As a podcast host, I'm often asked, "What's your favorite podcast?" and my answer is always the same: Heavyweight. So you can imagine my excitement when my favorite podcast joined the Pushkin slate! Hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, Heavyweight creates space for difficult conversations and resolving long-standing regrets and unanswered questions. Balancing humor and empathy, Jonathan helps his subjects pinpoint the moment things went wrong and joins them on a quest to make them right. This episode features Gregor, whose parents are pushing 90. Gregor wants to move them out of their big Victorian home—but they refuse. So, he's come up with a bold plan to get them out. It’s a touching story about learning to let go and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. If you do, find more episodes of Heavyweight wherever you get your podcasts.

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We all behave irrationally. We pay for expensive gym memberships and only go once. We spend windfall cash on things we'd never buy with our salaries. We plan to do nice things in the distant future, but don't actually write them down in our calendars. These things can be bad for our happiness, so why do we do them?

Economist Richard Thaler won a Nobel Prize for studying human irrationality - and explains why we all do odd things sometimes and how we can guard against being so irrational. Richard is joined by fellow behavioral economist Alex Imas to explain the updated insights from the classic book The Winner’s Curse: Behavioral Economics Anomalies Then and Now.

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Your eating habits could be cutting years off the end of your life. But there's a simple solution - eat like the people who live happily and healthily into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Dan Buettner studies the inhabitants of so-called "Blue Zones" - where people live long lives. Food and eating culture seem to play an important role this longevity.  

Dan talks to Dr Laurie about Blue Zones and explains the idea behind his cookbook One Pot Meals: 100 Recipes to Live to 100

And to hear more from Dan check out The Dan Buettner Podcast.

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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 we can say no more often and what that means for improving our happiness. 

(With thanks to the Milgram family for allowing us to use the archive audio in this episode. It's from Stanley Milgram Papers (MS 1406). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.) 

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Bruce Hood was a mentor of Dr Laurie early in her academic career and now teaches a course on happiness based on her famous Yale class. Hear him discuss his top tips on 10% Happier with Dan Harris.  

Find out more about Dan Harris and 10% Happier at https://www.danharris.com

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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 about the Happiness Studies Academy, or are interested in taking one of the certificate, masters or PhD courses - visit Happiness Studies Academy.

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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 new series after Labor Day, but we'll be bringing you more interviews with Dr Laurie throughout the summer.  

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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 we'll be bringing you more interviews with Dr Laurie throughout the summer.  

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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 https://www.cornholemeesh.com/

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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's music at https://www.joshuaroman.com/ 

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