The Science of Happiness

By PRX and Greater Good Science Center

Social Sciences

What's The Science of Happiness about?

Learn research-tested strategies for a happier, more meaningful life, drawing on the science of compassion, gratitude, mindfulness, and awe. Hosted by award-winning professor Dacher Keltner. Co-produced by PRI and UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center.

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How To Be Less Hard on Your...

12.05.2019

Do you beat yourself up over every mistake? A high school senior tries to be kinder to himself during an especially stressful time.

The Science of Happiness episodes:

12.05.2019 How To Be Less Hard on Yourself Do you beat yourself up over every mistake? A high school senior tries to be kinder to himself during an especially stressful time.
11.28.2019 Happy Again: How to Notice What You're Thankful For (Encore) Comedian Maz Jobrani tries to be more thankful for the good things in his life by writing them down — and encourages his kids to do the same.
11.21.2019 Can You Find Wonder in the Ordinary? When was the last time you felt connected to something bigger than yourself? Award-winning cellist Yumi Kendall looks, and listens, for moments of awe.
11.07.2019 How To Get Your Priorities Straight It's easy to lose sight of what matters most. Our guest finds a way to reconnect with her values during stressful times.
10.24.2019 Does Your Doctor Listen to You? Doctors are often trained to be emotionally detached. But our guest finds greater meaning in his work as a physician when he tries to connect more deeply with his patients, co-workers, and family.
10.10.2019 Finding Beauty in the Everyday A tree next to a bus stop, a flower poking through the sidewalk. Our guest, a veteran of the Iraq War, discovers how awe and wonder can be found anywhere — if you just pay attention.
09.26.2019 How to Find Your Silver Linings Do you fixate on what's going wrong in your life? Poet and "recovering pessimist" Maggie Smith practices looking on the bright side.
09.12.2019 Can Margaret Cho Get Any Better? She's one of the most accomplished comedians of her generation. But Margaret Cho wants to find a different kind of happiness.
08.29.2019 Can You Humanize a Zombie? Should we try to find common ground with the villains in our lives? Comedian Zahra Noorbahksh tries to understand a "zombie" from her past.
08.15.2019 Making Kindness Contagious We gave our Happiness Guinea Pig a mission: Do five random acts of kindness in one day.
08.01.2019 Facing Your Fears Heights. Public speaking. Death. Our Happiness Guinea Pig explains how she overcomes her fears, one small step at a time.
07.18.2019 How Michael Lewis Finds the Funny How can you unearth humor in everyday life? Best-selling author Michael Lewis goes looking for laughs.
07.04.2019 How to Keep Love Alive After more than a decade together, our Happiness Guinea Pig tries to bring the spark back into her marriage.
06.20.2019 Who Makes You Feel Connected? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, the creator of Cartoon Network's We Bare Bears, finds a way to feel close to a loved one he recently lost. Try this week’s happiness practice: Feeling Connected
06.06.2019 A Better Way to Talk to Yourself Her husband has been in prison for 23 years. Our Happiness Guinea Pig tries a new approach to stay strong while working to get him released.
04.11.2019 What to Do When You Feel Like a Failure The loss of a job, the pain of a breakup -- it's easy to get down on ourselves when things aren't going well. Find out how our Happiness Guinea Pig tuned down the self-critic in her head.
04.04.2019 Delight in the Unexpected A high-five from a stranger, a hummingbird on a busy city street. Poet Ross Gay shares his own happiness practice: savoring the everyday delights in life. ~ Try one of UC Berkeley's Greater Good in Action happiness practices.
03.28.2019 How To Let Go of Anger Are you still mad at someone who hurt you in the past? That can eat away at your health and well-being. Our Happiness Guinea Pig tries a new approach to giving up a grudge.
03.21.2019 What Are Your Strongest Reminders of Connection? What kinds of objects, images, and words surround your home or office? Our Happiness Guinea Pig surveys her apartment for items that spark connection and kindness.
03.14.2019 Do You Know How to Eat a Raisin? Do you have trouble slowing down enough to actually enjoy your life? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, comedian and radio host Luke Burbank, finds a way to break free from his over-scheduled lifestyle. Try this week’s happiness practice: Raisin Meditation
03.07.2019 Finding Awe in Every Step How can we feel connected to the world around us? Singer Diana Gameros tries to cultivate a sense of awe in the most unlikely of places. Try this episode’s happiness practice: Awe Walk
02.28.2019 Finding Your Strengths Do you fixate on your flaws and shortcomings? Our happiness guinea pig tries the opposite: focusing on her personal strengths. ~ Try this episode’s happiness practice: Use Your Strengths
02.21.2019 Trying Compassion on Capitol Hill Can you extend compassion toward a difficult person in your life? Congressman Tim Ryan tries a practice to help him reach across the aisle.
02.14.2019 A Lesson in Thanks and Vulnerability A junior high school teacher spent his life defying stereotypes about how men should express their emotions. Here he takes on a new challenge: getting his students to express gratitude.
02.07.2019 Notice the Good in Your Life Comedian Maz Jobrani tries to pay more attention to the good things in his life by writing them down -- and encourages his kids to do the same. Try this episodes happiness practice: Three Good Things
