Acclaimed writer Leslie Jamison takes us on an intimate and honest personal journey, navigating the devastating collapse of her marriage and the joy of becoming a mother for the first time. In her latest memoir, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, she recounts her relationships with men, her parents, her child, and herself, drawing on her own lived experiences in order “to ask about what it feels like to be alive.”

This week, Yale professor of psychology Paul Bloom offers another perspective on retirement. Although leisure and free time are appealing, research indicates that a more balanced approach involving some work may be healthier, more rewarding and make us happier.

While our modern lifestyles offer many advantages and independence, they have also led to a rise in loneliness as we’ve become less reliant on the communities that once held us together. Casper ter Kuile, former Harvard divinity scholar and co-founder of the community-building project Nearness, argues that the connections and community we build with each other “is what lifes all about.”

This week, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Indigenous ecologist and author of Braiding Sweetgrass speaks about the virtues of moss and how one of the smallest and humblest plants on the planet can teach us to live more sustainably and harmoniously with the world around us.

While good habits and rituals are beneficial, brain scientists and psychologists also say the key to a fulfilling and happy life is novelty, variety, and disruption from our routines. In her book Look Again; The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, co-author and MIT neuroscientist Tali Sharot sources decades of research illustrating that greater sensitivity, appreciation, and innovation happens when we dishabituate.  

This week, Anna Lembke, addiction specialist at Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and author of “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence,” provides the clinical definition of addiction and says it’s becoming easier than ever adopt addictive behaviors but harder to spot the addiction in ourselves. 

Jonathan Bastian talks with Ross Gay, poet, essayist, and professor of English at Indiana University. Author of “The Book of Delights,” Gay’s latest collection of essays and poems is “Inciting Joy,” in which he ponders sources of joy, from caring for his father, to skateboarding, gardening, and playing pickup basketball. 

“Joy is what emerges from our tending to one another through the difficulty, making it possible to survive the difficulty,’ says Gay.  “Joy emerges from that.” 

Delve deeper into life, philosophy, and what makes us human by joining the Life Examined discussion group on Facebook.

In his article “Science can explain a broken heart. Could science help heal mine?,” Los Angeles Times columnist Todd Martens shares his story of heartbreak and explores the science behind physical and emotional suffering. Matthew Fray, relationship coach and author of This Is How Your Marriage Ends;  A Hopeful Approach to Saving Relationships, reflects on his divorce and flags some seemingly benign behaviors that over time can undermine love and trust in a relationship.

This week, philosopher and writer Alain de Botton says, simple as it sounds, there's nothing more enduring and attractive in a partner than being fully and completely heard and understood.

According to psychologist Gloria Mark, the average attention span is just 47 seconds. Mark, a two-decade veteran in researching attention, says our ability to focus is declining at an alarming rate and is impacting our health. Much of this increase is due to our modern, fast-paced lifestyles and technology. Mark underscores the implications for children while emphasizing the potential for behavioral reversal.