Alain de Botton is the founder and chairman of The School of Life, a gathering of courses, workshops, and talks on meaning and wisdom for modern lives, with branches around the world. He first became known for his book How Proust Can Change Your Life. I spoke with him in 2017.
Tippett: After a short break, more with Alain de Botton. You can always listen again, and hear the unedited version of this and every conversation I have on the On Being podcast feed, wherever podcasts are found.
de Botton: I genuinely thought at that time that problems in love are the result of being with people who are, in one way or another, defective. And in 2002, this belief was severely tested, in that I met someone who was really absolutely wonderful in every way. And through much effort, I pursued her and eventually married her and discovered something very surprising. She was great in a million ways. She was very right. And yet, oddly, there were all sorts of problems.
The On Being Project is: Chris Heagle, Lily Percy, Laurn Drommerhausen, Erin Colasacco, Eddie Gonzalez, Lilian Vo, Lucas Johnson, Suzette Burley, Zack Rose, Colleen Scheck, Christiane Wartell, Julie Siple, Gretchen Honnold, Jhaleh Akhavan, Pdraig Tuama, Ben Katt, Gautam Srikishan, and Lillie Benowitz.
Kalliopeia Foundation, dedicated to reconnecting ecology, culture, and spirituality; supporting organizations and initiatives that uphold a sacred relationship with life on Earth. Learn more at kalliopeia.org.
Modern Love is an American romantic comedy anthology television series developed by John Carney, based on the weekly column of the same name published by The New York Times, that premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 18, 2019.[1] In October 2019, the series was renewed for a second season, which was released on August 13, 2021.[2][3]
This episode alternates between the past, a love story between Margot (Jane Alexander) and Kenji (James Saito), and the present, during Kenji's funeral. Margot and Kenji are an older couple who connect over their love of running. The two decided to take their love slowly because of Kenji's difficulty in recovering from the death of his wife, who had died six years prior. Their relationship began to progress quickly after Kenji suggested they sleep together after a marathon they ran together. After the funeral, Margot decides to go for another run and passes by young couples in love, including characters from previous episodes. Margot compares herself to these young couples, considering her own age and experience with relationships.
On June 11, 2018, it was announced that Amazon had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of eight episodes. The series was set to be directed, written, and produced by John Carney. Production companies involved with the series were slated to include Storied Media Group and The New York Times.[4][15][16][17] On November 26, 2018, it was reported that Emmy Rossum, Sharon Horgan, and Tom Hall would serve as additional directors for the series. Horgan and Hall also wrote the episodes they were set to direct while Rossum was expected to direct an episode written by Audrey Wells. Additionally, it was further reported that Dimitri Hoffman, Sam Dolnick, and Choire Sicha would serve as executive producers, Trish Hofmann as a producer, and Daniel Jones as a consulting producer.[18] On October 24, 2019, Amazon renewed the series for a second season which premiered on August 13, 2021.[2][3]
On November 26, 2018, it was announced that Anne Hathaway, Tina Fey, Dev Patel, John Slattery, Brandon Victor Dixon, Catherine Keener, Julia Garner, Andy Garca, Cristin Milioti, Olivia Cooke, Andrew Scott, Shea Whigham, Gary Carr, Sofia Boutella, and John Gallagher Jr. had been cast in the first season.[18]
In February 2021, the second-season cast was announced, including Gbenga Akinnagbe, Lucy Boynton, Minnie Driver, Kit Harington, Garrett Hedlund, Anna Paquin, Jack Reynor and Miranda Richardson.[20] In May 2021, Sophie Okonedo and Tobias Menzies joined the cast of second season.[3]
Principal photography for the series had begun by September 18, 2018, in New York City.[21] The second season was filmed in the New York cities of Schenectady, Albany, and Troy, as well as in Enniskerry and Stoneybatter, Dublin, Ireland.[22][23][24][25]
The first season held a 75% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus read: "Carried by its charming cast, Modern Love sweet and simple sensibilities are easy enough to enjoy, even if its quaint portrait of modern life in New York City doesn't always ring true."[30] On Metacritic, the first season received an average rating of 66 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[31]
The second season held a 58% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus read: "Modern Love struggles in its second season, favoring romantic clichs over the more complicated truths that make its source material so appealing - still, there's no denying the allure of its talented cast, which might be enough for some viewers."[32] On Metacritic, the second season received an average rating of 61 out of 100, based on 8 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[33]
Traveling the Way of Love, Episode 3: Worship, the latest installment of a new video series from The Episcopal Church Office of Communication, is now available for viewing on The Episcopal Church website (click on Worship).
