Must happiness require effort? Meghan Daum and Sally Warhaft

Common wisdom asserts, with its casual air of fact, that something called happiness is both possible and truer when earned. What do we – not so much as psychologists or scientists, but as people who live – know about happiness? What drives our preoccupation with authentic emotions, and our attachment to labour as a virtue?

The texture, timbre and depth of our emotions and relationships are, as it turns out, the specialty of writer Meghan Daum. She’s an accomplished essayist whose work deals with many and varied features of contemporary life – including ageing, sentimentality, sexuality, illness and modern families (especially consciously childless ones). You’ll find her work in titles such as the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, Harper’s and Vogue.

Why do we still think that marriage and children are the path to happiness when so many alternatives exist? Is it shameful to feel devastated by the loss of one person, when tsunamis and earthquakes can wipe out generations of families? Why do humans have such an affinity with dogs? Hear Daum’s view as she speaks with broadcaster, anthropologist and fellow people-watcher Sally Warhaft about emotional labour, loss, fulfilment, families and womanhood.

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