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Wise Habits Reminders

002: Oliver Burkeman – The One You Feed

January 12, 2014 9 Comments

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This week on The One You Feed our guest is Oliver Burkeman. Oliver is a journalist for the Guardian and the author of a wonderful book called The Antidote: Happiness for People who Hate Positive Thinking. Oliver is funny, thoughtful and articulate. I think it was a great interview.

In This Interview Oliver and I discuss…

oliver burkeman

  • The One You Feed parable.
  • Why you should ask yourself:  “What is the worst thing that could happen”.
  • Do you have a problem right now?.
  • What musterbation is and why you should avoid it.
  • Why positive thinking isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
  • Why focusing too much on your goals can be counterproductive.
  • How many wars were started in world history because somebody forgot their coffee in the AM.
  • What pop songs can Oliver not get out of his head.
  • Why positive thinking abhors a mystery.

 Oliver Burkeman Bio:

Oliver Burkeman is a  writer for The Guardian and he is based in Brooklyn, New York. His  new book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking explores the upsides of negativity, uncertainty, failure and imperfection. Each week inThis Column Will Change Your Life  he writes about social psychology, self-help culture, productivity and the science of happiness, and makes unprovoked attacks on The Secret.

Oliver Burkeman Links:

Oliver Burkeman Guardian site

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Filed Under: Featured, Podcast Episode

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bk says

    March 5, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    I bought Oliver’s book about halfway through hearing this episode. I’ve always had a very similar outlook as stoicism, and it was great to hear somebody else with the same viewpoints. It was a bit vindicating to know that I’m not just a shitty, negative guy, and that my inclination not to set big goals isn’t a bad thing. Thanks a lot for having him.

    Reply
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    August 6, 2016 at 7:38 am

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  3. Bella Sarah says

    October 13, 2016 at 6:20 am

    Great talk, Oliver Burkeman in amazing. Just finished an AoC podcast with him as a guest in which he talks about why trying to avoid negativity is a big part of what is making us unhappy.

    Reply
    • Eric Zimmer says

      October 16, 2016 at 4:06 pm

      Yes..I love that guy

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Nine Podcasts for a Fuller Life | MotionBump Reader says:
    May 18, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    […] Other episodes of note: Carol Dweck :: Andrew Solomon :: Oliver Burkeman […]

    Reply
  2. Nine Podcasts for a Fuller Life | WilliamSiebold.com says:
    May 18, 2015 at 10:07 pm

    […] Other episodes of note: Carol Dweck :: Andrew Solomon :: Oliver Burkeman […]

    Reply
  3. Nine Podcasts for a Fuller Life | Brain Pickings | Watson's Blog says:
    July 27, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    […] Other episodes of note: Carol Dweck :: Andrew Solomon :: Oliver Burkeman […]

    Reply
  4. Nine Podcasts for a Fuller Life | brainpickings.testlizard.com says:
    August 27, 2015 at 4:44 am

    […] Other episodes of note: Carol Dweck :: Andrew Solomon :: Oliver Burkeman […]

    Reply
  5. The Wolf You Feed - BeingHolly says:
    January 3, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    […] of The One You Feed that I was thinking about in particular was with author, Oliver Burkeman (Link to the episode here). His book The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking caught my […]

    Reply

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