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The Good Life

Oct 3, 2025

Guest

The Rev'd Fergus Butler-Gallie

In this enlightening discussion, poet Michael Rosen shares insights from his book on brightening daily life. Dr. Sophie Scott-Brown emphasizes small local actions as acts of hope, countering grand endeavors. Political historian Sudhir Hazareesingh reflects on resilience and moral transformation among enslaved peoples. The Rev'd Fergus Butler-Gallie offers theological perspectives, linking virtue and community with personal grace. Together, they explore what constitutes a good life through various lenses, igniting thoughtful conversations on identity and everyday joy.

56:58

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INSIGHT

Garden As Shared Responsibility

Voltaire's final injunction, "il faut cultiver notre jardin," can mean communal stewardship rather than private retreat.
Michael Rosen reads it as a moral about caring for our shared planet and responsibilities to others.

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ANECDOTE

Personal Earthquakes And Medical Reason

Michael Rosen recounts losing his son Eddie and later surviving severe Covid as personal earthquakes that required making sense of death.
He turned to medical understanding and reconnecting with friends to place those losses within human experience.

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ANECDOTE

Keeping Someone Alive Through Memory

Rosen describes calling Eddie's friend Greg and hearing Eddie's joke book, which kept Eddie alive through others' memory.
That exchange became an act of cultivating presence and shared remembrance.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Voltaire's Condé and Cultivating Our Garden

03:30 • 3min

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Small Acts and Modest Pleasures as Good Life Practice

06:43 • 3min

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Gardens, Grandeur, and Swift's Cynicism

09:27 • 1min

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Personal Catastrophe, Medical Understanding, and Making Peace with Death

10:28 • 6min

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Memory, Connection and Cultivating Relationships

16:07 • 15sec

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Enslaved Peoples' Resistance and Creating New Moral Worlds

16:22 • 7min

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The Ring of Gyges and the Problem of Invisible Power

23:03 • 3min

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Religious Reminders and Visible Identity

25:35 • 2min

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Aristotle's Eudaimonia: Virtue as a Whole Life

27:19 • 1min

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Self, Others, and the Common Me

28:40 • 4min

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Epicurean Pleasure and Simple Sustaining Joys

32:18 • 3min

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Hummus, Ideals and Good Enough

34:50 • 2min

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Christian Grace and Fallibility in the Good Life

36:50 • 2min

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Mad Matilda: Trauma, Pilgrimage, and Healing

38:30 • 3min

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What If Lists: Generative Imagination for Good Days

41:36 • 2min

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Wolfson History Prize Shortlist and Historical Preoccupations

43:30 • 2min

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Survivors: Emancipation, Resilience and New Lives

45:13 • 4min

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The Good Life TV Show: Two Visions of Fulfilment

49:01 • 4min

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Quilombos and Prefigurative Communities

52:52 • 3min

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If Lists and Creative Prompts from Guests

An Unlikely History of the Buildings That Made Christianity

Fergus Butler-Gallie

#39197

Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective

Sara Lodge

#61100

Good Days

an A to Z of hope and happiness

Michael Rosen

#16286

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Embers of the Hands

Eleanor Barraclough

#20508

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Daring to Be Free

Sudhir Hazareesingh

#12599

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

• Mentioned in 29 episodes

Republic

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Plato

Plato's Republic is one of his most famous works, a philosophical dialogue exploring justice, ideal societies, and the nature of reality. It features the allegory of the cave, a powerful metaphor for the limitations of human perception and the pursuit of knowledge. The dialogue delves into various forms of government, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, ultimately advocating for a philosopher-king to rule the ideal state. The Republic also examines the tripartite soul, proposing that reason, spirit, and appetite must be harmonized for individual and societal well-being. Its enduring influence on political philosophy and ethics makes it a cornerstone of Western thought.

#887

• Mentioned in 30 episodes

Gulliver's travels

Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" is a satirical masterpiece that uses fantastical journeys to critique human nature and societal flaws. Gulliver's encounters with Lilliputians, Brobdingnagians, and other fantastical creatures serve as allegories for political and social issues of Swift's time. The novel's sharp wit and biting satire continue to resonate with readers today, offering a timeless commentary on human folly and the complexities of power. Gulliver's experiences highlight the absurdity of human conflict and the importance of reason and moderation. The book's enduring popularity stems from its ability to entertain while simultaneously provoking thought and challenging readers' assumptions.

#79

• Mentioned in 154 episodes

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, 'War and Peace' follows the lives of several Russian aristocratic families, including the Bezukhovs, the Rostovs, and the Bolkonskys. The novel spans from 1805 to 1820 and is known for its realistic detail and psychological analysis. It explores the impact of Napoleon's invasion of Russia on the characters and society, delving into themes of love, family, war, and personal growth. The novel includes historical events such as the Battle of Austerlitz, the Treaties of Tilsit, and the French invasion of Russia, intertwining historical and fictional elements.

#949

• Mentioned in 29 episodes

Candide

François-Marie Arouet

Voltaire

Candide, written by Voltaire, is a satirical novel that critiques metaphysical optimism, particularly the philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. The story revolves around Candide, a naive and optimistic young man who is expelled from his home after an illicit affair with the baron's daughter, Cunégonde. Candide and his companions, including his tutor Pangloss, experience a series of horrific events such as wars, earthquakes, slavery, and other atrocities. Despite these hardships, Pangloss persists in his belief that 'all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds. ' The novel ultimately concludes with Candide and his friends settling on a farm in Turkey, where they find happiness by focusing on practical, everyday tasks rather than philosophical speculations. Voltaire uses satire to lampoon various aspects of 18th-century society, including science, philosophy, religion, and government.

What does living a good life involve? Michael Rosen's new book is called Good Days and offers suggestions to brighten our daily lives. Dr Sophie Scott-Brown is a research fellow at St Andrews' Institute of Intellectual History. The Rev'd Fergus Butler-Gallie has spent time working in the Czech republic and South Africa and ministering in parishes in Liverpool and London. His most recent book is Twelve Churches: An Unlikely History of the Buildings that made Christianity. Dr Rachel Wiseman lectures on philosophy at the University of Liverpool and explored the impact of the relative absence of women philosophers. Sudhir Hazareesingh is a Fellow and Tutor in Politics at Balliol, Oxford and author of "Daring to be Free: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World, which raises questions about the Enlightenment's exclusion of enslaved people from the universal vision of a good society. Matthew Sweet hosts the discussion about what it means to be good.

The six books shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2025 which will be announced on December 2nd are:

• Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age by Eleanor Barraclough (Profile Books) • The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor (Allen Lane) • Multicultural Britain: A People’s History by Kieran Connell (Hurst Publishing) • Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Hannah Durkin (William Collins) • The Gravity of Feathers: Fame, Fortune and the Story of St Kilda by Andrew Fleming (Birlinn) • The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective by Sara Lodge (Yale University Press)

The judges for the Wolfson History Prize 2025 are Mary Beard, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Helen King and Diarmaid MacCulloch, with the panel chaired by David Cannadine.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

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