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Oliver Burkeman talks to Stephanie Merritt

Meditations for Mortals

Hay Festival 2025, 

Fans of Burkeman’s popular ‘This Column Will Change Your Life’, which ran for many years in the Guardian, will jump at this chance to navigate the big questions of psychology with the man himself.

How do we embrace the reality of our finiteness? How do we make decisions and act with conviction when there is always too much to do and failure is inevitable? How do we find a deeper sense of purpose when we realise that life is not a problem to be solved? How does care for others make us more free?

Burkemann talks to critic and writer Stephanie Merritt about encouraging us to embrace our limitations, showing how to thrive in an age of bewilderment and make time for what counts.