Discover
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
![The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos](https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts126/v4/95/b2/7e/95b27ebf-c653-3d6a-8e7d-d4c14901d80c/mza_2374918886799335339.jpg/400x400bb.jpg)
The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
Author: Pushkin Industries
Subscribed: 88,312Played: 2,566,993Subscribe
Share
2024 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
Description
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.
172 Episodes
Reverse
We're bringing you an episode of Immigrantly, where Laurie joined host Saadia Khan to discuss the psychology of happiness education and the expansive realm of happiness. Is happiness a fleeting moment or a sustained state of being? Can it be actively cultivated, or is it an innate aspect of human existence? How do our backgrounds, personalities, and choices influence our perceptions of happiness? Laurie and Saadia openly discuss cultural considerations when exploring happiness, the difference between contentment and happiness, Gen Z’s perception of happiness, and how to achieve zen mode. Immigrantly is a weekly podcast that celebrates the extraordinariness of immigrant life. They do this by providing their listeners with authentic, unvarnished insights into the immigrant identity in America. Immigrantly has garnered significant recognition and has been featured in renowned media outlets such as the Nieman Storyboard, The Guardian, The Slowdown, and CNN. You can get more information at http://immigrantlypod.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
America's top athletes need coaches. And those coaches themselves need guidance. It's a hard and stressful job - and one where coaches can easily become burned out and unhappy. And stressed coaches can't help their athletes win medals. Christine Bolger and Emilie Lazenby of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee teach happiness lessons - many they heard on this podcast - to America's elite coaches. They share their story with Dr Laurie and tell us what regular folk can learn from top coaches. Check out more Olympics related content from Pushkin Industries and iHeartPodcasts here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Georgia Bell was a great runner as a child - but in college she fell out of love with the sport. She hung up her running shoes - and they gathered dust until Covid hit and she began to run again for fun. Turns out that aged 30, she's one of the fastest women in the world and is now headed to the Olympics! Georgia tells Dr Laurie Santos how she regained her enthusiasm for the 1500m race - and reflects on the happiness lessons she's picked up in her dramatic return to the very pinnacle of her sport. Check out more Olympics related content from Pushkin Industries and iHeartPodcasts here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Making shows about her own happiness challenges was both fun and instructive for Dr Laurie, but it also took guts to be so vulnerable and open. She later spoke to her close friend at Yale Dr Tamar Gendler about the experience. This private chat threw up lots of interesting insights, so when the duo were asked to speak at the 2024 International Festival of Arts and Ideas... they decided to share parts of that private conversation with the public. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr Laurie HATES thinking about her own death. It's scary, creepy and morbid, right? Wrong. Thinking about our finite lives can makes us better, happier people. The shadow of death makes us behave more kindly towards others, and can motivate us both to enjoy the little joys of life and seek out greater fulfilment in our careers and in our relationships. But you need to look death square in the face - and that's not easy for a thanatophobe like Dr Laurie. To help her, she enlists psychologist Jodi Wellman (author of You Only Die Once: How to Make It to the End with No Regrets) and death doula Alua Arthur (author of Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
By 2030 we'll only work 15 hours a week, predicted the legendary economist John Maynard Keynes back in 1930. He thought advances in technology and wealth would let us earn enough money to live in a day or two - leaving the rest of the week for leisure and community service. How wrong he was. We seem to be working more than ever - with technology adding extra tasks to our workdays (like answering emails and monitoring Slack). Dr Laurie longs for more leisure time, but how can she tame her fear of being "unproductive"? Computer scientist Cal Newport explains how we all got into this mess - and why we still treat modern employees as if they were farm laborers or assembly line workers. Reformed "productivity junkie" Oliver Burkeman also offers tips on how to concentrate our minds on fulfilling and important work - and not little tasks that chew up so much of our days. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We often do things now that will make our lives more difficult or stressful in the future. We spend money, when we should save. We eat junk food, when we should exercise. We agree to commitments, when we should protect our free time. We act so thoughtlessly that it's almost like we hate our future selves. Dr Laurie asks UCLA's Hal Hershfield to help her find the happiness balance between listening to what she wants now, and the preferences she might have in the future. And she steps into an AI time machine to get some happiness advice for herself decades from today. Try talking to the "you of tomorrow" using the MIT Media Lab's Future You chatbot at https://futureyou.media.mit.edu/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Awe reduces stress, helps us forget our minor worries and makes us feel more connected to the people around us. We all need more awe in our lives - but surely it's not that easy to find awesome experiences on your average Tuesday? Actor Tony Hale explains how everyday awe helps ease his anxieties, while UC Berkeley's Dacher Keltner shows us how to find awe in music, art, scenery... even in a walk around our block. And Dr Laurie explores the things that give her a sense of awe with the help of Mike Menzel - who built a space telescope that lets us see billions of years into the past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr Laurie is stressed, and it's harming her health. Constant worry and stress is bad for our bodies and our minds, but how can we break the cycle and relax? It turns out scientists have learned a lot from one of America's most stressed-out communities - caregivers. Hollywood star Steve Guttenberg talks about the toughest chapter of his life - caring for his dying dad - and Dr Elissa Epel explains why some caregivers suffer badly from stress, while others seem to find ways to live with the awful situation they find themselves in daily. And we find out how stress can be tamed and turned to our advantage with David Yeager. Further reading: David Yeager - 10 to 25. The Science of Motivating Young People: A Groundbreaking Approach to Leading the Next Generation And Making Your Own Life Easier Steve Guttenberg - Time to Thank: Caregiving for My Hero. Dr Elissa Epel - The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dr Laurie HATES boredom! Since childhood she's found it so painful that she'll do anything to avoid being bored. She'll watch crappy TV. She'll find extra work to do. She'll snack. But boredom is actually an incredibly useful tool to boost our happiness and creativity.
