Alain de Botton is one of my favorite living writers. It was great to interview him for Psychology Today.  Best known for brilliant, genre-rattling books that include How Proust Can Change Your Life, Essays in Love, Status Anxiety, and most recently How To Think More About Sex, de Botton is a prophet provocateur. He is also one of the founders of The School of Life which has a passionate belief in making learning relevant – and so runs courses in the important questions of everyday life. Though peace loving, he can also be fierce. “I’ve tried to do work that is both rigorous and alive to the need to find a big audience,” he told me. “I’ve had my successes and failures. I know many academics in my field loathe me. I’ve come to loathe them back, as it seems only polite to do so.” Check out the interview.