Skip to main content
Open this photo in gallery:

In this book illustration from 1880, Hipparchus works in his Alexandria observatory with a telescope and orbital models.Getty Images


Listen to this episode by clicking above or subscribe to The Decibel on your favourite podcast app or platform: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Pocket Casts and YouTube.


The new year is a time of goal setting. Culturally, there’s pressure to set resolutions that you are meant to achieve in due course. Think: weight loss, healthy eating, a new hobby. But what if you commit to something you know you can’t achieve? And what if you make that your life’s work?

Mark Medley, the Deputy Editor of The Globe’s Opinion section, and author of ‘Live to See the Day: Impossible Goals, Unimaginable Futures and the Pursuit of Things That May Never Be’, profiled people who’ve done just that. He’s on the show to explain what drives them and why you, too, might want to consider an impossible goal.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe