Pico Iyer and Katherine May on The Half Known Life: Finding Paradise in a Divided World | 5x15

In January, the month of resolutions, join 5x15 to hear the acclaimed author Pico Iyer on how we might find paradise in the present.
Paradise is a universal but elusive concept; a place we might spend our whole lives looking for. Moving between Iran, North Korea, the Dalai Lama’s Himalayas and the temples of Japan, Pico Iyer’s new book The Half Known Life: Finding Paradise in a Divided World reflects on ideas of utopia and ways of finding solace in these fractious times. Does religion lead us back to Eden or only into constant contention? Why do so many seeming paradises turn into warzones? And does paradise exist only in the afterworld - or can it be found in the here and now?
Don’t miss the chance to hear from one of the most inspiring and perceptive travel writers of our time. Pico Iyer will be in conversation with the internationally best-selling writer and podcaster Katherine May, author of Wintering and the forthcoming Enchantment.
Praise for Pico Iyer
'Nothing less than a guided tour of the human soul ... This is a book not only for the ages, but for our very specific, very troubled age. A masterpiece’ - ELIZABETH GILBERT
“Immersive and profound…. Iyer matches penetrating insights with some of the most transportive prose around. This further burnishes Iyer’s reputation as one of the best.” - Publishers Weekly
PICO IYER was born in Oxford, England in 1957. Since 1982 he has been a full-time writer, publishing 15 books, translated into 23 languages, on subjects ranging from the Dalai Lama to globalism, from the Cuban Revolution to Islamic mysticism. They include such long- running sellers as Video Night in Kathmandu, The Open Road and The Art of Stillness. At the same time he has been writing for Time, The New York Times, Granta, the Financial Times and more than 250 other periodicals worldwide. His four talks for TED have received more than 10 million views so far. Since 1992 Iyer has spent much of his time at a Benedictine hermitage in Big Sur, California, and most of the rest in Nara, Japan.
KATHERINE MAY is an internationally bestselling author and podcaster living in Whitstable, UK. Her hybrid memoir Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times became a New York Times, Sunday Times and Der Spiegel bestseller, was adapted as BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week, and was shortlisted for the Porchlight and Barnes and Noble Book of the Year. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Observer and Aeon. Katherine’s podcast, The Wintering Sessions, ranks in the top 1% worldwide, and she has been a guest presenter for On Being’s The Future of Hope series. Her next book, Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Exhausted Age, will be published by Faber in March 2023. Katherine lives with her husband, son, two cats and a dog. She loves walking, sea-swimming and pickling slightly unappealing things.
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[@jane1044]

Such a wonderful conversation between two thoughtful, articulate and sensitive people. What a delight!

[@normhall1622]

As always, Pico is a delight. His demeanor and delivery put me in a reverie. The information he delivers is good for my soul. Kathryn May was excellent and I look forward to reading her upcoming book.