The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Pushkin Industries - pushkin.fm
Latest episode: Mon Dec 15 2025
You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life… more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You’re dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale -- the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history -- Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about happiness.
239 total episodes
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- Dec15Holiday Survival Guide II: Perfect Gifts and Fighting Fatigue (with Rainn Wilson)31mins
- Dec8Holiday Survival Guide I: Ending Family Arguments (with Rainn Wilson)48mins
Dec2How to Experience the Joy of Giving Right Now47mins- Nov24Why Being Grateful Makes Us Feel Great (A Thanksgiving Re-run)27mins
- Nov5Reset Your Relationship with Stress (for National Stress Awareness Day)43mins
- Oct27How Horror Movies and True Crime Can Make You Happier44mins
- Oct20Make Vulnerability Your Superpower (with NBA star Kevin Love)37mins
- Oct6How to Make Better Choices (with Barry Schwartz)40mins
- Sep29Take a Three-Day Weekend Without Losing Any Pay (with Juliet Schor)55mins
- Sep22How to Spend Your Time and Money Better (with Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler)48mins
- Sep15Eat Like the People Who Live Happily to 100 (with Dan Buettner)39mins
- Sep8Why Having the Courage to Defy Makes us Happier (with Dr Sunita Sah)39mins
- Aug25Stop Caring What Other People Think of You (Bruce Hood on 10% Happier with Dan Harris)68mins
- Aug18“Can You Train Your Mind to Be Happier?” (with Dr Tal Ben-Shahar)87mins
- Aug11"Human Minds Are Stupid!" (with Rich Roll)142mins
- Aug4The Joy of Not Being Dead (with Ryan Holiday on The Daily Stoic)67mins
- Jul14Anyone Can Play, Anyone Can Win (Cornholing with Michelle Hastie Thompson)32mins
- Jul7The Jimi Hendrix of the Cello (with Joshua Roman)39mins
- Jun30"Birds Are Like My Afternoon Martini" (Birding with Lili Taylor)32mins
- Jun23How Good Manners Made Me Happier (with Etiquette Expert William Hanson)41mins
- Jun16How Dogs Changed my Life (with The Dogist)35mins
- Jun6The Two Words That Saved Mel Robbins (From A Slight Change of Plans)37mins
- Jun2How Smartphones Changed Childhood (And What to do About it)39mins
- May26How to Think Like a Child (with David Yeager)35mins
- May19How to Tackle Bad Behaviour (with Dr Becky Kennedy)45mins
- May12Is a "Viking" Childhood a Happier Childhood (with Helen Russell)?38mins
- May5How Not to Repeat Your Parents' Mistakes (with Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach)37mins
- May1Reducing the Stress of Parenting with Dr Vivek Murthy34mins
- Apr29How to Build Resilience (with Ben Walter from The Unshakeables)35mins
- Apr21Can You Become a "Practical" Optimist?45mins
- Apr18How to Confront the Things that Suck (Live with John Green)71mins
- Apr14How to be Awesome - With Almost no Effort (with John Green)31mins
- Apr11How to Stay Hopeful (Live from SXSW with Michelle Obama)58mins
- Apr7Why You Should Take a Few Months Off Work (Live from SXSW)47mins
- Apr4Friendships: Handling Change, Conflict and Finding New Friends37mins
- Mar31Twelve Sayings That Could Change Your Life31mins
- Mar24Have You Got Trust Issues?42mins
Mar20Why Eating Alone is so Bad for You (An International Day of Happiness Special).36mins
Mar17Why We're Better With Some Threats Than Others (An Earth Month Re-Run)34mins- Mar10Harnessing People Around us to Feel Happier (Live with Ethan Kross)49mins
- Mar3How to Find Your Purpose42mins
- Feb24How to Inspire the People Around You51mins
- Feb17How to Lead the Richest Life Possible38mins
