Alain de Botton and Ayishat Akanbi | Studio B: Unscripted

On this episode of Studio B Unscripted, philosopher Alain de Botton is in conversation with stylist and social commentator Ayishat Akanbi.
A best-selling author, whose books have been described as a ‘philosophy of everyday life’, de Botton founded The School of Life, a social enterprise determined to make learning relevant in today’s culture using philosophy to help others ‘live wisely and well’.
Ayishat Akanbi is a fashion stylist and writer. Through her work and online following she confronts complex issues related to surviving in today's society. She uses her platform to comment on and call out injustice and inequality.
This meeting of two minds from different backgrounds explores a range of topics from ancient Greek tragedies and Russian literature, to racism, social media and loneliness. The topics of conversation revolve around the nature of good vs evil, the notion of empathy towards others and how emotional intelligence can be a vehicle towards a better society for all.
The views expressed in this programme are the guests' own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Studio B, Unscripted is a free-flow conversation between two guests and a small audience, with no mediation, no MC, no TV presenter - focusing on what brings us all together and how we can tackle and discuss some of the big issues of our time.

[onemanenclave]

"At the root of anger there is optimism that has been frustrated."

[etcetera]

I am already familiar with Alain de Botton and I admire him a lot. But I never heard about Ayishat before. And i am quite taken by her wisdom and intelligence. I will definitely look for more videos by her on YouTube.

[orelhai]

this conversation made me feel a little less lonely

[ChristinaAaliyah]

I love the question at 20:22 about having empathy towards racists.

I can see how being the victim of oppression makes it incredibly difficult to have an empathetic approach to other people, but in my own experience I've noticed I get peace of mind when I choose to not let racism/racists have power over me and my emotions.

Like Ayishat said I prefer "removing the power of racism in my own life", by having empathy towards people like that I believe that it allows you to see that they're just using racism as a mask for their insecurities.

[BreenyLee]

two of my favourite minds in one video? wow, never thought I'd see this day...

[Matrinique]

I love her. Lots of memorable quotes from this talk. "We think that understanding something is the same as condoning it."

[capnkirkie]

Watching content like this is so refreshing. I wish I had more people in my life that I could just sit down with and talk about the topics they discussed

[chillimis]

Compassion is a privilege (that comes from loving parents, education and so on..)- therefore you can't blame others for not having it - but if you have the privilege of being compassionate and understanding - you should always do your best to use it. In this way you can possibly plant a seed of compassion and love in people who doesen't have the same sufficient mental resources as you.

[jonpadrejuan]

the world needs more people with this kind of thinking.

[ChristinaAaliyah]

15:43 vulnerability = strength <3
24:12 "If you just want to be strong, good luck to you, because you'll be very very lonely"
29:54 On loneliness
36:54 "Acting isn't a profession it's a diagnosis" To want to be so visible you've got to feel so invisible
43:51 Happiness = no expectations?

[gent]

Was it Joseph Campbell who said “If you want to understand what's most important to a society, don't examine its art or literature, simply look at its biggest buildings, ” in that case it’d not be banks (“tallest”), but Amazon fulfilment warehouses. We are consumerists.

[paulineburke]

What a relief! Thank you 💚 I am not the only one. I have been watching so many speakers who seem so happy and free from suffering that I have felt ashamed and weird. Now I feel okay about feeling lonely and weird. I'm about to publish a book and I am terrified that it's rubbish, but it is really authentic, and I don't regret this, whatever happens. Please keep on helping us with your honesty and integrity. X

[bdf]

Ayishat is one of the most enlightened figures Ive seen

[SeanTheDon]

This was a beautiful talk by two beautiful people.

[keenanfinucan]

The generosity, the independence and the honesty shown by these two people is refreshing and sorely needed in our world!

[gregorykollarus]

These two are amazing!!! Love them for the honesty, and truth they put out into the universe. Empathy, and understanding is what our society completely lacks.
These two are starting a new wonderful conversation! Thank god!

[Szaam]

22:44 "It's not so much that I'm saying that I want to sit down with KKK members, but what I am saying is that I won't allow them the privilege of making me think that they're evil."

That is a brilliant quote. I only discovered Ayishat today and I love her already.

[apbtxca]

This is the best


I will say that because I am so grateful everyday for simple things like running water, indoor bathrooms and electricity, magical things like knowing how to play an instrument, being able to push a button and hear music, having information easily accessible at libraries and now the internet blow my mind everyday and I truly am happy even in the midst of deep deep disappointments and sadness. I feel privileged & fascinated when going through the anguish suffering so I may have a better connect to more kinds of people & their experiences

I’ve learned that people connect and feel less alone when you share your anxieties, but in the end compared to many places even now, but most certainly almost all cultures throughout history I am doing wonderful.

[farhadsharifi]

"behind cynicism is usually anger", great talk

[sobrevida]

Evil. . . it stops the conversation where it should begin. Very profound. That's true of every label, isn't it? She's just crazy. She's a CEO. He's a bartender. He's introverted. She's a conservative. He's liberal. . . we think we know everything about someone when we can label them. There may be people who see that this video is presented by Al Jazeera and just can't watch it. But when we label, we miss the nuance. Why might she have anxiety issues. Why is he liberal? Why is he introverted. Once we start looking with love or curiosity, we can being to understand our selves and each other..