With the help of leading boredom experts, Dr Laurie learns how to embrace doing nothing and finds that in the midst of tedium our brains can come up with the most amazing breakthrough ideas. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Holding yourself to impossibly high standards is self-defeating and makes for a miserable life. Can Dr Laurie Santos find ways to tackle her constant perfectionism so she can perform better and have more fun?
She hears from researcher Thomas Curran about a worrying growth in perfectionism in society, and asks "recovering perfectionist" Jordana Confino how to tackle the nagging voice in your head telling you to always push yourself and work harder. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sometimes the happiness teacher flunks her own class. In a deeply personal new season, Dr Laurie Santos opens up about the things she really, really struggles with. Things like crippling perfectionism, chronic stress and a paralyzing fear of death.
With the help of world-class experts, a Hollywood star and a host of normal people who grapple with the same issues, Dr Laurie will face up to her own happiness demons and try to defeat them.
Coming June 3, wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Liz Dunn is a regular guest on The Happiness Lab, but in this extended interview with TED's Chris Anderson she take us on a deep dive into her research. It shows that by increasing our generosity and by giving to others we can significantly boost our own happiness.
Listen to more episodes of The TED Interview wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A chance to hear a recent episode of A Slight Change of Plans in which Maya Shankar asks psychologist Adam Grant about his new book "Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things". They talk about how to filter out unhelpful feedback, the benefits of imperfectionism, and why we need to give soft skills more respect.
Listen to more episodes of A Slight Change of Plans wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Work is a worry. Are we paid enough? Should we be getting promoted quicker? Is artificial intelligence about to replace us all?
Speaking at SXSW 2024, Dr Laurie Santos argues that because of all our career woes we often neglect our happiness. She walks through her top five tips for improving our workplace wellbeing - which will not only make us feel better, but might even cause our salaries to rise!
Suggested reading from this episode:
Radical Compassion: Learning to Love Yourself and Your World with the Practice of RAIN by Tara Brach
Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout by Cal Newport
Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself by Kristin Neff
The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It by Christina Maslach
The Business of Friendship by Shasta NelsonSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Technology is amazing! We can make video calls, find facts in an instant and watch movies on our phones. We take all this for granted, but have we let our screens and devices take over too much of our lives?
To mark Digital Wellness Day on May 3, we hear from Amy Blankson (author and "chief evangelist" at the Digital Wellness Institute) about her ten tips to tame our devices at home and in the workplace. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Karen Guggenheim was devastated by the death of her husband, Ricardo. She was alive, but dead to the world around her. Slowly she put her life back together and found growing happiness. To share her insights with others in need, Karen started the World Happiness Summit.
Karen's campaign to spread global happiness is just one example of "post traumatic growth". Clinical psychologist Dr Edith Shiro (author of The Unexpected Gift of Trauma) has worked with many people who have recovered from trauma and grown as a result. She explains how we can give ourselves the best possible chance to experience post traumatic growth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Medical doctors are waking up to the importance of happiness, partly prompted by the work of people like Rangan Chatterjee. Dr Chatterjee is Professor of Health Education and Communication, the host of the hit podcast 'Feel Better, Live More' and author of five best-selling books including Happy Mind, Happy Life: 10 Simple Ways to Feel Great Every Day.
