88. Will Storr - The Status Game: Understanding Its Significance, Implications, and Why We Play It

Today, I spoke with Will Storr, who is an award-winning writer whose work has appeared in titles such as The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The New Yorker and The New York Times. He is the author of six critically acclaimed books, including ‘Selfie: How the West became self-obsessed’, ‘The Heretics: Adventures with the enemies of science’, as well as the Sunday Times Bestseller ‘The Science of Storytelling’.

He also recently published the book 'The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play It' and he joins me today to explore how status influences our behaviour, relationships, and how it contributes to so much of what’s good as well as bad in our world.

Some of the topics we covered are:

• The Significance of Status: Understanding Its Purpose and Implications
• Dominance, Virtue, and Success: The Three Types of Status Games You Need to Know
• Cultural Influence on Status Games: Why Understanding Culture is Key
• Influencing Social Groups: The Importance of Understanding their Culture and Status Dynamics
• The Impact of Status on Physical and Psychological Wellbeing: What You Need to Know
• Status Loss and Suicide Ideation: Understanding the Correlation
• Genocide and National Status Loss: Examining the Link
• Status in Culture Wars: Brexit, Trump, and the Role of Status Games
• The Use of Status Games by Cultural Elites
• Geopolitics and Status: Understanding Their Interconnection
• Escaping Status Games: Is It Possible?
• Playing a Hierarchy of Status Games: Why It Matters and How to Do It