The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos - Coming Soon: The Happiness Lab Season One

Episode Date: August 27, 2019

Do you want to be happier? Yale's Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the Ivy League psychology course she teaches, Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change the way you think about becoming happier. The Happiness Lab debuts September 17 from Pushkin Industries. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pushkin. So it's okay. It's fine. You have taken it. No. Prepare your ears for the sounds of happiness. Oh my God. What you're hearing is pure joy. Oh my God. What you're hearing is pure joy. Oh, my God.

This high school student just learned she got into her dream college. Oh, my God. Is this real? I'm Laurie Santos. I'm a professor at that very dream college, Yale University. And sadly, I've seen that joyous moments like these don't last as long as my students think. Young people today are more stressed, anxious, and depressed than they've ever been, which is really tragic. But it's not just college students. Many of us are starting to feel like happiness is increasingly out of reach. All right, let's get started. So I decided

to do something about it. I developed a class on the science of happiness. It was a runaway success. It became the most popular class ever at Yale. So many people turned up that I had to teach the course in a concert hall. You have the power to transform everything out there into happiness. Thank you all for your attention. I believe in you. And that's it. The class has changed my life and the lives of thousands of other people. And now I want to share these insights with you. So I teamed up with Pushkin Industries to make this new podcast called The Happiness Lab. I want to invite you on a journey, one in which we'll tackle a puzzling question. What really makes us

happy? One guy had 500 million dollars, but after working with these people, I understand money is not going to buy you happiness. So be careful what you wish for. To find the answer, we'll learn from some of the happiest people around. I've looked at the good, the bad, and the ugly. But yeah, I'm blessed. I'll also introduce you to some of the top scientists and experts in my field. It turns out that when people get exactly what they want, they're not always happy. When they get the opposite of what they wanted, they often are. That's a little bit of a mystery. It's kind of mystery that attracts psychologists. You'll hear that getting to that happy place requires you to take a long, hard look at yourself. There was a woman in the workplace, we'll call her Megan, and she was a very negative person.

We all have our Megans in the office, you know, for better or for worse. Yes. Well, and you know what? We're all Megans in some ways. We often think we know what will make us happy, but the science shows our minds don't always point us in the right direction. We long for fame and money,

a beach body or a new car. We expect those things will make us happier. It's just that those expectations are flat out wrong. We find that time and time and time again. But we've found some truly inspirational people who get it right. People who've put the science into practice. Would a gold medal make me happier? It's not the medals, it's hearing the crowd and hearing the ice when I skated over. It's so beautiful. This is why I do what I do. You're basically going to get an entire Ivy League

class completely for free. And you'll have a lot of fun along the way. You hear a reaction that goes something like this. Oh, oh, oh. So are you ready to feel better? Then join me for The Happiness Lab, launching on September 17th. Subscribe now, wherever you get your podcasts.