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Laurie Santos

Cognitive scientist and Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology at Yale University, whose course Psychology and the Good Life became Yale's most popular class, and host of the podcast The Happiness Lab.

5 things

Stumbling on HappinessBook Daniel Gilbert

recommended

Understanding our impact bias won’t make it go away, but it can still be helpful—say, by giving you the confidence to take more risks.

New Yorker Book Currents column, in her own (edited) words, on favourite books with tools for happiness

2025-03-19·newyorker.com ↗

The Power of FunBook Catherine Price

recommended

Price makes a really nice case that engaging in fun makes us happier, healthier, and less stressed.

New Yorker Book Currents column, in her own (edited) words, on favourite books with tools for happiness

2025-03-19·newyorker.com ↗

The Book of DelightsBook Ross Gay

recommended

Gay, a poet, made the decision that he was going to write an essay every day for a year about something that delighted him.

New Yorker Book Currents column, in her own (edited) words, on favourite books with tools for happiness

2025-03-19·newyorker.com ↗

The Stoic ChallengeBook William B. Irvine

recommended

Irvine suggests approaching life like a game, as if the bad stuff that happens to you are actually challenges designed by the “Stoic gods.”

New Yorker Book Currents column, in her own (edited) words, on favourite books with tools for happiness

2025-03-19·newyorker.com ↗

Four Thousand WeeksBook Oliver Burkeman

recommended

He also does a lovely job talking about the history of time and how we measure productivity.

New Yorker Book Currents column, in her own (edited) words, on favourite books with tools for happiness

2025-03-19·newyorker.com ↗

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