大象传媒

Has the pandemic made us kinder? Many people report an increased feeling of connection and kindness towards the people in their neighbourhoods since we began to be locked down last year. Today Ella meets Simon and Sarah who've become friends over the last year. Architect Simon signed up as an NHS Volunteer last Spring and has been shopping and collecting medication for Sarah who has been shielding. Simon says he has been surrounded by kindness all of his life so it's instinctive for him to want to be kind to others. He's less keen on being labelled 'kind' though but admits that helping other people enriches his life. Could he be an example of the concept of eudemonia, the Ancient Greek idea of living well through altruism?

Earlier in the week Ella set out to find a young man who'd stopped for her when she was upset in a park. She wants to repay his kindness. She remembers he said he worked on a building site so she goes there to thank him and to talk to him about kindness

Producer: Maggie Ayre for 大象传媒 Audio, Bristol