The Status Game: On Human Life and How to Play it, with Will Storr

05/08/24 • 46 min

For centuries, philosophers and scholars have described human behaviour in terms of sex, power and money. In The Status Game, bestselling author Will Storr radically turns this thinking on its head by arguing that it is our irrepressible craving for status that ultimately defines who we are.

From the era of the hunter-gatherer to today, when we exist as workers in the globalised economy and citizens of online worlds, the need for status has always been wired into us. A wealth of research shows that how much of it we possess dramatically affects not only our happiness and wellbeing but also our physical health – and without sufficient status, we become more ill, and live shorter lives. It’s an unconscious obsession that drives the best and worst of us: our innovation, arts and civilisation as well as our murders, wars and genocides.

But why is status such an all-consuming prize? What happens if it’s taken away from us? And how can our unquenchable thirst for it explain cults, moral panics, conspiracy theories, the rise of social media and the ‘culture wars’ of today?

On a breathtaking journey through time and culture, The Status Game offers a sweeping rethink of human psychology that will change how you see others – and how you see yourself (Harper Collins).

Jack met Will at Parrillan in Borough Yards, London.

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On a breathtaking journey through time and culture, The Status Game offers a sweeping rethink of human psychology that will change how you see others – and how you see yourself (Harper Collins).

Jack met Will at Parrillan in Borough Yards, London.

Follow and subscribe to The Booking Club:

Twitter/X: @bookingclubpod

Instagram: @bookingclubpod

TikTok: @bookingclubpod

Get full access to Jack Aldane at jackaldane.substack.com/subscribe

Previous Episode

🎄❄️🎅 MERRY CHRISTMAS! A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain, with Pen Vogler

In times of plenty, we stuff ourselves. When the food runs out, we're stuffed too. How have people in the British Isles shared the riches from our fields, dairies, kitchens and seas, as well as those from around the world? And when the cupboard is bare, who steps up to the plate to feed the nation's hungry children, soldiers at war or families in crisis?

Stuffed tells the stories of the food and drink at the centre of social upheavals from prehistory to the present: the medieval inns boosted by the plague; the Enclosures that finished off the celebratory roast goose; the Victorian chemist searching for unadulterated mustard; the post-war supermarkets luring customers with strawberries. Drawing on cookbooks, literature and social records, Pen Vogler reveals how these turning points have led to today's extremes of plenty and want: roast beef and food banks; allotment, fresh vegetables and ultra-processed fillers.

It is a tale of feast and famine, and of the traditions, the ideas and the laws which have fed - or starved - the nation, but also of the yeasty magic of bread and ale, the thrill of sugary treats, the pies and puddings that punctuate the year, and why the British would give anything - even North America - for a nice cup of tea.

Pen met Jack Aldane at Brunswick House in Vauxhall, London.

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Twitter/X: @bookingclubpod

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Get full access to Jack Aldane at jackaldane.substack.com/subscribe

Next Episode

Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, with Elizabeth Oldfield

What does it mean to live a good, whole and fulfilling life? And if the world really is ending, or at least expecting turbulent change, what kind of people will we need when it happens?

In Fully Alive, Elizabeth Oldfield explores how we can build spiritual core strength for an unstable age.

Drawing on the ancient wisdom of faith and stories from her own life, Oldfield writes about her quest to live a meaningful, fulfilling life, and the niggling questions that bother all of us below the surface, such as:

How can I focus on what really matters and stop getting so distracted by trivialities?

How do I become a depolarising person in a culture of outrage, tribalism, and division?

Can I find my highs in expansive, life-giving ways, rather than in a bottle of wine or a tub of ice cream?

And what kind of world am I leaving for the next generation?

Fully Alive is for readers looking for an honest conversation about the deepest questions in our ordinary lives, and practical, meaningful ideas to help us pay attention to the people we are becoming. For ourselves, our communities and the world.

Elizabeth and Jack meet at The Anchor and Hope in Southwark

Follow and subscribe to The Booking Club:

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