I asked some well-known names for their thoughts on the ultimate existential question. Their answers were fascinating, funny – and could help us frame our days on Earth

In September 2015, I was unemployed, heartbroken and living alone in my dead grandad’s caravan, wondering what the meaning of life was. Where was I going to find happiness, or purpose, or meaning? What was the point to all of this?

Like any millennial, I turned to Google for the answers. I trawled through essays, newspaper articles, countless YouTube videos, various dictionary definitions and numerous references to the number 42 , before I discovered an intriguing project carried out by the philosopher Will Durant during the 1930s. Durant had written to Ivy League presidents, Nobel prize winners, psychologists, novelists, professors, poets, scientists, artists and athletes to ask for their take on the meaning of life. His findings were collated in the book On the Meaning of Life , published in 1932.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to order the Blu-ray. From the plethora of celeb cameos to the great one-liners, this comedy is an absolute treat

The Studio has some notes for Hollywood. Like in The Oner , the second episode of Apple TV+’s new industry comedy (out Wednesday 26 March) from the Superbad team of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. The incoming head of Continental Studios, Matt Remick (Rogen), is careening through the Hollywood Hills in his convertible, racing to the set in time to catch the director’s virtuoso oner. That is a scene filmed in one single, continuous take, which – in this case – must also be completed in “the magic hour” before sunset when the light is just so .

As Matt and fellow executive Sal (Ike Barinholtz) make their clumsy entrance (patronising a PA, offering unwanted feedback, debating whether the oner really is “the ultimate cinematic achievement” or “just a director jacking off”), it becomes clear that the episode will itself unfold in a oner. Very clever.

Nuffield Trust says supply chains have shifted, with drugs for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis among those now scarce

Drug shortages in the UK have risen to their worst level for four years, official figures show, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce.

Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021.

Emily, 26, who works in publishing, meets Jack, 25, a caseworker for a Labour MP

What were you hoping for?
A fun evening and my first column in the Guardian.

A cat survives a watery apocalypse in an Oscar-winning animated treasure, and the veteran comic takes his surreal oddities on tour

Flow
Out now
This year’s Oscar winner for best animated feature had a cult following even before the Academy ratified its status as something special. This simple, dialogue-free story about a cat surviving in a post-apocalyptic world is one of those treats that appeals in equal measure to children and adults.

99 to Beat is a new gameshow that spirals out of control. Plus: a musicals extravaganza full of belting performances. Here’s what to watch this evening

6pm, ITV1

If you ever wondered how to make celery salt, read on: it’s superbly thrifty and simple

I came across homemade celery salt by accident. As part of my ongoing mission to use up every part of any vegetable, I dehydrated some celeriac leaves to use as a garnish for a savoury cheese and mushroom porridge (see next week’s column), and was astounded by their rich, umami flavour. It was then that I realised they could be ground with sea salt to make that old kitchen staple, celery salt. Celery salt can be used to replace regular table salt and as a flavour enhancer for just about any savoury dish, from soup to salad; it’s also delicious as a seasoning for meat or fish and, of course, makes a sublimely savoury bloody mary.

Research suggests the scheme may be more popular than thought, with consultations dominated by a loud minority

Even with the caveats about limited data and untangling causation and correlation, the statistics are striking: the first year of a scheme in Wales where the speed limit on urban roads was lowered to 20mph resulted in about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured.

Introduced in September 2023 as a major road safety project of the Labour-run Welsh government, it made 20mph the default limit for any built-up area, defined as roads where lamp-posts were no more than about 180 metres apart. This took in about a third of all roads, with the Conservative opposition saying the definition was far too broad.

After a misunderstanding over who was using the car, my wife teaches me a lesson without saying a word

The band I’m in is heading out for a spring tour from Edinburgh to Exeter, a dozen dates across four weekends. Two nights before we set off I leave a rehearsal room at 10pm, exhausted after a seven-hour practice. It occurs to me, not for the first time, that I am too old for this shit.

On the morning of the first gig, my wife and I have a row: she appears to be unaware that I am taking the car for the weekend.