A long-time productivity and self-help writer for The Guardian, Oliver Burkeman catapulted to international renown with his 2021 book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. In that book, as well as his 2025 follow up Meditations for Mortals, Burkeman jolts our productivity-obsessed culture awake with the reminder that we can’t possibly get everything under control in the short time we have here on earth. It’s a realization that seems terrifying and slightly depressing at first blush, but the more Burkeman talks us through it the more liberating and life-enhancing it feels. In this conversation, Oliver Burkeman expands on imperfectionism ,on the wisdom of not seeing life as a problem to be solved, and the power that comes with letting the future be the future.

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How do you go from a corporate job you don’t actually like to living your creative and professional dream? For Anar Ali the path involved a lot of leaps into the unknown. Anar is creator and producer of Allegiance, the top-rated show on CBC Television. Before that she was a respected author with a multi-book deal at a major publisher. But none of it would have happened without listening to her instincts and trusting in the possibility of uncertainty. Wise, reflective and bracingly candid, Anar shares her remarkable story—including the frightening chapter that changed how she views everything and made her feel most alive in the midst of the uncertainty.

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Waking up each morning to a relentless news cycle of fear and despair, sometimes being hopeful can seem naive. How can we possibly have hope for a future that often feels grim? As award-winning author Andrea Curtis shares in her newest book, hope and struggle actually go hand in hand. The Story and Science of Hope is written for middle-grade readers but the neuroscience behind it offers comfort to us all. In her warm and upbeat style, Andrea explains how hope differs from optimism, and lays out the evidence showing the power we have to develop our sense of hope. This conversation is like a mini-course in how to cultivate an essential, life-enhancing emotion.

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