<p>We all know the power of a great love story. In films, literature, television - a “happy ending” is shorthand for the main characters coupling up at the end. But are these romantic aspirations really a key ingredient for a happy and fulfilled life? </p><p>Matthew Syed explores the idea that you can be long term single, and happy. </p><p>Social scientist Bella DePaulo always knew that marriage wasn’t for her. At 70 years-old, she is happily single, and always has been. She’s spent her career researching, writing and speaking on the single experience, in an effort to dismantle the conventional wisdom that a happy, fulfilled life, means a coupled-up one. </p><p>Matthew speaks to Yale sociologist and PhD candidate Hannah Tessler about her research into the complex, expansive relationship networks of single people. </p><p>We also hear from David Bather Wood, an Assistant Professor from the University Warwick, who explains how a philosophical parable about porcupines, dating back to the 1830s, influenced contemporary understandings of the choice to live a single life. </p><p>Presenter: Matthew Syed
Producer: Leona Hameed
Series Editor: Katherine Godfrey
Sound Design and Mix: Rob Speight
Theme Music: Ioana Selaru
A Novel production for BBC Radio 4</p>
