Happier with Gretchen Rubin

By Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

What's Happier with Gretchen Rubin about?

Gretchen Rubin is HAPPIER, and she wants you to be happier too. The #1 bestselling author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before gets more personal than ever as she brings her practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits to this lively, thought-provoking podcast. Gretchen’s cohost and guinea pig is her younger sister, Elizabeth Craft, a TV writer and producer living in Los Angeles, who (lovingly) refers to Gretchen as her happiness bully. Part of the Panoply Network.

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Ep. 234: Try the SLANT Appr...

08.14.2019

Try the SLANT approach to help yourself listen and learn more effectively, an easy way to do a happiness-boosting good deed, and how to deal with a sweetheart who responds very unenthusiastically to good news.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet ...

Happier with Gretchen Rubin episodes:

08.14.2019 Ep. 234: Try the SLANT Approach to Listen Better and How to Deal with a Sweetheart’s Unenthusiastic Support Try the SLANT approach to help yourself listen and learn more effectively, an easy way to do a happiness-boosting good deed, and how to deal with a sweetheart who responds very unenthusiastically to good news.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet ...
08.12.2019 Little Happier: What Friendships Tend to Stick? An Observation from Game of Thrones In an interview, Game of Thrones’s John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) makes an important observation about relationships: hard times make strong friends.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest ...
08.07.2019 Ep. 233: Get Rid of Your Wart (Literal and Metaphorical) and Connect Better with Friends Get rid of your wart, an internet-related hack (is it just me?), and a question to help you figure out how to connect better with other people.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the ...
08.05.2019 Little Happier: Churchill’s Life Proves that We Can’t Know What’s Good or Bad Luck Winston Churchill reflects on his eventful life, and how impossible it was for him to discern what was good luck and what was bad luck.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be ...
07.31.2019 Ep. 232: Remember to Consider the Company that Someone Keeps When entering into a relationship, consider a person’s existing relationships, how to deal with podcast overload, and like Gloria Vanderbilt, do you have a “rage to live?” Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet ...
07.29.2019 Little Happier: Winston Churchill and “Game of Thrones” Illustrate the Same Observation About Power Winston Churchill and Games of Thrones’s Lady Olenna illustrate the same point: when confronting a powerful and lawless foe, imagination matters.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest ...
07.24.2019 Ep. 231: Choose Your TV Theme Song Choose your TV theme song; listeners give many suggestions about dealing with getting laid off; why you should wear a new item immediately; and Elizabeth discusses the happiness of humidity.Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; podcast@gretchenrubin.comGet the podcast show notes by ...
07.22.2019 Little Happier: “If He’ll Do It For You, He’ll Do It to You”: My Daughter and Father Hit on the Same Truth My daughter and my father hit on the same truth about dealing with people who play favorites: “If they’ll do it for you, they’ll do it to you.”Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this ...
07.17.2019 Ep. 230: Happier Podcast Book Club: Lisa Brennan-Jobs Reflects on Growing Up as Steve Jobs’s Daughter in “Small Fry” For our second Happier Podcast Book Club, we talk to Lisa Brennan-Jobs about the role of family, love, and identity in her acclaimed memoir Small Fry.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every ...
07.15.2019 Little Happier: How the Gift of a Dollhouse Illustrates the Philosophy of Bertrand Russell In giving the gift of a dollhouse, these loving grandparents illustrate a point argued by philosopher Bertrand Russsell: “To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.”Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks ...
07.10.2019 Ep. 229: Spend 120 Minutes a Week in Nature and an Interview with Sheri Salata about “The Beautiful No” Why you should spend 120 minutes a week in nature, a simple hack to make spending that time in nature more convenient, and an interview with former “Oprah” executive producer Sheri Salata about her memoir “The Beautiful No.”Get in touch ...
07.08.2019 Little Happier: What’s the Best Way to Persuade? The Sun and the North Wind Disagree. One of Aesop’s most famous fables—the one about the Sun and the North Wind—illustrates the power of persuasion over brute force.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest ...
07.03.2019 Ep. 228: Make Your Own Art and a Lesson from Mr. Rogers Make your own art, a lesson about managing transitions from Mr. Rogers, and dealing with the relationship challenge of “excessive reassurance-seeking.”Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy ...
07.01.2019 Little Happier: Throughout My Life, I’ve Remembered One Line from the “Little Engine that Could” “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” may be a bit corny, but the fact is, I find myself repeating that line to myself. The Little Engine that Could put those words in my mind.Get ...
