Send us a text

Sir Anthony Seldon is one of the most influential voices in the UK on education. He has led three prominent independent school, and written or edited more than 40 books.

In this episode we explore how education can honour what truly matters in a time when AI can outscore us on the tests we designed. Sir Anthony Seldon lays out a shift from human capital to human flourishing, urging schools to cultivate agency, character, and love of learning.

• redefining the purpose of education toward human flourishing
• harms of exam-driven systems and narrow metrics
• every child’s unique gifts and “song”
• AI exposing the limits of cognitive-only assessment
• OECD’s human flourishing model and core competences
• coaching pedagogy to build agency and judgment
• practices for inner life, mindfulness, and body care
• virtues and pro-social habits for a resilient future
• choosing subjects you love to sustain motivation
• balancing measurable outcomes with the immeasurable

As ever, do please share this episode with others you think might like it or on social media

Sign up for This Examined Life on Substack, where you can receive updates, bits of writing, and you can support the show

Any feedback or ideas can be emailed to me at kp@examined-life.com

Support the show

Send us a text

In this brief episode we explore a short soundbite from a previous episode with philosopher of technology LM Sacasas. In it we explore the way that efficiency and ease might give with one hand, while taking with the other.

- check out the previous episode in full here - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/michael-sacasas-what-should-we-be-doing-for-ourselves/id1680728280?i=1000705506079

- LM Sacasas substack here - https://substack.com/@theconvivialsociety

- This Examined Life substack here - https://thisexaminedlife.substack.com/?utm_campaign=profile_chips

Support the show

Send us a text

Comfort is easy; appetite is sacred. We trace a surprising path to steadier happiness by leaning, gently but deliberately, into friction. Drawing on psychiatrist Anna Lembke’s insight that our modern environment is addictogenic, we look at how endless convenience and constant dopamine nudges can flatten mood, fog attention, and leave us restless. Then we put the theory to the test with a cold North Sea dip—short, sharp, and strangely joyful on the other side.

Across the conversation, we unpack why the human nervous system needs stress in measured doses. Think hormesis: brief, voluntary challenges like hard exercise, short fasts from alcohol or sugar, or cold exposure that nudge the brain into balance and rebuild resilience. A greenhouse tree grows fast but topples without wind; without resistance, we also lose inner structure. By choosing small hardships, we earn the afterglow—a calmer baseline, cleaner focus, and a renewed appetite for simple pleasures.

We also explore practical ways to invite healthy stress without going extreme. Start with one constraint you can keep this week, and notice the shift: food tastes better, sleep deepens, and mornings feel less rushed. The aim isn’t suffering for its own sake; it’s recalibrating reward so that life’s ordinary moments become vivid again. If abundance has dulled your edge, a little voluntary discomfort can turn the volume back down on noise and up on meaning.

If this resonates, follow along for more short reflections, share the episode with a friend who needs a reset, and join our Substack community for deeper dives. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us: what small hardship will you choose this week?

Support the show