The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

We’re kicking off a new season of The Happiness Lab with some happiness hot takes — bold claims that challenge conventional wisdom about what it really takes to feel happier. Today's hot take is all about oversharing. We’re usually told that revealing too much is cringe-worthy. That it demonstrates social ignorance. That when it comes to overly personal information, save it for your therapist, because less is usually more. Dr. Laurie argues that revealing more than feels comfortable can actually strengthen our social connections and boost our wellbeing. She speaks with Harvard Business School professor Leslie John, author of Revealing, about why TLI (too little information) is often more dangerous than TMI, and chats with University of Chicago psychologist Nick Epley, author of A Little More Social, about what “embracing the cringe” can teach us about connection, vulnerability, and trust.  Together, they explore the line between sharing and oversharing, and explain why what feels like “too much information” is often just information. Experts Mentioned:  Leslie John, James. E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School Nick Epley, John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Faculty Director of the Roman Family Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Bronnie Ware, author and palliative carer  Resources Mentioned: Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing, by Leslie John (2026) “Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation” by Jared Torre and Matthew Lieberman (Emotion Review, 2018) The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, by Bronnie Ware (2011) A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection, by Nick Epley (2026) “Undervaluing gratitude: Expressers misunderstand the consequences of showing appreciation,” by Amit Kumar and Nick Epley (Psychological Science, 2018) “Insufficiently complimentary?: Underestimating the positive impact of compliments creates a barrier to expressing them” by Xuan Zhao and Nick Epley (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2021) Related Episodes:  “The Secret to Making Friends as an Adult” “Why Giving is a Great Daily Habit” “Caring What You’re Sharing” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As summer begins, many of us are bombarded with messages about how our bodies aren't good enough. But what if we embraced movement not out of self-criticism or shame, but self-compassion? To close out our series on how to spring clean your wellbeing, we're revisiting a powerful conversation from The Happiness Lab archives featuring Jessamyn Stanley, author of Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body. Dr. Laurie explores how body shame warps our relationship with exercise — and how to rediscover the joy of moving our bodies. If you've ever treated exercise like punishment, this episode offers a happier, kinder way to move through the world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Negative emotions like sadness, anger, guilt, and anxiety can feel overwhelming. But what if those uncomfortable feelings aren’t problems to fix, but signals worth listening to? As part of our series on how to spring clean your wellbeing, Dr. Laurie revisits a conversation with Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan David, author of Emotional Agility. Together, they discuss why bottling up difficult feelings doesn’t work, why brooding can keep us stuck, and what our individual emotions are actually trying to tell us about our lives and relationships. If you’ve ever tried to bury a bad feeling, this episode offers a more effective approach to emotional healing. Experts Mentioned: Susan David, Harvard Medical School psychologist a Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist, neurologist, and founder of logotherapy Resources Mentioned: Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life, by Susan David (2016) Related Episodes: "How to Identify Your Negative Emotions" "Stepping Off the Path of Anxiety" "How to be Angry Better" "When Guilt is Good... and When it's Not" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our beliefs shape more than we realize. They influence what we notice, how we respond to setbacks, how connected we feel to others, and whether we take action to improve our lives.  As part of our series on how to spring clean your wellbeing, Dr. Laurie sits down with happiness expert Shawn Achor, author of The Power of Beliefs, to explore how our beliefs about time, work, relationships, and self-worth shape happiness, success, and long-term wellbeing. And if some of your beliefs are holding you back, Shawn shares practical ways to start shifting them. Plus, we learn one delightful fact about fireflies. Experts Mentioned: Shawn Achor, positive psychology researcher and author  Richard Wiseman, professor of the public understanding of psychology at the University of Hertfordshire Henry Beecher, anesthesiologist at Harvard Medical School who pioneered research on the placebo effect  Resources Mentioned: The Power of Beliefs: How Strengthening Seven Core Beliefs Predicts Greater Success and a Better Life, by Shawn Achor (2026) The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work, by Shawn Achor (2010) The Luck Factor: The Scientific Study of the Lucky Mind, by Richard Wiseman (2004) "From Jerusalem to Jericho: A Study of Situational and Dispositional Variables in Helping Behavior," by John M. Darley and C. Daniel Batson (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973) Related Episodes: "Grateful Expectations" “How to Adopt a Growth Mindset” “Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: The Buddha” "Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Socrates and Self-Knowledge" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear a lot about how screens affect our mental health, but time spent on computers and smartphones is having just as much of an impact on our physical health — from brain fog and weakened core muscles to changes in our posture, our sleep, and even the shape of our eyes. As part of our series on spring cleaning your wellbeing, Dr. Laurie sits down with journalist and podcast host Manoush Zomorodi, author of Body Electric, to explore how modern tech habits are affecting us physically, and what steps we can take to protect our health in a world where screens aren’t going away anytime soon. Experts Mentioned: Manoush Zomorodi, journalist, author, and host of NPR's TED Radio Hour Dr. Keith Diaz, exercise physiologist and Florence Irving Associate Professor of Behavioral Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center Dr. Maria Liu, Professor of Clinical Optometry at UC Berkeley and founder of the Myopia Control Clinic Dr. Rick Neitzel, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Michigan  Dr. Peter Strick, Thomas Detre Professor and Chair of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh Dr. Sahib Khalsa, psychiatrist and neuroscientist at UCLA  Resources Mentioned: Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being, by Manoush Zomorodi (2026) Body Electric, a six-part podcast series by Manoush Zomorodi (National Public Radio, 2023) "Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Crossover Trial," by Keith M. Diaz et al. (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2023) "The Mind-Body Problem: Circuits That Link the Cerebral Cortex to the Adrenal Medulla," by Richard P. Dum, David J. Levinthal, and Peter L. Strick (PNAS, 2019) Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self, by Manoush Zomorodi (2017) Related Episodes: "How I Stopped Fearing Boredom" "How Our Screen Habits Impact Our Stress Levels" "Smell, Taste and Touch: How to Joyfully Awaken Your Senses" “Sight and Sound: How to Joyfully Awaken Your Senses” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happiness can be found in unusual places. Dr Laurie Santos returns with a new season that takes us to the fun frontiers of fandom with Star Trek's Wesley Crusher; to the world's happiest country in the depths of winter; and inside the ranch that inspired The Grateful Dead's Mickey Hart to exclaim "YOLO!".   And you'll hear what it's like to chug the hottest hot sauce on the planet to get a rush of pleasure.  The Happiness Lab Returns September 6 - wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.