Before we start this episode, I wanted to let you know that I will be in conversation with the brilliant author and broadcaster Candice Brathwaite at the Lyric in Soho on the 1st of November, talking all about the themes of this podcast and more. You can book tickets at feign.com.ukh, forward slash Pandora.

We live in a dog world. Dogs are extroverts naturally. Cats are introverts naturally.

And it's, you know, introverts are like cats living in a dog world. Everybody loves the dogs. People don't appreciate the cats.

Well, suddenly the coronavirus epidemic turned us into cat world. And the cats really, really liked it a lot.

And the dogs are suffering. The tables have been turned on the people like me.

You're listening to Doing It Right with me, Pandora Sykes, a podcast where I talk to experts about the myths, anxieties and trends of modern life.

There's no such thing as the right life, but what might we be getting wrong?

In this series, I'll be exploring the ins and outs of sex, self-care and sadness, and lobbing big questions at my guests like,

could a four-day work week ever really take off? Why is society getting lonelier? And what

would a fair justice system look like? This is a podcast that asks what can we do to live

life better? Not just for ourselves, but for everyone.

Arthur Brooks is a social scientist, Harvard professor and the author of multiple books.

He also writes a column for The Atlantic about the tools for happiness,

which he approaches with real latitude rather than just X will make

you happy. I've been a reader of his column for some time and when one particular instalment

on introverts and extroverts caught my attention, I am fascinated by personality types and

personality theories, I rung Arthur up to discuss it more. We discuss why introverts fared better

during the pandemic but were more at risk of overwork, why extrovertism can tip into narcissism

and even sociopathy, and what extroverts and introverts can learn from one another. Plus, we take a little

detour into why more isn't always better.

I start by asking Arthur, what is the biggest myth about introverts and extroverts?

The biggest myth about introverts and extroverts is that you are one or the other, and if you are one or the other, you can't act as if you were anything else, as if it were wired in, baked into your very soul.

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