06.26.2019 Ep. 227: An Interview with Comedian, Actor, and Writer Pete Holmes Create a memory box, enjoy some luxury around your first cup of coffee, and an interview with comedian and author Pete Holmes. Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder ...
06.24.2019 Little Happier: Reading Isaac Mizrahi Taught Me About Myself Reading Isaac Mizrahi’s memoir I.M. helped me understand something about myself: my uncomfortable reaction to a work of art I admire.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest ...
06.19.2019 Ep. 226: Celebrate the Summer Solstice by Re-visiting your One-Word Theme Celebrate the summer (or winter) solstice by re-visiting your one-word theme for the year, an alternative office activity if you want to avoid being the Evil Donut-Bringer, and how to resist the temptation of the snooze alarm.Get in touch on ...
06.17.2019 Little Happier: My Husband Jamie Taught Me a Wonderful, Memorable Lesson About Plans. My husband’s willingness to change plans gave me a lovely memory—and taught me a valuable lesson.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest post here: https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/Get the podcast ...
06.12.2019 Ep. 225: Cultivate Your Casual Friendships Cultivate your casual friendships, an interview with writer Ramit Sethi about money, and a terrific inexpensive gift to give.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy of Gretchen’s ...
06.10.2019 Little Happier: How Do We Help? An Observation from the Life of the Creator of the Comic Strip “Cathy.” This story from the life of Cathy Guisewite, the creator of the comic strip “Cathy,” is an example of how we can help people achieve their dreams for themselves. Sometimes.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related ...
06.05.2019 Ep. 224: Design Your Summer (Again) Design your summer, manage the challenge of making transitions throughout the day, and why “the stewing is worse than the doing.”Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftGet the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletterOrder a copy ...
06.03.2019 Little Happier: This Book Changed the Way I See the World. Christopher Alexander’s book “A Pattern Language” changed the way I see the world; sometimes, at least in my case, it’s only through words that I can learn to see more clearly.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes ...
05.29.2019 Ep. 223: Step Off a Cliff Why you should step off a cliff, an interview with writer Ross Gay, and the fun of making the opposite of a to-do list.Want to watch the "Roadmap to Happiness"? Check your local PBS station listings here:http://pbs.org/gretchenrubin. Tell your friends, ...
05.27.2019 Little Happier: Why Did Dolly Parton Identify More with Barbara Walters than Barbara Walters Identified with Her? My fascination with Dolly Parton continues, and her answer to Barbara Walters in a 1977 interview is a good example of why we shouldn’t under-estimate people who are different from us.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes ...
05.22.2019 Ep. 222: Go Someplace Alone Why you might choose to go someplace alone, how to have a good conversation with a child, and listener suggests an easy, clever hack for remembering to bring items.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events at: ...
05.20.2019 Little Happier: One of the Greatest Luxuries? The Luxury of Giving a Gift. In Sydney Taylor’s wonderful children’s book “All-of-a-Kind Family,” the girls’ father saw a way to give them a true luxury: the luxury of giving him a gift.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode ...
05.16.2019 Bonus episode: Game of Thrones! Gretchen and Elizabeth Discuss and Speculate Before the Show’s Finale. Is Arya Stark a Rebel? Will Cersei Lannister manage to keep the Iron Throne? And how about that coffee cup! On this special short bonus episode, Gretchen and Elizabeth discuss, debate, and speculate about the upcoming end of the HBO ...
05.15.2019 Ep. 221: Do You Yearn for a Re-Set? Do you yearn for a re-set, how to look better in photographs, and using voice-to-text to make it easier to take notes. And announcing our next Book Club Choice: “Small Fry” by Lisa Brennan-Jobs.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and ...
05.13.2019 Little Happier: Julia Child Makes a Profound Observation about Life in the Midst of Flipping a Potato On her iconic 1960’s TV show, Julia Child drops a profound truth about human nature, in the middle of trying to flip a potato.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found ...
05.08.2019 Ep. 220: Why We Should Deal with Something Negative Right Away Deal with something negative right away, switch to electronic boarding passes if you still use paper, and a Four Tendencies break-down of the “Game of Thrones” characters.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events at: http://gretchenrubin.com/eventsGet in ...
05.06.2019 Little Happier: What Chef Julia Child Taught Me About the Nature of Enthusiasm and Happiness. The life of Julia Child is a great example of the fact that sometimes, even when we can’t persuade people to take an interest in the things we love, we can sweep them along with our enthusiasm.Get in touch on ...
05.01.2019 Ep. 219: Very Special Episode: Going Deep into Giving Up with Whole30’s Melissa Hartwig-Urban In this Very Special Episode, we go deeper into the try-this-at-home of “Give something up for a month” and talk to Whole30’s Melissa Hartwig-Urban about her new podcast “Do the Thing” and about the power of changing for 30 days.Get ...
