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Ep. 439: Suggest the Default Option, Skip a Year of an Activity You Enjoy, and More Everyday Luxuries
Episode 439
We talk about how we can make planning easier by suggesting the default option
of time and place when coordinating with other people. We also discuss …
2 years, 11 months ago
Little Happier: Something Brilliant Came Out of My Mouth—Something I Didn’t Know I Knew
Looking at a ‘zine made by some friends decades ago made me realize an important truth—a truth I didn’t know that I knew.
Get in touch: podcast@gretch…
2 years, 11 months ago
“Bonus: Commencement Address Given by Gretchen Rubin: Five Essential Paradoxes for a Happy Life”
In this bonus episode, listen to the commencement address I gave at my daughter’s Eleanor’s high-school graduation. To help the new graduates make se…
2 years, 11 months ago
Ep. 438: Act Like a Teenager, Pick Up Your Food in Person, and “Ask Us Anything” About Writing
Episode 438
We talk about how we can boost our happiness by acting like teenagers (the good aspects of being a
teenager). We also share a suggestion from a listen…
2 years, 11 months ago
Little Happier: Journalist Connie Chung Influenced a Generation—Without Realizing It
In the New York Times, Connie Wang wrote about why so many families had named their daughters “Connie”: In the journalist Connie Chung, they saw the …
2 years, 11 months ago
More Happier: More Strength and Stamina, a New Metaphor for “Empty Nest,” and an Easy Way to Keep a Journal
Episode 40
We talk about why and how we’re redoubling our efforts to work on our strength and stamina. We also try to figure out a better metaphor for the “empt…
2 years, 11 months ago
Ep. 437: To Make a Good Connection, Talk More; Learn the Lesson of the Enron Corpus; and a Collection of Positive Trends
Episode 437
We talk about the fact that despite the widespread “reticence bias,” research suggests that we appear more likeable and interesting to a stranger whe…
2 years, 11 months ago
Little Happier: The IKEA Effect, or How We Value Things According to What They Cost Us
As IKEA, instant cake mixes, and meal-kit delivery services demonstrate, we often value things according to how much they cost us—whether that’s in t…
2 years, 11 months ago
Ep. 436: We Use Halfway Day to Report on How We’re Doing on Our Aims for 2023: the “Happier Trifecta”
Episode 436
We use Halfway Day as a catalyst to reflect on how we’re doing with our aims for
2023. Each year, we choose a one-word theme, make a list of “23 in 20…
3 years ago
Little Happier: It Might Be Boring to Read About the “Land of Happy,” But It’s Probably a Nice Place to Live
People sometimes assume that happiness is boring—but as philosopher Simone Weil points out, while that may be true in literature, it’s not true in re…
3 years ago