How to Bounce Back from Life’s Curveballs (with Dr. Maya Shankar)

Life has a way of upending even our best-laid plans. Breakups, job losses, scary health diagnoses — these unexpected changes can leave us feeling stuck and uncertain about what comes next. Dr. Laurie speaks with her dear friend and former student, Dr. Maya Shankar, author of The Other Side of Chan…

Stop Wasting Your Energy — Here’s What to Do Instead (with Dr. Diana Hill)

A lot of us spend our energy on things that aren’t worth it: projects, relationships, or goals that may feel important in the moment but ultimately leave us frustrated and drained. Dr. Diana Hill, clinical psychologist and author of Wise Effort: How to Focus Your Genius Energy on What Matters Most…

From Decoding Women's Health: Decoding Happiness in Midlife

Midlife can be a period of immense change and, sometimes, challenging emotions. But it’s also an opportunity to cultivate deeper, more lasting happiness. Dr Laurie recently joined another Pushkin podcast, Decoding Women's Health with Dr Elizabeth Poynor, to share insights on how midlife women can t…

Holiday Survival Guide II: Perfect Gifts and Fighting Fatigue (with Rainn Wilson)

What stresses you out over the festive season? Happiness Lab listeners sent in their holiday woes so Dr Laurie and guest Rainn Wilson (The Office star and host of Soul Boom) could weigh in with some science-backed advice.  In the second part of our Holiday Survival Guide, Dr Laurie and Rainn discu…

Holiday Survival Guide I: Ending Family Arguments (with Rainn Wilson)

What stresses you out over the festive season? Happiness Lab listeners sent in their holiday woes so Dr Laurie and guest Rainn Wilson (The Office star and host of Soul Boom) could weigh in with some science-backed advice.  In the first part of our Holiday Survival Guide, Dr Laurie and Rainn discus…

How to Experience the Joy of Giving Right Now

According to the science, it really is better to give than receive. Donating a dollar; sharing a kind word or lending someone a hand changes lives, but can also hugely boost your happiness. So we're teaming up with other podcasts from Hidden Brain to Revisionist History to ask you to give to a char…

Why Being Grateful Makes Us Feel Great (A Thanksgiving Re-run)

It's Thanksgiving - a good time to think about gratitude and being selfless. Concentrating on the things we have to be grateful for is a great way to boost your happiness. So thank the people who've done good things for you, and think of ways you can help others too.   This circle of gratitude – t…

Reset Your Relationship with Stress (for National Stress Awareness Day)

On National Stress Awareness Day we've pulled a popular episode from our archive. Stress can suck. Many of us drown in it - worrying about past events and fearing upcoming challenges. We even stress about feeling stressed. So how can we reset our relationship with stress - benefitting from its posi…

How Horror Movies and True Crime Can Make You Happier

Halloween isn't just costumes and candy. It's also a time when we indulge our interest in the scary and macabre. But there's also a taboo about gory horror movies and gruesome true crime shows - we often feel that being interested in blood and violence is unhealthy. The opposite is possibly true.  …

Make Vulnerability Your Superpower (with NBA star Kevin Love)

Not many elite athletes talk openly about mental health, but five-time NBA All-Star Kevin Love is changing that. After a very public panic attack on the basketball court he was told to "snap out of it". But Kevin decided to discuss his "dark moments" of anxiety and depression and show that vulnerab…