What is a Good Life?

What is a Good Life? is a podcast about the questions that shape our lives: how we live, who we become, and what truly matters. For the past five years, I've asked more than 300 people one simple question: What is a good life? There isn't a single answer. Instead, each conversation offers a different way of seeing the world—through stories, ideas, struggles, joys, and moments of hard-earned wisdom. Together, they form a richer picture of what it means to be human. Whether you're searching for clarity, purpose, or simply a thoughtful conversation, this podcast is an invitation to reflect on your own answer. New episodes every Tuesday.

What is a Good Life? is a education podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 191 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 83.

Unknown Host hosts What is a Good Life?, a education show with 191 episodes published.

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  Episode #191

  What is a Good Life? #191 - Can Art Really Change the World? with Nikkolas Smith

  Sep 29, 202657 min

  This week we are joined by Nikkolas Smith, Hollywood concept artist, #1 NYT bestselling illustrator, and the creator of Sunday Sketch . We explore his journey from theme park designer to viral artivist. We talk about art as empathy, how art has helped him process grief and injustice, and the making of his hand-painted picture book The History of We – a 200,000-year visual journey back to humanity's first artists, astronomers, and storytellers in Africa. This is a conversation about holding onto our humanity as a way of meeting the broken bones of the world. Nikkolas Smith is an Artivist, #1 NYT Bestseller picture book creator, and Hollywood film illustrator and concept artist (Sinners, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, Space Jam II). He is the author/illustrator of the USA TODAY Bestselling The Artivist , and the illustrator of The 1619 Project: Born on the Water , a #1 NYT Bestseller, as well as Black Panther Wakanda Forever: The Courage To Dream and A Change is Gonna Come . His picture book The History of We is a 2026 Sibert Honor Book and winner of the 2026 Jane Addams Children's Book Award. As a Black illustrator, Nikkolas is focused on creating captivating art that can spark important conversations in today's world and inspire meaningful change toward social justice and equity. You can learn more about Nikkolas' work at www.NIKKOLAS.art For more from Mark McCartney: The Podcast's Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩

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  Episode #190

  What is a Good Life? #190 - Harrison Gardner on Building Your Own Security

  Sep 21, 20261h 5m

  Builder, broadcaster and author Harrison Gardner joins the show to talk about what it means to build your own security – the kind that comes from knowing you can meet your own basic needs. Harrison shares how he left Australia at seventeen with no plan beyond learning how the world works, the years he spent building preschools in an Indian slum, and how buying a derelict 200-year-old stone cottage in the west of Ireland led him to found Build School. We talk about learned helplessness, why he stopped building other people's houses to teach them to build their own, and how impact shapes his life. This is an inspiring conversation about building your own capabilities and committing more fully to your life. Harrison Gardner is an author, broadcaster and builder based on the west coast of Ireland. He presents Build Your Own Home on RTÉ, has written three books on self-building and the housing crisis, and hosts The Tools at Hand, a podcast about people who use whatever they have to hand to build exactly what they need. It all traces back to one belief: people don't need permission or expertise to fix what's broken around them. He's also Chairperson and co-founder of Common Knowledge, a social enterprise sharing practical skills with everyone. You can learn more about Harrison's work at www.harrisongardner.net For more from Mark McCartney: The Podcast's Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩

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  Episode #189

  What is a Good Life? #189 - What Your Dreams Are Trying to Tell You with Toko-pa Turner

  Sep 15, 20261 hour

  Dreamworker and award-winning author Toko-pa Turner joins the show to talk about what it really means to let go – of the perceptions we project onto others, of the noise on the surface of life – so we can hear the "second attention" moving underneath. Toko-pa shares how she developed her own intimate relationship with dreams after leaving home at fourteen with no adult guidance, how a haunting nightmare revealed a core family wound, and the five keys of Courting the Dream . We talk about ritual as a way of honoring insight, the healing power of dream groups, and why she believes psyche doesn't end at the limits of our own bodies. A beautiful, grounded conversation about listening to the wisdom already moving through us. Toko-pa Turner is a Canadian author and dreamworker whose work explores the reciprocity between psyche and nature. Her first book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home , has been translated into ten languages and received the 2018 Gold Nautilus Award and the Gold Readers' Favorite Award. Her most recent book, The Dreaming Way: Courting the Wisdom of Dreams , is a depth-oriented guide to dreamwork and winner of the 2025 Gold Nautilus Award. Her course, The Dream Lodge, begins September 22nd: https://toko-pa.com/product/dream-lodge-sept-2026/ For more from Mark McCartney: Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/ Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩

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  Episode #188

  What is a Good Life? #188 - Your One Wild & Precious Life with Laura Costello

  Aug 31, 202658 min

  This week we are in conversation with Laura Costello. Laura is Chief Communications Officer at Hometree, a nature restoration charity, and Ireland Lead with Purpose Disruptors. She led the Good Life 2030 Ireland project, which invited people across Ireland to imagine a brighter future and resulted in a national creative campaign promoting visions of wellbeing centred on connection rather than consumption. We talk about the question at the centre of her life and work – borrowed from a Mary Oliver poem – and how it shifted from a career question into something much bigger. We explore the difference between understanding the climate crisis intellectually and actually feeling it, the significance of our attention on each other, and what people across Ireland said when asked what makes a good life. For more of Laura's work: Good Life 2030 project: https://www.goodlife2030.earth/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauracostello11/ For more from Mark McCartney: Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/ Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩

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  Episode #187

  What is a Good Life? #187 - Artist, Merchant, Seeker with Ewan Townhead

  Aug 24, 20261h 4m

  Ewan Townhead is an entrepreneur, coach, and the author of Artist, Merchant, Seeker: Bring Your Whole Self to the Path of Work. He spent a decade helping build Coaches Rising, a coach-training school, before stepping back to finish a book he'd been writing for seven years. We talk about the model at the centre of it – artist, merchant, and seeker – and his long process of trying to bring all three into his work rather than choosing one. We explore his early discomfort with money and marketing, some past-life memories that changed how he thinks about death, and a period of burnout that clarified what he actually wanted to be doing. We close, as always, on his thoughts as to what makes a good life. If you're trying to integrate different parts of yourself into your work and want a fresh perspective on how to do it, this is really worth a listen. For more of Ewan's work: Website: https://www.ewantownhead.com Book: https://www.ewantownhead.com/book/ For more from Mark McCartney: Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/ Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩

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