A new documentary about the real wealth of nations—happiness

BY Jennifer Prediger
grist
4 FEB 2011

What if GDP stood for Great Domestic Pleasantness? How about an economy whose success is not determined by growth for growth’s sake? A new documentary, The Economics of Happiness, explores this rich territory.

The film makes a connection between the economic crisis, the environment, and a “crisis of the human spirit”—the reality that even as our material wealth has increased, we have not gotten happier. According to a study cited by author and 350.org activist (and Grist Board member) Bill McKibben, people in the United States have actually become less happy since the 1950s...

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African Grandmothers Demand Support in Role as Caregivers

By Mantoe Phakathi
Inter Press Service
May 13, 2010

"Africa cannot survive without us," is the message from grandmothers representing all corners of the continent...

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Bill Moyers Retires

by ERIC ALTERMAN
May 10, 2010 edition of The Nation.
April 21, 2010

Nearly twenty years ago, I spoke to Edward R. Murrow's top producer, Fred Friendly, who told me he thought of Bill Moyers as "the Murrow of our time...the broadcaster who most upholds his mantle." But while Murrow remains television journalism's most admired historical figure, it's all but inarguable that Moyers long ago surpassed his achievements...

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How 'The Hidden Brain' Does The Thinking For Us

Morning Edition
January 25, 2010
National Public Radio

...The autopilot mode can be useful when we're multitasking, but it can also lead us to make unsupported snap judgments about people in the world around us. Vedantam says that when we interact with people from different backgrounds in high-pressure situations, it's easy to rely — unconsciously — on heuristics...

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A Farmer Calls On Death To Save Her Land

by David Baron
National Public Radio
December 30, 2009

A few years ago, trees started coming down across the road from Joan Graham's Michigan horse farm. She set in place a plan to conserve her land after her death by giving it to a conservancy. But just to be safe, she added a grave twist: She would have her body — and anyone else who wanted to join her — buried on the land...

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Netroots Nation: Active Citizenry for All Ages

By Amanda Marcotte
RH Reality Check
August 17, 2009

Netroots Nation is about plugged in, BS-free active citizenry for all ages, and it showed.

Straight, Single, and Sixty: The Truth About Dating After 55

By Katherine Anne Forsythe
August 19, 2009
RH Reality Check

...Dating over fifty-five is alive and well in spite of the challenges, the heartbreak, and the silly happenings that come with age. The need for intimacy never ends.

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