How to Live a Meaningful Life

How to Live a Meaningful Life

Wars rage, the planet burns, politicians are up to high jinks, and apparently no-one can agree on anything. It’s no wonder we all feel overwhelmed. So, what can we do when life starts to feel too much? How do we remind ourselves what it’s all for anyway?

This strand of events – on philosophy, humour, relationships, and nourishment – is about remembering (and celebrating) the things that make life worth living. We’ve asked incredible writers to present their take on some of the cornerstones of what makes us human – and here’s something of what you can expect:

We’ve got writers talking about resilience, and about how equipping ourselves with knowledge about how our struggles affect us can empower us to navigate through the worst of them.

We’ve got writers talking about paying attention, about the crucial importance of  looking up and showing up and standing with each other, even when it’s hard going, and especially when we don’t fully know what to do.

We’ve got writers talking about how vital it is to pause and reflect.

We’ve got writers talking about how they’ve found meaning in the midst of apparently hopeless situations, talking about what meaning actually means – and faith, too. What does it feel like to have faith? What does it take to keep it?

And we’ve got writers talking about some of life’s greatest joys: food and creativity and nature and laughter. Things that are innately meaningful for the happiness they bring to us… but more than that, they can be powerful tools of solidarity, of holding onto hope, and of standing up to those who would try to knock us down.

This strand is all about the stuff of life, really, and we hope these events will uplift and replenish you.

 

Asma Khan in Conversation

Thursday 15 August 13:45 - 14:45

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Pioneering chef Asma Khan's life reflects her belief that food and love are inextricably linked. One of TIME magazine’s Most Influential People in the World, her internationally famous restaurant, Darjeeling Express, has supported countless woman,...
 

Rose Boyt: Portrait Of A Father

Friday 16 August 12:15 - 13:15

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When looking at Lucian Freud’s piercing portraits, it’s impossible to imagine what it must have been like to sit for him. The artist’s daughter, Rose Boyt, explores that and much more as she discusses her remarkable memoir of the artist.
 

Caroline Eden: Culinary Journeys

Friday 16 August 13:45 - 14:45

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Author and literary critic Caroline Eden’s new book Cold Kitchen is an honest, heart-breaking memoir, drawing upon memories and gathered recipes that bring her travels in Central Asia, Ukraine, Russia, and Eastern Europe to life. In what is sure to be...
 

Sarah Rankin: Something To Be Savoured

Friday 16 August 14:30 - 15:30

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Food is love, according to MasterChef finalist Sarah Rankin, and her much anticipated cookery book, Kith: Scottish Seasonal Food for Family and Friends, is an expression of this belief. Essays are sprinkled between recipes and Rankin writes movingly...
 

On Resilience: Vincent Deary

Friday 16 August 17:45 - 18:45

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  • Captioned
‘Often the first casualty of stress is joy’ says health psychologist Vincent Deary. An expert in fatigue, Deary has spent his career helping people pushed past their limits. Hear him talk with Talat Yaqoob about how better understanding our struggle...
 

Anne Boyer & Marianne Brooker: The Body Intervenes

Saturday 17 August 12:30 - 13:30

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Marianne Brooker and Anne Boyer talk to Gavin Francis about the radical act of looking what we most fear in the face.
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Who gets to decide what is considered beautiful? As beauty and conformity morph into one, it can be tempting to try to force our bodies into shapes they were never designed to fit. Today, authors Jill Burke (How to Be a Renaissance Woman), Emma Dabiri...
 

On Reflection: Richard Holloway

Saturday 17 August 17:30 - 18:30

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  • Captioned
Elif Shafak once noted that, after reading Richard Holloway – broadcaster, writer, professor, and former head of the Scottish Episcopal Church – ‘you understand the world better, you feel less lonely’. Come and hear Holloway talk with Allan...
 

Hettie Judah: Rewriting Art History

Saturday 17 August 19:30 - 20:30

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As an art critic, curator, and writer, Hettie Judah has spent years researching and campaigning on art and motherhood. In conversation with Beth Bate, Judah brings a fresh perspective to art history by examining maternity in art from prehistory to the...
 

On Food and Community: Sami Tamimi

Sunday 18 August 11:45 - 12:45

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From the personal to the political: what and how we eat says so much about who we are. Tamimi talks with Chitra Ramaswamy about food as a symbol of resistance, celebration and community.