12.20.2018 The Power of Expressing Your Deepest Emotions He started Afghanistan's first post-Taliban rock band when he was 18 years old. A decade later, our Happiness Guinea Pig takes on another challenge: writing about his emotions.
12.13.2018 Who's Got Your Back? How do you build feelings of trust and security? Our Happiness Guinea Pig learns some truths about what it takes to feel supported.
12.06.2018 Being Kinder to Yourself When you’re helping others cope with stress and anxiety, how do you deal with your own? Psychiatrist Elizabeth Guinto tries a practice to be kinder to herself.
11.29.2018 W. Kamau Bell’s Thoughts on Awkward Relationships and Bridging Divides Comedian W. Kamau Bell discusses the challenges of finding common ground, even with people in your own family.
11.22.2018 Find That Inner Calm International megastar Daniel Wu tries a practice that brings him calm amidst the chaos.
11.15.2018 These Words Cause Happiness Did you know that you have the power to spark happiness in someone else's brain with just a few simple words? College student Eva Dickerson shares how she spread happiness across her campus, equipped with just her iPhone and some ...
11.08.2018 A Simple Recipe for Happiness Our Happiness Guinea Pig, children's author Joanne Rocklin, shares her happiness practice: bringing people together to share a meal. It took on a deeper meaning for her after a recent tragedy.
11.01.2018 Can’t Relax? This Will Help Why does a bath or swim feel so relaxing? Our guest shares her own happiness practice--spending time in water--which science is finding can make us happier and healthier.
10.25.2018 How to Make a Real Apology "I'm sorry you feel that way." Some apologies can actually make things worse. Our Happiness Guinea Pigs, Jolenta Greenburg and Kristin Meinzer of the By the Book podcast, try a more effective way of saying sorry.
10.18.2018 How to Deal with Uncertainty How do you respond when you feel threatened or defensive? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, writer Wajahat Ali, discovers a way to keep himself centered amidst the challenges and chaos of life.
10.11.2018 BONUS: The Science of Happiness at Work What would make you happier at work? Featuring some of our happiness guinea pigs, we share the latest insights and research on well-being and happiness in the workplace.
08.09.2018 What if You Had Never Met? Do you take your partner for granted? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, cartoonist Gene Luen Yang, imagines a life in which he never met his wife.
08.02.2018 Creating Some Distance Are you stuck ruminating about the past? Legendary skater Tommy Guerrero tries looking at negative events from a different perspective.
07.26.2018 Listen Like It's Your First Date Do you find yourself looking at your phone when you're supposed to be paying attention to a friend? Our Happiness Guinea Pig, The Takeaway's Tanzina Vega trades in her technology for some old school listening.
07.19.2018 Why You Shouldn't Hate Small Talk Many of us avoid chatting with strangers – isn't small talk tedious and dull? Listen as our happiness guinea pig discovers its surprising benefits.
07.12.2018 How to Change Your Mind Author Michael Pollan, shares his experiences on being a guinea pig for his new book, How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence.
07.05.2018 How to Find Your Purpose in Life Did you know what you wanted when you were in high school? Our teen guinea pig takes on the challenge of figuring out her purpose in life.
06.28.2018 What Are You Afraid Of? Would you rather swim with sharks or give a speech before thousands of people? Discover how our happiness guinea pig tackled one of his many fears--and lived to talk about it.
06.21.2018 How to Forgive Your Father Holding on to a grudge? Hear how our happiness guinea pig tried to let go of deep-seated anger and resentment. Support for this podcast come from Casper. Get $50 towards select mattresses by visiting Casper.com/SOH, and using promo code SOH.
06.14.2018 Feeling Angry? Try This For years, Dan Harris of ABC News was plagued by anxiety, depression, and streaks of anger. Here's how he learned to tame the voices in his head and get 10 percent happier. If you’d like to try the Loving-Kindness Meditation, ...
06.07.2018 Let People Help You In hard times, do you seek comfort from others or turn inwards? Find out how our Happiness Guinea Pig emerged from trauma by accepting others' support. We want to share your stories on the show. Call 510-519-4903 and tell us ...
04.02.2018 Is There Someone You Need to Thank? Is there someone important you've never properly thanked? Award-winning children's book author, Yuyi Morales, discovers the power of writing a "gratitude letter" to the librarian who changed her life. Support for the podcast come from Audible. Want to get inspired? ...
03.26.2018 Can You Predict What Will Make You Happy? Do memories of your past affect your happiness today? Susannah Cahalan was young and healthy when she was stricken with a mysterious illness. Learn how writing about her “month of madness” in the bestselling book, Brain on Fire, helped her ...
03.19.2018 Find Your Best Possible Self Does imagining your future make you more happy--or more anxious? Our happiness guinea pig looks ahead for inspiration to improve her life now.
03.12.2018 How Gratitude Benefits Your Brain Can you train your brain to be more grateful? Todd Zwillich of The Takeaway takes on the challenge.

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