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EPISODE · Mar 26, 2025 · 3 MIN

Midweek Reset: On having kids

from Life Examined · host Jonathan Bastian

This week, Jennifer Senior, New York Times opinion writer and author “All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood,” discusses the impact of having children on life satisfaction and meaning. Citing the psychologist and behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman’s work on the "experiencing self" versus the "remembering self," Senior says that while parenting can be exhausting in the moment, most often later on in life, the years raising kids are fondly remembered. While there’s no easy answer to big life decisions, like having kids, Senior suggests that most often in life, we regret the actions we did not take rather than the ones we did - and Senior says, if you’re sitting on the fence, that may be reason enough. Get full access to Life Examined at lifeexamined.substack.com/subscribe

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 26, 2025

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Midweek Reset: On having kids

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