- Feb14Dr Laurie Talks Romance, Parents and Stalking on 'Love Factually'60mins
- Feb10How to Learn from a Rom Com Movie45mins
- Feb3Date Like a Scientist47mins
- Jan27Stop Stressing About Stress43mins
- Jan20Hack Your Emotions46mins
- Jan13Get Over Yourself43mins
- Jan6Feel Like You're Enough44mins
- Jan1How To Embrace Imperfection43mins
- Dec16Finding Holiday Happiness (Dr Laurie on the How God Works podcast)38mins
- Dec3Why Giving is a Great Daily Habit42mins
Dec2Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving51mins- Nov25Top 5: How to Act Like an Extrovert30mins
- Nov22Top 5: Throw Yourself into Fandom32mins
- Nov18Top 5: Love the Past, But Don't Live There35mins
- Nov15Top 5: Finding Joy in Any Job35mins
- Nov11Happy Birthday, Happiness Lab: Dr Laurie's Top 5 Shows36mins
Oct28You can be happier at work — here's how from Fixable34mins- Oct21How to Thrive at Work61mins
- Oct17How to Fail at Work42mins
- Oct10Advice from The Titans of Happiness on World Mental Health Day60mins
- Sep30How to Make a Difference (Happily)32mins
- Sep23How to Disagree Better33mins
- Sep16Survival of the Fittest... or the Kindest?33mins
- Sep9How to Find Hope in a Cynical World43mins
- Sep2Find Hope and Banish Cynicism... Coming Sept 94mins
- Aug5"Happiness Is Like A Leaky Tire" from Immigrantly44mins
- Jul29The Happiness Lessons Helping Win Olympic Medals29mins
- Jul22The Happiness of the Long Distance Runner33mins
- Jul19How Talking to a Friend Helps (Live at The International Festival of Arts and Ideas)48mins
- Jul15A Matter of Life and Death32mins
- Jul8Why Don't We Have a 15-hour Work Week?35mins
- Jul1Does the You of Today Hate the You of Tomorrow?28mins
- Jun24The Power of Awe... and Where to Find it31mins
- Jun17How to Tame Stress37mins
- Jun10How I Stopped Fearing Boredom25mins
- Jun3How to Fight Perfectionism29mins
- May27My Personal Struggle to be Happy (Coming June 3)1min
- May20Happiness Through Generosity : Liz Dunn on The TED Interview53mins
- May13Unlock Your Hidden Potential with Adam Grant and Maya Shankar42mins
- May6Five Tips to be Happier at Work (Dr Laurie at SXSW)56mins
- Apr29Tame Those Devices: 10 Tips to Achieve Digital Balance39mins
- Apr22How to Grow After Adversity40mins
- Apr15Simple Ways to Feel Great Every Day - with Dr Rangan Chatterjee52mins
- Apr8How to Make America's Young People Happier Again37mins
- Apr1Can Happiness Ward Off Dementia?35mins
- Mar25What Can We Learn From the Happiest Country on Earth?37mins
- Mar20Pushkin Hosts Celebrate World Happiness Day48mins
- Mar11The Happiness of Subtraction35mins
- Mar4Why the "Good Enough" Relationship Beats the "Perfect Partner"39mins
- Feb26A Supercommunicator's Guide to Love and Dating51mins
- Feb19Can Couples Learn to Argue Better?34mins
- Feb12Love Lessons from the "Masters of Relationships"45mins
- Feb5The Sweet Smell of Happiness51mins
- Jan15How Getting Active Can Make You Happier20mins
- Jan8Being Green Doesn't Mean Sacrificing Fun... or Cutting Out Meat27mins
- Jan2Why our Brains Don't Fear Climate Change Enough37mins
- Dec18When Stalin Killed the Weekend - A Happiness Lab/Cautionary Tales Crossover36mins
Dec15Build The Life You Want from Oprah's Super Soul54mins
Dec11Is There a Gen Z Happiness Crisis? Dr Laurie Meets the US Surgeon General35mins- Dec4How Eating Got Complicated43mins
Dec1Awe and Psychedelics with Michael Pollan37mins- Nov27Giving Away Cash Makes You Happy... and Transforms Lives27mins
- Nov20Make America Happy Again31mins
- Nov13Where Everybody Knows Your Name30mins
- Nov6Don't Make Friends Where You Make Your Money?33mins
- Oct30Ask for Help... and Spread Happiness25mins
- Oct23The Introvert's Guide to Extroversion29mins