Rangan sat down with Dr Laurie Santos at the 2024 World Happiness Summit to discuss his life and work - and explain why physicians like him are joining the fight to make happiness a health priority.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The US is sliding down the world happiness rankings - but it's the unhappiness of young people that's really dragging down the average. What has happened to make Gen Z so sad? And what can be done to turn the situation around?
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (director of Oxford University’s Wellbeing Research Centre) has been analyzing the figures for the World Happiness Report. He offers advice to young people and parents, and looks at what happy young Lithuanians can teach the rest of the world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Age is the main risk factor for cognitive decline. So with more people around the world living longer, cases of dementia are set to rise. There's currently no cure - but research suggests that happiness can reduce the impact of this awful illness.
Psychologist Emily Willroth helped write a chapter on this topic for the 2024 World Happiness Report - and explains how making friends, helping others and engaging in fun physical activities can slow cognitive decline, even when the disease has taken hold. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Top Podcasts
The Best New Comedy Podcast Right Now – June 2024The Best News Podcast Right Now – June 2024The Best New Business Podcast Right Now – June 2024The Best New Sports Podcast Right Now – June 2024The Best New True Crime Podcast Right Now – June 2024The Best New Joe Rogan Experience Podcast Right Now – June 20The Best New Dan Bongino Show Podcast Right Now – June 20The Best New Mark Levin Podcast – June 2024
I’ve been tuning into The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, and it’s truly a game-changer! Dr. Santos delivers practical, research-backed insights in such an engaging and relatable way. Each episode is packed with actionable advice on how to enhance our well-being and find more joy in everyday life. https://sandwich-sack-creations.podigee.io/1-new-episode
there is a problem with this episode
Hi, Laurie. I understand finding advertisers is difficult. T-MOBILE promotes Tractor Supply within its ad. Tractor Supply recently changed irs corporate policies to be hostile to DEI initiatives and more.
It's an enormous assumption that those who have come up with interesting ideas in situations where their minds were free to wander were feeling bored. Further, it's an example of the fallacy that correlation is causation to suggest that this assumed boredom caused the creative ideas. Therefore it's ridiculous to suggest that we embrace boredom. More likely that they were filling their minds with interesting ideas and so were not at all bored. Embrace when your mind is free to think creatively!
This guest is weird. He balance strategy is more phone, more screen, more digital. If I followed her advice I'd be using my phone devices way more than I do now.
I sure wish I'd known about you before we'd thrown in the towel
💚CLICK HERE Full HD>720p>1080p>4K💚WATCH>ᗪOᗯᑎᒪOᗩᗪ>LINK> 👉https://co.fastmovies.org
▶ Really Amazing ️You Can Try This💚👉https://co.fastmovies.org
This episode is very middle class nieve. Most recent data says that only just over 40% of full time workers have a Monday to Friday 9-5 type job. Add in part time workers and what you're talking about is a minority. The whole premis of the majority of people working Mon Fri 9-5 is a myth. I don't know if there was ever a time it was true.
to practice giving more authentic compliments, Dr Santos I think you're a really good teacher and you're actually making the world a happier and better place 👏👏👏👏
I just had the pleasure of listening to an episode of "The Happiness Lab" podcast featuring Dr. Laurie Santos, and I must say, it was truly enlightening! Dr. Santos has an incredible ability to break down the science of happiness in such a relatable and understandable way. https://www.familiesonline.co.uk/local/westminster/listing/packaging-mart-438650 One of the key takeaways for me was the idea that happiness is not just a product of external circumstances, but something we can actively cultivate through intentional practices. Dr. Santos talked about the power of gratitude, mindfulness, and social connections in boosting our overall well-being, and it really resonated with me. https://folkd.com/user/PackagingMart
I'm here right now 😊
this show is lowkey sexist.
when I wanted to make friends in a community that's new to me, I've looked for groups on the Meetup website (no, I'm not advertising for the group). For example, I've lived in my current community for a year. In order to meet new people I signed up for several groups according to my interests. I belong to a group that meets once a month for a meal. Another group meets sporadically to visit a local Winery. There are hiking groups, travel groups, book groups, gaming groups, Bible study groups, etc. It's free to belong to most groups. Some charge a nominal fee.
about music for mood, I read somewhere that if you are sad and you want to change your mood by listening to peppy songs, it won't work. rather it will cause more upset as it will be incoherent to your mood.
thanks for sharing !
Laurie / what did you do??! This interview was inane.
start at 32:38 than go back to the beginning. for some reason the beginning is in the middle of the episode
interesting
Sound quality is really bad :(