“We tell ourselves stories in order to live,” goes the famous line from Joan Didion — but is it worth it? How do narratives help us make sense of our lives, and how might they be misleading? Advertisements these days are full of them, but can a company really have a story of its own? And could having “main character energy” actually indicate a fundamental philosophical problem?

In this special live recording from the Lyceum Movement’s Tallgrass Ideas Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, Sam was joined by Hannah Kim, philosopher at the University of Arizona and associate editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, to discuss why storytelling has become such a prominent part of our cultural conversation, the philosophy of stories and narratology, and dig into how “storification” can limit our ability to understand our own lives.

Join the Crowd in getting the real story on stories themselves.

Required Reading:

* More about the Lyceum Movement.

Wisdom of Crowds is a platform challenging premises and understanding first principles on politics and culture. Join us!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit wisdomofcrowds.live/subscribe