Susan Cain and Amy J. C. Cuddy, Ph.D.: Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole

Susan Cain’s 2012 #1 New York Times bestselling book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking began a global movement that changed the way society views introversion. Translated into more than forty languages, Quiet spent more than seven years on the New York Times bestseller list. Her TED Talk on the power of introverts has been viewed over 40 million times.
In her new book, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole, Ms. Cain (FAN ’13) asks: What are the powers of a bittersweet, melancholic outlook? And why have we been so blind to its value? As she describes it, bittersweetness is a tendency toward sorrow and longing, an acute awareness of passing time, and a piercing joy when beholding beauty. It recognizes that light and dark, birth and death-bitter and sweet-are forever paired. Following a trail of centuries-old artistic and wisdom traditions as well as contemporary psychology and management research, Ms. Cain reveals how bittersweetness is the key to leading a full and satisfying life and shows how our obsession with happiness is not making us happy, healthy, or whole.
Ms. Cain’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. An honors graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she partners with Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant (FAN ’14, ’16), and Dan Pink (FAN ’18, ’22) to curate the Next Big Idea Book Club.
Ms. Cain will be in conversation with Amy J. C. Cuddy, Ph.D. (FAN ’16), a social psychologist, NYT-bestselling author, and award-winning Harvard lecturer. Prof. Cuddy’s first book, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, has sold more than half a million copies and been published in 35 languages. Her 2012 TED Talk, “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are,” is the second-most-viewed TED talk of all time, with more than 64 million views.