Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Lives Well Lived is hosted by Peter Singer & Kasia de Lazari Radek. Episodes consist of interviews with remarkable guests who have lived well, both in the sense of living an ethical life, but also in that they are fulfilled and happy with what they have achieved in their lives. Some of these guests will be well-known figures, but others who are doing extraordinary things will be unfamiliar to almost all of our listeners. The conversations will often cover ground that involves ethics, how to live well, and how to make a positive difference in the world. It will inspire and empower its audience to change their own lives for the better.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Ethics and living well • Happiness, meaning, “mattering” • Moral philosophy, decision-making, free will, consciousness • Effective altruism, philanthropy, moral ambition • AI risk, polarization, governance nudges • Animal rights, human exceptionalism • Wellbeing policy, public health, addiction • Relationships, empathy, resilience, creativityThis podcast features in-depth interviews about what it means to live well, with “well” treated as both an ethical question and a practical one about fulfillment, meaning, and happiness. Conversations often draw on moral philosophy and the effective altruism tradition, examining how people can use evidence, reason, and personal values to make a positive difference through their careers, donations, and civic choices.
Across episodes, guests from philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, economics, public health, politics, journalism, and the arts discuss how humans think, feel, and decide. Recurring topics include the construction of emotion and social reality, the reliability of our judgments about happiness, optimism and attention, addiction and self-control, and debates about free will and consciousness. The show also returns to themes of “mattering,” achievement culture, identity, and how people make sense of their lives through relationships, work, creativity, and moral purpose.
A major throughline is ethics at scale: global poverty and education, public policy and wellbeing measurement, climate responsibility, and the promises and risks of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Another frequent focus is our relationship with other animals—animal minds, human exceptionalism, factory farming, and the strategic and legal challenges of animal advocacy.
Alongside big ideas, guests often bring personal histories—experiences of exile, discrimination, political upheaval, trauma, or unconventional career paths—using them to explore empathy, resilience, integrity, and the tensions between ideals and real-world constraints.
