Memory Palace

Meik Wiking is one of the world’s leading happiness experts.

The founder of the Happiness Research Institute, he’s also the author of two New York Times bestsellers — The Little Book of Hygge and The Little Book of Lykke — which have been translated into more than 35 languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.

Little wonder, then, that he's been dubbed “probably the world’s happiest man”.

But when Meik turned 40, he realised that, statistically speaking, as a Danish man, he’d lived half his life.

Which got him thinking: how many of the 14,610 days he’d lived could he remember?

So he decided to start researching memories, culminating in his latest book — The Art of Making Memories, a lighthearted but thought-provoking series of tips about how to create and remember happy memories.

We discuss the book with Meik and discover why Andy Warhol changed his perfume every three months, why we should take more photos of our cereal boxes, and how to memorise the order of a deck of card in just minutes.

Further reading:

Happiness Research Institute
https://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/

The Art of Making Memories, Penguin Random House
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/311273/the-art-of-making-memories/9780241376058.html

Archipelago is produced by Mothertongue Media, a home for English-language podcasts in Denmark. Visit mothertongue.dk to find out more.

The music used in Archipelago is produced by two Copenhagen-based artists:

Squares and Triangles
https://squaresandtriangles.bandcamp.com/

Scenery
https://scenerymusic.bandcamp.com/