INTRODUCTION: Caring about Free Time

In the early 1950s, the legendary broadcaster Edward R. Murrow hosted a new radio series called This I Believe, which asked interviewees from all walks of life to explain in a few hundred words one of their core, driving beliefs. The result was a nearly five-year run that provided a window into the convictions that shaped everyday life for people in the United States. Among those interviews was a statement of belief from Oscar Hammerstein II, the famed Broadway musical librettist, who titled his contribution to the series “Happy Talk.” His overriding point was that even in the midst of