The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

We all go along with things we don't want to do... or worse, things that make us feel uncomfortable or morally uneasy. We comply for lots of reasons. We don't want to make trouble, or upset our friends, our bosses or people in authority. But Dr Sunita Sah says we should be more ready to defy.  

Defy: the Power of No in a World That Demands Yes is one of Dr Laurie's favorite books of 2025, so she invited Sunita to explain ...

How do you train your mind to be happier? That was the question posed to Dr Laurie by Dr Tal Ben-Shahar at a live webinar for his Happiness Studies Academy. 

Tal is a leading expert in positive psychology and co-founded the academy to share his knowledge online with students from around the world. Dr Laurie is just one of the scientists he invited to give lessons and take questions from the audience.

If you want to learn more ...

On his podcast, Rich Roll seeks to give his listeners the knowledge to unleash their best selves. He invited Dr Laurie on his show to explain the science-backed "rewirements" she recommends to make us happier. The wide-ranging interview covers lots of topics - but tackles the tricky question of why the human mind often encourages us to do things that are actually bad for our happiness. 

The Happiness Lab will be back with a ne...

Dr Laurie often uses the teachings of the ancient Stoic philosophers to help her through daily life - so she was invited on Ryan Holiday's hit show The Daily Stoic to discuss what she's learned. Ryan started off asking Dr Laurie's thoughts on death and the importance of seeing life as finite - but never fear, the conversation wasn't at all depressing. 

The Happiness Lab will be back with a new series after Labor Day, but ...

How do you put your life back together after your home and your neighborhood's been destroyed in a wildfire? By tossing beanbags at a hole? That's what Michelle Hastie Thompson did. 

Michelle ("Cornhole Meesh") loves the backyard game of cornholing - and uses it to help her relax, share time with her loved ones, and meet new people. So what can cornholing teach Dr Laurie about happiness?

Find more about Michells's work at http...

Joshua Roman has been playing the cello everyday since he was three - but then on a concert tour he caught Covid. The illness wouldn't go away and sapped his ability to play the music he loves at the level he was used to.

How can things like music help us feel better during tough times? And what can tough times teach us about appreciating and reappraising the activities we sometimes take for granted? 

Check out more of Joshua'...

Lili Taylor loves her acting career - but the emotional intensity of her work and the constant travel can take its toll. But Lili has found a way to relax and unwind - watching birds. 

As Lili explains in her new book Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing - if we stop to listen to birdsong or pause to watch their busy daily lives - we give ourselves a break from our own stresses.  

Get ad-free ...

You might think etiquette is outdated. Who really needs a dinner with nice napkins and four different forks? Etiquette expert William Hanson disagrees. By observing good manners we show others we respect and care about them - deepening our bonds. 

William (author of Just Good Manners and host of the podcast Help I Sexted My Boss) explains the origins of many formal behaviours and how they can make us happier. 

See omn...

We all have our own ways of coping - especially when things get tough. So for the next few shows we're going to talking to people with interesting coping strategies. And we start with Elias Weiss Friedman, aka The Dogist.

Throughout his life, Elias has found comfort in dogs. And when he got fired from his job, dogs came to the rescue again - they helped him forge a new career as a photographer and a social media star. 

Elias d...

We’re bringing you an episode of A Slight Change of Plans hosted by Dr. Maya Shankar -  the behavioral scientist who also happens to be a former student of Dr Laurie.

Maya sits down with bestselling author and popular podcast host Mel Robbins to talk about letting go of perfectionism and people pleasing, and how to cope when you lose control of a situation. If you enjoy this episode, list...

The happiness of young people has taken a big hit since the advent of the smartphone - and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that there is a direct link. He warns that allowing children easy access to the internet and social media adversely impacts their sleep, their self-esteem and even how their brains develop.  

Jonathan explains the dangers he sees in letting kids use smartphones, while Jill Murphy of Common S...

Why do kids do disruptive, annoying or maddening things? Usually when children behave badly, the first thing adults do is yell at them, tell them they're bad and dole out punishments. Developmental psychologist David Yeager says that's the wrong approach. Instead parents need work out why their child made bad decisions in the first place.   

David is the author of the book 10 to 25  and argues that we should wor...

Clinical psychologist Dr Becky Kennedy thinks every child is “good inside” even when they’re behaving badly. So to tackle tantrums or rule-breaking, she argues that parents must set clear boundaries for acceptable behaviour, but also seek to understand why their children are misbehaving. 

If a child is acting "badly" because they are disappointed, sad, frustrated, jealous, or uncomfortable, then a parent's jo...

Nordic countries are known to be happy - so should we all raise our children like the Scandinavians do? British parent Helen Russell moved to Denmark and was shocked that Danish children play outside in all weathers; are given sharp tools and they're shown how to light matches.

In her book The Danish Secret to Happy Kids: How the Viking Way of Raising Children Makes Them Happier, Healthier, and More Independent, Helen explains why ...

Parents are never perfect - but their mistakes can have a lasting impact on their children. We all carry with us ideas and attitudes planted in us during childhood - and they're not always very helpful for leading a happy life. How can we unlearn some of these things and also prevent ourselves from passing them on if we have kids?

Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach have raised three children together - so have lots of thoughts on this ...

Too many parents feel “exhausted, burned out, and perpetually behind” according to the former US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy. He says more needs to be done to protect parental mental health. 

Vivek talks to Dr Laurie about his experience as a dad and the loneliness, guilt and shame parents can feel as they struggle with the challenges of raising children. 

This series on parenting coincides with Dr Laurie'...

In a special episode brought to you by Chase for Business, Dr. Laurie joins Ben Walter—CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast—to talk about resilience. Dr. Laurie and Ben explore the story of Benjamin Haugh, founder of All Nation Restoration in Austin, Texas.

Benjamin had a difficult start in life, and at a young age found himself stranded in Austin with no money or job. Despite massive adversity...

There are many benefits to being an optimist - particularly when things go wrong in our lives. But we aren't all naturally optimistic, so can we learn to adopt the best and most positive behaviours of born optimists?

Through treating New Yorkers caught up in the 9/11 attacks, psychiatrist Dr Sue Varma developed a concept she calls "practical optimism". She shares her tips on how we can all be more optimistic in the face of life's c...