- Oct16Text a Friend... Right Now!26mins
- Oct9How to Make Friends and Compliment People29mins
Oct2Grover’s Super Solution to Self-Talk28mins
Sep25Big Bird Has Big Feelings28mins
Sep18Dr Laurie and Sesame Street: Abby Cadabby and the Magic of Gratitude31mins- Sep12Build the Life You Want... Advice from Arthur Brooks and Oprah53mins
- Aug7Laurie Has Fun... Part 2 ICYMI31mins
- Aug7Laurie Has Fun... Part 1 ICYMI37mins
- Jul31'Do We Even Have Fun Anymore?' A Listener's Story of Funterventions36mins
- Jul24The Unhappy Millionaire ICYMI40mins
- Jul17'I Woke up in an Ambulance Stuck in Traffic.' : A Listener's Story of Recovery48mins
- May29Ask Us Anything! Laurie and Gretchen Take Your Questions (Live from Toronto)33mins
May22With Elmo's Help... It's Never Too Early to Learn About Happiness32mins- May15Can Spiritual Experiences and Psychedelics Make us Happy? (LIVE from DC)41mins
- May8Why We're Mean to Our Future Selves (LIVE from Boston)40mins
- May1The Man Who Invented Happiness Science: Marty Seligman41mins
- Apr24Smell, Taste and Touch: How to Joyfully Awaken Your Senses32mins
- Apr17Sight and Sound: How to Joyfully Awaken Your Senses34mins
- Apr10Do We Need a New Word for 'Happiness'? Katie Couric talks to Dr Laurie Santos35mins
- Apr3Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Sikhism and Daily Habits31mins
- Mar27Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Sikhism and How We're All Connected26mins
- Mar20Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Yoga of the Mind34mins
- Mar13Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Trauma of Troy37mins
- Mar6Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Anger of Achilles32mins
- Feb27Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle and Plato ICYMI56mins
- Feb20Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Socrates and Self-Knowledge44mins
- Jan30The Happiness of Silence32mins
- Jan23Stop Looking for the Perfect Job - a "Good Enough Job" is Just Fine31mins
- Jan16A Daily Workout to Tackle Nagging Self-Criticism24mins
- Jan9How to Eat Intuitively33mins
- Jan2Stop Endlessly Chasing the "Next Big Thing"34mins
- Dec19Coming Jan 2: Let Your Inner Voice be Heard in 20232mins
- Nov29Giving Tuesday: Why Giving Money to Others Makes us Happier31mins
- Nov7Happier Parents, Happier Kids Pt 2: Letting Children Try and Fail31mins
- Oct31Happier Parents, Happier Kids Pt 1: Your Child Isn't a VIP or a Fragile Vase29mins
- Oct24Hulking Out! Why You Change When You're Angry31mins
- Oct17You Only Live Once... So Commit31mins
- Oct10The Fun of Eating a Pepper Hotter Than the Sun29mins
- Oct6From Revisionist History: The Starvation Experiment31mins
- Oct3Why Living Without Regret is a Bad Idea30mins
- Sep26The Handbook for Sonic Happiness - A Twenty Thousand Hertz/Happiness Lab Mash-up42mins
- Sep19Move to Your Happy Place31mins
- Sep12Nerd Out! The Happiness of Being a Fan32mins
- Sep6The Secret to Making Friends as an Adult32mins
- Aug22The Joy of Star Trek, The Grateful Dead and Hot Sauce: The Happiness Lab Returns September 63mins
- Aug1Q: "What Did the Pandemic Teach Us About Happiness?"36mins
- Jul25Q: "How Do I Stop Negative Self-talk?"31mins
- Jul18Q: "Can You Be Happy Alone?"39mins
- Jul11Q: "Are We Born to Work? Or Born to Live?"32mins
- Jul11Malala on Burnout, Guilt and How to Disagree Better30mins
- Jul4Laurie Answers Your Happiness Questions - Coming July 112mins
- Feb21Burnout and How to Avoid It33mins
- Feb14Fighting that "Meh" Feeling of Languishing41mins
- Feb7When Guilt is Good... and When it's Not33mins
- Jan31Embracing Sadness in the Pursuit of Happiness35mins
- Jan24How to be Angry Better35mins
