Many of us think about, talk about and chase happiness. But it can be elusive and surprisingly complicated.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks with a philosopher who says happiness — at least the way we usually think of it — is really just a feeling that comes and goes. She says what truly matters is flourishing — living in a way that reflects our values, our relationships and the kind of person we’re trying to become.

Guest:

• Valerie Tiberius is a professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota. She is also the author of “What Do You Want Out of Life? A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters.”

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From local Nutcrackers to community choir concerts, ‘tis the season for holiday shows put on by your friends and neighbors.

Across Minnesota, stages are booked with theater, dance and music performances — and many of the people in the spotlight aren’t even paid professionals.

They’re adults with day jobs who rehearse after dinner, all for the joy and community they find in amateur arts groups.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what tapping into your inner performing artist does for your own well-being and how these local productions enrich our communities.

Guests:

• G. Phillip Shoultz III is the associate artistic director of VocalEssence and works with several of the organization’s non-professional choruses. He also oversees music at Westwood Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, is an adjunct member of the music faculty at the University of St. Thomas and is artistic director of Sing Democracy 250, which is organizing choir performances next year in all 50 states to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• Dylon Starr is the director of Disney’s “Frozen” at the Rochester Civic Theatre and has acted and directed in other community theaters in southeastern Minnesota. He’s also director of programming and music at Peace United Church of Christ in Rochester.

Two mass shootings over the weekend left communities in two countries shaken. Two gunmen killed 15 people at a Hanukkah Festival in Australia and dozens remain hospitalized.

MPR News guest host Catharine Richert talks about what we know about the shootings, what research says about patterns in mass violence and what these attacks mean for communities processing fear and grief.

Guests:

• James Densley is professor and department chair of criminology and criminal justice at Metro State University and co-founder of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center at Hamline University.
• Jillian Peterson is a professor of criminology and criminal justice, director of the forensic psychology program and executive director of the Violence Prevention Project Research Center at Hamline University.
• Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker is the senior rabbi at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul.