Happy You Asked: The Podcast That Explores Happiness One Awkward Conversation at a Time

Charles Parrott, a professor of storytelling and performance at Kennesaw State University, joins me to chat about how our brains lie to us and what we can do to help.

Join me as I discuss the top five things I've learned from hosting the first 25 episodes of Happy You Asked.

Dr. Lacqui Lowman—founder and president of the nonprofit Beyond Limits: Awaken Your Potential (http://beyondlimitsawaken.org/)--joins me to discuss how a near-death experience helped shape her purpose and led her to do the seemingly impossible.

Dr. Caroline Hackerott, a professor of Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management at North Dakota State University, joins me on this episode to talk about what disasters can teach us about happiness and about the line between anxiety and preparedness. Kitty litter and a five-gallon bucket, y’all!

Dr. Edward H “Ted” Miller is a Teaching Professor and Academic Director of the Social Science Unit at the College of Professional Studies at Northeastern University, as well as a recognized expert on the historiography of the American right and an author of two books on the subject. He joins me on this episode to discuss the resiliency of the American spirit and the importance of gratitude.

Skila Ramirez--yoga therapist, YogaFit Master Trainer, and owner of Sankalpa Wellness--joins me to discuss how trauma affects us and what we can do to reclaim our peace. Skila is the author of A Way to Heal: Recalibrate the Nervous System, Optimize Immunity, Support Healing, which you can find at SankalpaWellness.com.

Dr. M. Heather Carver, a professor of performance studies and a 20-year breast cancer survivor, joins me to discuss how the ability to show one’s unmasked self and be appreciated is critical to both personal happiness and to a healthy society.

I am joined in this episode by Dr. Mamta Saxena, Senior Assistant Dean of Decision Support and Academic Quality Assessment at Northeastern University. She discusses the path to understanding happiness within an individualistic society as an immigrant from a collectivist culture, and why modern arranged marriages are not like many people in the West assume.

In this episode I am joined by the Deputy Director of the Division of Genome Sciences at the National Human Genome Research Institute, Dr. Lisa Helbling Chadwick. We talk about the power of cultivating a solution-focused life and how weird it is to grow older. (How old do YOU feel inside? I feel 15, and that might reveal a lot about me.) 

Professor of Sociology Dr. Julie Mikles-Schluterman joins me in this episode to discuss how to navigate the demands on our lives and still experience happiness, especially when Pinterest tries to convince us that having fun is an exhausting enterprise.