Jan17Stepping Off the Path of Anxiety26mins- Jan10The Eight Pillars of Grieving32mins
- Jan10The Paradox of Grief29mins
- Jan3Emotions Are Data...So Listen to Them44mins
- Jan3How to Identify Your Negative Emotions36mins
- Dec20Reset Your Relationship With Negative Emotions in 20223mins
- Nov30How to Give More Effectively27mins
- Nov23How to Adopt a Growth Mindset21mins
- Nov22The Happiness Lab Presents: Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon5mins
- Nov8How to be Happier at Work (with Dan Harris)50mins
- Nov2How to Feel More Empathy (With the Host of Bad Women: The Ripper Retold)37mins
- Oct25An 80s nostalgia-fest with Molly Ringwald and Rob Lowe60mins
- Oct11Laurie Gets a Fun-tervention (Part Two: Beach Party)29mins
- Sep27Laurie Gets a Fun-tervention (Part One)35mins
- Sep22How to Handle Change37mins
- Sep20The Kindness of Strangers32mins
- Sep13You Can’t Always Want What You Like39mins
- Sep6Let Slip the Dogs of More Happiness38mins
- Aug23Treating the Pain of a Broken Heart33mins
- Aug16Why Nostalgia Ain't So Rosy34mins
- Aug9The Happiness Lab Meets No Stupid Questions36mins
- May10Hidden Brain: Laurie Talks Monkeys and Bad Money Decisions.48mins
- May3Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Lao Tzu33mins
- Apr26Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Confucius33mins
- Apr19Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Forgiveness29mins
- Apr12Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Day of Rest30mins
- Apr5Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Torah27mins
- Jan25Move More... But for the Right Reasons33mins
- Jan18Feed Yourself Like You'd Feed a Loved One36mins
- Jan11Reconnect With The Moment33mins
- Jan4Dump Your Inner Drill Sergeant36mins
- Dec14Happier Holidays: How to Celebrate No Matter What37mins
- Dec7Happier Holidays: How to Give and Receive the Perfect Gift30mins
- Oct5Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Buddha28mins
- Sep28Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Epictetus29mins
- Sep21Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Plato27mins
- Sep14Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Aristotle28mins
- Jun29How to Be a Better Ally37mins
- Jun22The War For Kindness35mins
- Jun15Demonic Possessions25mins
- Jun8How to Kick Bad Habits (and Start Good Ones)32mins
- Jun1Dial D for Distracted30mins
- May25For Whom the Alarm Clock Tolls34mins
- May18Working Your Way to Happiness33mins
- May4PJ and Alex Love to Gripe29mins
- Apr27Psychopaths and Superheroes29mins
- Apr23New Season: The Happiness Lab Returns April 271min
- Apr20Good Screens and Bad Screens23mins
- Apr16Helping the Helpers38mins
- Apr9Laurie's Personal Tips35mins
- Apr2Keep Your Relationship Healthy25mins
- Mar30Help Others to Help Yourself28mins
- Mar26Calm Can Be Contagious39mins
- Mar23Rising to a Challenge26mins
- Mar19Coach Yourself Through a Crisis25mins
- Mar16Beat Your Isolation Loneliness22mins
- Jan27Sleep When You're Dead Tired (LIVE with Arianna Huffington)27mins
- Jan20Think Yourself Happy (LIVE from Yale)29mins
- Jan13Grateful Expectations26mins
- Jan6A New Hope22mins
- Dec16BONUS: A Happier Christmas8mins
- Nov19Making the Grade33mins
- Nov15Make 'Em Laugh34mins
- Nov5Choice Overload35mins
- Oct29Don't Accentuate the Positive41mins
- Oct22Don't Think of the White Bear38mins
- Oct15Caring What You're Sharing38mins
- Oct8Mistakenly Seeking Solitude34mins
- Oct1A Silver Lining40mins
- Sep24The Unhappy Millionaire37mins
- Sep13You Can Change38mins
- Aug27Coming Soon: The Happiness Lab Season One3mins
- Jul24Introducing: The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos1min