Is Fun Dead? Did Americans Forget How to Have Fun? Do We Need Fun Coaches? Are We Too Busy Acting Our Fun on Social Media? Why Does Fun Feel Like An UnFun Slog When It's Over? Are There Any Solutions? episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 31, 2024 · 31 MIN

Is Fun Dead? Did Americans Forget How to Have Fun? Do We Need Fun Coaches? Are We Too Busy Acting Our Fun on Social Media? Why Does Fun Feel Like An UnFun Slog When It's Over? Are There Any Solutions?

from The Best Paragraph I've Read... · host Zac & Don

The Best Paragraph I've Read: Sometime in recent history, possibly around 2004, Americans forgot to have fun, true fun, as though they’d misplaced it like a sock. Instead, fun evolved into work, sometimes more than true work, which is where we find ourselves now. Fun is often emphatic, exhausting, scheduled, pigeonholed, hyped, forced and performative. Adults assiduously record themselves appearing to have something masquerading as “fun,” a fusillade of Coachellic micro social aggressions unleashed on multiple social media platforms. Look at me having so much FUN! Which means it is nothing of the sort. This is the drag equivalent of fun and suggests that fun is done. When there are podcasts on happiness (“The Happiness Lab,” “Happier”); a global study on joy (The Big Joy Project); David Byrne offering reasons to be cheerful; workshops on staging a “funtervention”; fun coaches; and various apps to track happiness, two things are abundantly clear: Fun is in serious trouble, and we are desperately in need of joy. This paragraph comes from the Washington Post. The article is titled: "Fun is dead." The author is Karen Heller. You can read the full article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2023/12/23/fun-is-dead/ Zac and Don discuss whether fun is dead. They wonder if maybe people have expectations for fun that are unreal. They wonder if maybe fun is about who you are with and not what you are doing. They also wonder if specific age groups struggle with fun more than others...

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 31, 2024

Embed this episode

NOW PLAYING

Is Fun Dead? Did Americans Forget How to Have Fun? Do We Need Fun Coaches? Are We Too Busy Acting Our Fun on Social Media? Why Does Fun Feel Like An UnFun Slog When It's Over? Are There Any Solutions?

0:00 31:54

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

No similar podcasts found.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of The Best Paragraph I've Read...?

This episode is 31 minutes long.

When was this The Best Paragraph I've Read... episode published?

This episode was published on January 31, 2024.

Can I download this The Best Paragraph I've Read... episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.
URL copied to clipboard!