and relentless goal-setting. For over ten years he wrote the popular ‘This Column Will Change Your Life’ column for The Guardian and his latest book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals, was a huge bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic. Sarah Wilson is the founder of the global ‘I Quit Sugar’ movement, was editor of Cosmopolitan Australia at the age of 29, and has interviewed two Australian prime ministers, Beyoncé, Brené Brown, the Dalai Lama and dozens of moral philosophers, effective altruists and existential risk experts during her career. Her most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, won the US Gold Nautilus Prize and describes how she spent three years hiking around the world, following in the footsteps of Nietzsche and Wordsworth and emerging with a blueprint for living a wilder, more connected life. For this episode, Burkeman and Wilson come together at Intelligence Squared for an engaging discussion about the limitations of the traditional self-help industry, the importance of mindfulness, and practical strategies for leading a more balanced and purposeful life.
We’d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next. Send us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.
And while you’re listening, why not visit Intelligencesquared.com and sign up to our newsletter to be the first to hear about some of our great upcoming events and deals.
If you’d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared. Just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Cats vs Dogs, with John Gray and Will Self, Part 1
Food for Thought: How Nutrition Affects Our Minds
Dickens vs Tolstoy: The Battle Of The Great 19th-century Novelists PART 2
Dickens vs Tolstoy: The Battle Of The Great 19th-century Novelists PART 1
Rome’s Golden Age with Tom Holland
How to Flex Your Imagination Muscle
Mariana Mazzucato and Stella Creasy on the Global Economy, PART 2
Mariana Mazzucato and Stella Creasy on the Global Economy, PART 1
Eighty Is The New Thirty: A Guide To Getting Older, PART 2
Eighty Is The New Thirty: A Guide To Getting Older, PART 1
Gloria Estefan on the Latin American Dream
The Networks of History, with Niall Ferguson
The Futureverse: The Risk-Takers, with Simon Reeve and Christina Lamb
Humanity's Thousand Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity
The Elders, with Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu: Part 2
The Elders, with Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson: Part 1
Willem Dafoe on Artistry and Adventure - Part 2
Willem Dafoe on Artistry and Adventure - Part 1
The Handshake: A Gripping History
Should the ICC Prosecute Putin?
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free