In addition to the first three episodes, four additional are planned for 2019; watch for them in July, September, October and November. Each episode is built around one of the seven practices central to The Way of Love: turn, learn, pray, worship, bless, go, rest.
What did I miss? What did you think? I really hope the show continues to be as good as this episode, but then I was tricked by the second episode of Daryl Dixon, which was really great, and the rest of that show was a pretty big letdown in spite of its great production values and leads. We shall see.
The streaming service's new anthology series, "Modern Love," is based on The New York Times column about the different ways we love in the contemporary world. This can be love in a marriage, sure, but also between a paternal doorman and a tenant, a couple on a second date or any other way we express or acquire the emotion, or lose it. Or almost lose it.
The fourth and best episode of the series, "Rallying to Keep the Game Alive," is about a marriage on the verge of collapse, a husband (John Slattery) and wife (Tina Fey) who aren't sure what they will have in common after their growing children leave the house. They eventually find their way back to each other, through admitting their failures, putting the past in the past and playing a lot of tennis.
The episode is instantly relatable for those who have been in long-term relationships that require care and maintenance, and who go through rough patches that seem to have no end. Its universality makes it even more surprising that the episode is based on a column written by "Rescue Me" actor Denis Leary's wife, Ann.
Slattery's "Dennis" is an actor of at least some fame and wealth (his fabulous New York apartment and a fan encounter make that clear), and his wife, Sarah, is often aggrieved by the lifestyle of partying and affirmation that being an actor has afforded him.
But their problems are deeper than fans coming up to him in restaurants or her being kept at arms' length from the fabulous parties he attends. They're about the resentment built up between them when they didn't notice, a frustration that they can't even discuss openly at marriage counseling sessions. It isn't until they give up on therapy and share a resigned meal that the real problems they confront come to the surface, so they can start addressing them. Eventually, the rhythms of tennis help their relationship rally, quite literally.
Over its eight episodes, "Love" uncynically embraces sentiment, a tone that's welcome in some episodes and distinctly mawkish in others (the final episode's attempt to tie them all together in a saccharine montage is fully on the side of cloying and annoying). "Rallying" finds a space for a small amount of skepticism about the sheer power of love without losing a hopeful mood. It also has a sardonic humor that's distinctly missing in other episodes.
Light is called by the Japanese Task Force to come assist them on the Kira case, much to Light's surprise yet also his delight. However, when he arrives at the meeting between L and the other detectives, he quickly discovers that L is still testing him. It is revealed that L doesn't want Light to know about there being a second Kira, wanting to see if he comes to the same result to see if he is one of the Kiras; if he comes to the same conclusion as them, he should be cleared of some suspicion. Light views the tapes to locate any clues in the audio reader's voice, and quickly becomes angry, seeing the video as inferior to his true goals. After L asks him about his opinion on the videos, he goes ahead and reveals his own "suspicions" that there is a second Kira, much to the others' delight. The team then decides to trick the second Kira into getting into a conversation with the real Kira by making a reply video, created by L and scripted by Light (who tries to mention "You're free to kill L," though this is edited out by L) so L can test him, which Ryuk finds amusing.
When the message, which asks for the second Kira to obey him, is broadcast on television, Misa Amane instantly falls victim out of lovestruck. Misa decides to respond despite Rem's objections. Several days later, she replies to Watari in a message, which he gives to the Task Force, by saying she will obey the original, but wants to meet him personally. Utterly convinced that she is communicating with the actual Kira, she then unwillingly reveals some eccentric and important details about the Shinigami Eyes and the Shinigami themselves. This causes Light to deem the Second Kira a liability, and L to fall right out of his chair, horrified that Shinigami might actually exist (remembering the original Kira's message, "L do you know gods of death love apples?"). Soichiro suggests that they may still be dealing with the real Kira if he also talks about Shinigami, but Light says that can't be since he responded to the video and should not have given up on killing L. They decide that the second Kira must be trying to meet the original, and "Shinigami" is merely a reference to their killing powers. They decide to broadcast the second Kira's response, hoping to pressure the real Kira into responding as well, since the second Kira is inadvertently revealing details that Kira wants under wraps.
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