04.29.2019 Little Happier: We Love Excellence--When We Can Recognize It. for Apr 29, 2019 In this hilarious “Funny or Die” video by the musician Jewel, she goes undercover at a karaoke bar. It’s a good example of the fact that people do appreciate excellence, when they’re able to recognize it.Get in touch on Instagram: ...
04.24.2019 Ep. 218: Invest in Your Identities Invest in your identities, a way to respond to the “evil donut-bringer” at work, and listeners’ suggestions about how to help someone get through chemotherapy.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events at: http://gretchenrubin.com/eventsGet in touch on ...
04.22.2019 Little Happier: My Husband So Often Knows the Right Thing to Say Sometimes when I complain, my husband Jamie reminds me, “This is what you wanted.” It’s comforting because it’s true. Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found in the latest post ...
04.17.2019 Ep. 217: Don’t Over-Consult “Why you should stop over-consulting, a hack to make exercising more convenient, and a question for self-knowledge: When you’re upset, do you feel it in your body or in your head?”Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live ...
04.15.2019 Little Happier: The Opposite of a Profound Truth Is Also True. Even in Goth It’s one of my favorite Secrets of Adulthood: The opposite of a profound truth is also true. In goth, and in so much else.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found ...
04.10.2019 Ep. 216: Give Someone an Unusual Compliment Give someone an unusual compliment, a hack to make it easier to leave the house, identify your favorite time of day, and Elizabeth reports on her battle with stress-eating.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events at: ...
04.08.2019 Little Happier: Why the Children’s Book “Little Bear” Made Tears Come into My Eyes One of our tasks as parents is to help our children remember themselves and their own past. I got tears in my eyes when I read the beautiful lines from the children’s book “Little Bear.” “Tell me about me,” said ...
04.03.2019 Ep. 215: Throw a Celebratory Party Throw a celebratory party, the problem of feeling so worried about the future that you can’t enjoy the present, a question about ideas for healthy treats, and a happiness hack.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events ...
04.01.2019 Little Happier: I’m Lucky to Have a Mother Who Is Lucky I feel lucky to have a mother who views herself as lucky. It’s a beautiful atmosphere for a child to live in—even a grown-up child like me. Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this ...
03.27.2019 Ep. 214: Try Giving Up Something for a Month Try giving up something for a month, a confession and hack related to leather pants, and a question for listeners: How do you help someone get through chemotherapy?Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events athttp://gretchenrubin.com/eventsGet in ...
03.25.2019 Little Happier: A Friend’s Description of Herself Reminded Me of Who I Am Sometimes, it’s other people who remind us of our deepest values, and the truest things about ourselves. I must read—but I needed a friend to remind me of that truth.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related ...
03.20.2019 Ep. 213: Bonus Clutter-Clearing Tips: Find Out What Ideas Didn’t Make It into the Book This week, we’ll talk about some bonus ideas for creating outer order and we’ll talk about an easy way to make it more fun to wake up in the morning.Get tickets for Gretchen's book tour and Happier podcast live events ...
03.18.2019 Little Happier: This Mother Knew Exactly What Career Advice to Give I’m often wracked by indecision when I’m asked to give advice or take action. I love this example of a mother who knew exactly what career advice to give her daughter. Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and ...
03.13.2019 Ep. 212: Happier Podcast Book Club: We Talk About Family Secrets in Dani Shapiro’s Memoir “Inheritance.” This week is a milestone episode for us. It’s our first Happier Podcast Book Club episode. We talk to Dani Shapiro about her memoir: Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love.Want to discuss Dani Shapiro's book with other Happier ...
03.11.2019 Little Happier: Would I Know the Way to Tell Right from Wrong? As I read about the Enron scandal, I was relieved to see that one person could clearly articulate how to tell right from wrong.Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraftLinks and notes related to this episode can be found ...
03.08.2019 Bonus Episode! An Excerpt from Gretchen’s New Book “Outer Order, Inner Calm” This bonus episode features an excerpt from the audio-book of Gretchen’s new book “Outer Order, Inner Calm.” Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.comGet tickets for my book tour and Happier podcast live events ...
03.06.2019 Ep. 211: Spend Time Individually with Family Members, an Ice Cube Hack, and Obligers’ Relationships to Accountability and Possessions This week, we’ll talk about why you might try to spend time individually with each member of your family, and we’ll discuss an intriguing hack about using an ice cube to change your thoughts.We also talk about Obligers, and how ...
03.04.2019 Little Happier: Carrie’s Shoe Collection in “Sex and the City” Teaches an Important Lesson About Habits If you’re trying to save money, does it matter if you splurge on one pair of expensive shoes? Probably not. What about two pairs? Three pairs? In the TV show “Sex and the City,” Carrie’s shoe collection illustrates an important ...

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