Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Eric Weiner
The Geography of Bliss

Eric Weiner is a veteran foreign correspondent who has worked on several award-winning teams for National Public Radio and been a business reporter for The New York Times. He has been posted to New Delhi, Jerusalem and Tokyo and, more recently, was a correspondent for NPR’s mid-day magazine show, Day to Day. He currently writes content for NPR’s web site. Weiner is the author of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World, a memoir of his travels to countries that are known for their happy people. Weiner is the winner of the Angel Award, a co-recipient of an Oversees Press Club special citation, and a co-recipient of the Peabody award. His commentaries have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Slate and The New Republic.

Presentation Preview

Weiner has traveled to the places that surveys show are the happiest on earth to see what makes these people happy. His book, The Geography of Bliss, is the memoir of those travels and it describes an extraordinary take on happiness and the cultural factors that nurture happiness. His presentation will journey from America to Iceland to India, asking why Asheville, North Carolina is so happy? Are people in Switzerland happier because it is the most democratic country in the world? Does Bhutan’s official tracking of it’s Gross National Happiness help to make them happier? His answers are drawn from his own personal discoveries about himself, the insights of classical thinkers on happiness, and analysis of the world’s most contented cultures. He provides surprising insights into why and how place matters in our search for happiness.