Stay In! And Experience the Show of Delights

This American Life  - "The Show of Delights"

by Peggy Robin

This isn’t a great time to go out and do stuff. But just today I listened to a podcast that was exactly what I needed to hear in this moment in time. It’s the latest episode of This American Life. It’s actually a repeat of an episode that first aired at the start of 2020. It’s all about delight and joy. What they are, how to seek them out, what to do if they seem to elude you. There’s an interview with a professor, Ross Gay, who has made an academic study over what constitutes delight – and has compiled types of delight in a book of the same name.

The show starts off with the host, Bim Adewunmi, introducing herself as a British-Nigerian and talking about her delight in American culture, which she first experienced through watching American sitcoms as a child in East London, but which reached its apex during an idyllic summer job working as a counselor at a California summer camp.

There’s a segment about a kindergarten boy who can’t wait for his very first ride on a school bus – and you won’t believe how much joy a child can get from this simple act.

Next comes an interview with a 72-year-old widow, whose life in her younger and middle years was comprised of mostly responsibilities and hard work, until, in her old age, she finally discovered how to enjoy herself – and now experiences delight every day.

Then there’s the interviewee whose job is her chief delight. She is doing what was dream job as a child, taking care of animals at a zoo. Listen to her delight as she talks about – and talk to – orangutans, potbellied pigs, and other exotic beasts.

Finally, you hear from someone who has experienced depression, and yet still was able to learn to feel delight.

If you want to experience some delight yourself, stay in and listen:   https://www.thisamericanlife.org/692/the-show-of-delights

I hope you find it delightful.

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The "Stay In!/Get Out!" events column is published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and on All LIfe Is Local on Thursdays.