Eric Weiner at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes ERIC WEINER—former international correspondent for NPR and author of The Geography of Bliss—for a discussion of his latest book Ben & Me: In Search of a Founder's Formula for a Long and Useful Life. He will be joined in conversation by DANIEL GILBERT—New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness and Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University.

About Ben & Me

Ben Franklin lingers in our lives and in our imaginations. One of only two non-presidents to appear on US currency, Franklin was a founder, statesman, scientist, inventor, diplomat, publisher, humorist, and philosopher. He believed in the American experiment, but Ben Franklin’s greatest experiment was…Ben Franklin. In that spirit of betterment, Eric Weiner embarks on an ambitious quest to live the way Ben lived.

Not a conventional biography, Ben & Me is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben’s life lessons, large and small. We learn how to improve a relationship with someone by inducing them to do a favor for you—a psychological phenomenon now known as The Ben Franklin Effect. We learn about the printing press (the Internet of its day), early medicine, diplomatic intrigue and, of course, electricity. And we learn about ethics, persuasion, humor, regret, appetite, and so much more.

At a time when history is either neglected or contested, Weiner argues we have much to learn from the past and that we’d all be better off if we acted and thought a bit more like Ben did, even if he didn’t always live up to his own high ideals. Engaging, smart, moving, quirky, Ben & Me distills the essence of Franklin’s ideas into grounded, practical wisdom for all of us.

Praise for Ben & Me

“A warm combination of homage and introspective memoir . . . Franklin still inspires, with a lifelong ‘sense of wonder,’ respect for virtue, and lively curiosity.” —Kirkus Reviews

“As Benjamin Franklin would say, ‘There is nothing so improving to the mind, soul, heart, and funny bone as another book from the sharp quill of Eric Weiner.’” —Christopher Buckley, author of Has Anyone Seen My Toes?