The Art of Happiness with Arthur Brooks

Ricochet

You want to be happy. So why are you leaving it up to chance? There exists a wealth of knowledge that can help you live a life that has more joy, satisfaction, and purpose—and help you share these gifts with others. Harvard professor, PhD social scientist, bestselling author, and columnist Arthur Brooks is your teacher on the art and science of living a better life. In each episode, you will hear about research in the worlds of science, philosophy, theology, art, and literature. Then, Arthur will tell you how to use the wisdom of the experts in your own life, starting today.

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20 episodes
Updated Jun 21, 2021

Episodes20

Newest first

Jun 21, 2021 · 55 min
Happiness from All Things New
Can variety and novelty bring us happiness? Is there ever too much of a good thing when it comes to new experiences? In this episode, Arthur and Ceci discuss the good and bad side of neophilia, the love of new things. Most importantly, Arthur shares...
Jun 7, 2021 · 1 hr 1 min
Life After COVID
Were you happy with your life pre-pandemic? Are there toxic relationships or draining activities that might be better left behind as we reemerge from the pandemic? In this episode, Arthur and Ceci discuss how we can use these waning months of the...
May 24, 2021 · 1 hr 23 min
Designing Happiness
People usually make two mistakes when it comes to their own happiness: First, they assume that happiness already exists, and they just have to go find it. Second, they equate happiness to other complicated problems, solvable through engineering the...
May 10, 2021 · 1 hr 17 min
Achieving Effortlessness and Greater Happiness
Are you making your life harder than it needs to be? Satisfaction is one of the key macronutrients of happiness, but it can prove elusive. And it’s easy to burn out chasing it, and inventing more and more wants in our lives. Can we escape this...
Apr 26, 2021 · 1 hr 3 min
How to Buy Happiness
Can money buy happiness? It’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of working more and more hours, chasing more and more money, in the hopes of getting happier. But after a certain point, despite our hard-wired belief to the contrary, more money doesn’t...
Apr 13, 2021 · 1 hr 22 min
Healing Collective Trauma
Meaning and purpose in life are key drivers of happiness. However, we know that to understand happiness, we must also understand unhappiness, as these virtues often come through pain and suffering. In this episode, Arthur is joined by renowned...
Mar 29, 2021 · 1 hr 21 min
How to Change Your Mind with Adam Grant
How quick are you to rethink your opinions when presented with new information? Can changing your mind make you a happier person? In this episode, Arthur is joined by Wharton organizational psychologist and bestselling author of Think Again: The Power...
Mar 15, 2021 · 1 hr
Overcoming a Fear of Failure
Are you afraid of failure? Has it held you back from living your best life? You’re not alone. The fear of failure is on the rise. Why? In this episode, Arthur and Ceci explore the sources of the fear of failure as well as share some tangible ways to...
Mar 1, 2021 · 1 hr 1 min
Happiness through Voluntary Sacrifice
Christians around the world have just entered the season of Lent, a time of prayer, fasting, and voluntary sacrifice. However, this practice isn’t limited to Christianity, or even to those who are traditionally religious. In this episode, Arthur and...
Feb 15, 2021 · 1 hr 22 min
An Epidemic of Loneliness
Evidence shows that there’s more loneliness and isolation in the United States than ever before. Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has even said that we have an epidemic of loneliness in this country. How do we turn back this trend? In this episode,...
Feb 1, 2021 · 1 hr 25 min
Stoicism and Living a Balanced Life
A happy life requires a mix of enjoyment and purpose. How can you achieve this balance in your own life? In this episode, Arthur is joined by founder of The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday, who discusses how we can apply the wisdom of ancient Stoic...
Jan 18, 2021 · 1 hr 6 min
Sharing Happiness
There’s a simple three-part formula for improving your happiness: understand the science behind it, apply that information to your life, and share that knowledge with others. In this episode, Arthur is joined by Bishop Bill Byrne, bishop of...
Jan 4, 2021 · 49 min
New Year’s Resolutions
What’s your new year’s resolution? Is it the right one? Research shows that between one-third and one-half of Americans make new year’s resolutions. However, research also shows that fewer than half of resolutions are still successful by June. What’s...
Dec 21, 2020 · 49 min
Learning to Love the Holidays
Are you always a little blue around the holidays? Or perhaps, like many, you’re just finding it hard to get into the holiday spirit during this difficult year, marked by loss and family separation? In this episode, Arthur and Ceci provide some holiday...
Dec 8, 2020 · 1 hr 22 min
Your Body, Your Health, and Your Happiness
The pandemic has brought life to a standstill for many, not just economically, but physically, as well. Polling data reveals that Americans are plagued by a state of inactivity. Combine that with the usual indulgences of the holiday season, and you...
Nov 24, 2020 · 1 hr 6 min
Life: Part 2
In the Western world, we have celebrations to mark life events in the first half of our lives—graduations, weddings, baby showers—but, we don’t celebrate becoming middle-aged. Instead, we often bemoan the “midlife crisis.” Turns out, that’s the wrong...
Nov 9, 2020 · 48 min
Curbing Post-Election Suffering
The happiness effect of competitive elections is real: Losing an election hurts. In fact, research shows that in presidential elections, having your candidate lose can depress happiness for months. How are you feeling post-election? In this episode,...
Oct 26, 2020 · 47 min
Politics and Unhappiness
With Election Day looming, it’s hard to tune out the nonstop political coverage across all platforms—from cable news to social media. Can you pay less attention while still being an engaged citizen? Should you be tuning out for the sake of your...
Oct 10, 2020 · 1 hr 17 min
Happy Monkey
Are you struggling to find peace in your life? Does the future seem grim? Tibetan Buddhists attribute this sense of restlessness and pessimism to your “monkey mind.” With this understanding, finding peace and happiness is tricky, like training a...
Sep 29, 2020 · 52 min
Searching for Spirituality
The evidence is clear that people find happiness and greater life satisfaction in faith and spirituality. But what do you do if you have no experience with faith or have fallen away from the religion of your childhood as you’ve grown older? In this...

The Art of Happiness with Arthur Brooks

Happiness from All Things New

Life After COVID

Designing Happiness

Achieving Effortlessness and Greater Happiness

How to Buy Happiness

Healing Collective Trauma

How to Change Your Mind with Adam Grant

Overcoming a Fear of Failure

Happiness through Voluntary Sacrifice

An Epidemic of Loneliness

Stoicism and Living a Balanced Life

Sharing Happiness

New Year’s Resolutions

Learning to Love the Holidays

Your Body, Your Health, and Your Happiness

Life: Part 2

Curbing Post-Election Suffering

Politics and Unhappiness

Happy Monkey

Searching for Spirituality