NPR's Book of the Day Journalist Jodi Kantor and happiness expert Arthur Brooks on how to find purpose
May 8, 2026
Jodi Kantor, investigative New York Times reporter and author focused on building a life’s work through craft and meeting societal needs. Arthur Brooks, Harvard professor and happiness expert studying purpose and well-being. They discuss rising youth anxiety, how tech shifts us toward left‑brain thinking, simple digital detox rules, the macronutrients of meaning, pilgrimage for interior life, and aligning craft with real need.
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Meaninglessness Drives The Youth Mental-Health Surge
- Depression and anxiety among young people spiked after 2008 and correlate strongly with feelings of meaninglessness.
- Arthur C. Brooks observed tripled depression and doubled anxiety returning to academia in 2019, linking it to a loss of perceived purpose.
Too Much Hustle Cuts Off The Why Questions
- Overemphasis on engineering, hustle, and measurable goals shifts education toward 'how' not 'why' thinking.
- Brooks argues humanities and arts decline deprives people of right-brain meaning-making needed for purpose.
Technology Pushes Us Into Left-Brain Living
- Right hemisphere handles why, mystery, and meaning while left handles how and what; tech pushes us left.
- Brooks warns ChatGPT and smartphones train left-brain problem solving at the expense of meaning and social connection.
