Everyday Better with Leah Smart

The research is clear: how satisfied you feel at work impacts the quality of your relationships at home, and the quality of your relationships at home impacts the way you show up at work.  That’s why Dr. Alexandra Solomon wants you to think more deeply about the work-related arguments you have with your partner. Are you really fighting about how many hours you or your partner work, or are you feel...

What does 'success' mean to you? Jennifer Romolini is a writer, author and podcaster. Her second book is ‘Ambition Monster,’ a memoir about the connection between workaholism and childhood trauma. In it, she traces the evolution of her voracious ambition and reckons with the price she paid to obtain career success. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Jennifer joins Leah to discuss how her r...

Everyday Better is kicking off 2025 with a month’s worth of conversations designed to help you reset for the year ahead. Each week, you’ll learn about research-backed techniques to improve your mental, physical, work and relational well-being. No matter what your goals are this year, our 2025 Reset Series will equip you with the tools you need to make measurable, lasting changes in your life. In o...

Happy New Year! To kick off 2025, Everyday Better is bringing you a month’s worth of conversations designed to help you reset for the year ahead. Each week, you’ll learn about research-backed techniques to improve your mental, physical, work and relational well-being. No matter what your goals are this year, our 2025 Reset Series will equip you with the tools you need to make measurable, lasting c...

Meik Wiking is the founder and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. He’s also the author of several books including The Little Book of Hygge and My Hygge Home.  On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Meik joins Leah to discuss ‘hygge’ – a Danish word that loosely translates to “coziness.” Meik shares how he and other Danes prepare for winter each year by creating ultra-cozy i...

Each winter, life slows down. It’s dark and cold, yet the season offers an opportunity for rest. This week’s episode of Everyday Better honors the beginning of winter with Katherine May, author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. In Wintering, Katherine shares the story of navigating a personal ‘winter’ – a challenging period of time during which she retreated into hers...

Andrew Adams, co-founder and CEO of Headway, is making access to therapy easier. Headway is a mental health care marketplace that matches patients with providers who accept insurance. Earlier this year, Headway was named a LinkedIn top 50 startup. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Andrew joins Leah to discuss the barriers to accessing mental health care. He shares his experience with find...

Athena Aktipis is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University and co-Director of The Human Generosity Project. She studies how people work together, especially during crises, through the lenses of evolutionary biology and psychology. Her latest book, “A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times”, digs into the history and science of cooperation. On th...

Scott Rick is a behavioral scientist and marketing professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He holds a PhD in Behavioral Decision Research from Carnegie Mellon, where he was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Scott joins Leah to explore the complicated role of money in relationships. He shares advice for coup...

Shasta Nelson is a leading expert in healthy relationships and intimacy. For over 15 years, she’s been translating the science of human connection into actionable practices for enhancing belonging and well-being. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Shasta joins Leah to discuss the key components of healthy relationships. Shasta shares strategies for developing new friendships and nurturing...

Lynne Peeples is a journalist and author of The Inner Clock: Living in Sync With Our Circadian Rhythms. She covers science, health and the environment and holds master’s degrees in biostatistics and science journalism. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Lynne joins Leah to discuss the science behind our circadian rhythms. Lynne explains why our inner clocks are out of sync and what that me...

Carole Hopson is a Boeing 737 captain for United Airlines and the author of ‘A Pair of Wings,’ a historical fiction novel about Bessie Coleman, the first Black woman to get her pilot license. After a successful twenty-year career working for iconic brands like the National Football League, Foot Locker and L’Oréal, Carole quit her job to pursue her lifelong dream of flying planes.  On this week’s e...

Cassie Holmes is a Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. Her first book Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most is a practical guide for how to think about and spend time in order to experience joy every day.  On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Cassie joins Leah to discuss her research...

Jeffrey Hall is a Professor of Communication Studies and the Director of the Relationships and Technology Lab at the University of Kansas. He studies the way technology influences relationships, including the impact of social media on feelings of belonging, connectedness and loneliness. The harms of social platforms have been well documented over the past decade – political polarization, misinform...

Thubten Chodron is an American Tibetan Buddhist Nun and the founder of Sravasti Abbey, the only Tibetan Buddhist training monastery in the United States. In her recently re-released book Working With Anger, Thubten describes different practices for dealing with our anger that don't involve expression or suppression. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Thubten and Leah explore the Buddhist p...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here. David Kessler is a grief and loss expert and the author of several bestselling books, including two he co-authored with Elizabeth Kubler Ross. He’s worked with thousands of people on the edge of life and death, helping them to find happiness and fulfillment after experiencing life’s gravest tragedies.  On this week’s episode of Everyday Be...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here. This week, in honor of World Mental Health Day, Everyday Better host Leah Smart is sharing her story of living with anxiety – and how she’s learned to manage it.  Follow Leah Smart on LinkedIn. Additional Resources: Anxiety and Depression Association of America A Return to Love by Marianne Williamson Anxiety Rx by Dr. Russell Kennedy Overc...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our quick audience survey here. Bonnie Wan is a brand strategist and author of The Life Brief: A Playbook for No Regrets Living. She’s passionate about helping people uncover their true desires and believes deeply in the power of intention to propel personal and professional growth. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Bonnie joins Leah to explain the concept...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our quick audience survey here. Corey Keyes is a sociologist and professor emeritus at Emory University. He studies how people find satisfaction in their lives, and why achieving a sense of well-being is no easy feat.  On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Corey joins Leah to discuss his research on languishing, flourishing and how to move from one to the othe...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here. Anna Sale is a journalist, author and host of the award-winning podcast Death, Sex & Money. On her show, Anna has intimate conversations with people about life’s toughest yet often under-discussed moments – infidelity, bankruptcy, aging and illness to name just a few. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Anna joins Leah to discuss wh...

This week on Everyday Better, we’re featuring the first episode of Let’s Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn and iHeartPodcasts. Each week on the show, co-hosts Gianna Prudente, LinkedIn’s early career development editor, and Jamé Jackson Gadsden, a LinkedIn community manager, will answer your questions about what it takes to thrive in the early years of your career – without sacrificing you...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our audience survey here. Oliver Burkeman is a journalist, author and former “productivity geek.” His bestselling book Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals outlines a saner approach to managing your time in a world of never-ending demands and distractions.  On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Oliver explains why all of the tools and techniques me...

We’d love to hear from you! Take our listener survey here. Dr. Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, Zen master and director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running longitudinal studies on human happiness ever conducted. His TED Talk on the major takeaways from the study has received over 43 million views since 2015 and is one of the most-watched TED Talks of all time....

Tim Tamashiro is a jazz singer, radio broadcaster and the author of How to Ikigai: Lessons for Finding Happiness and Living Your Life's Purpose. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Tim joins Leah to explore the concept of Ikigai, an ancient Japanese philosophy that encourages us to live our “life’s worth.” After explaining what his Ikigai is and how he discovered it, Tim guides Leah through...

Dr. Wendy Suzuki is a professor of neural science and psychology at New York University and the author of Good Anxiety: Harnessing the Power of the Most Misunderstood Emotion. In 2022, she was appointed Dean of NYU's College of Arts & Science. On this week’s episode of Everyday Better, Wendy joins Leah to discuss strategies for turning our anxiety from a weakness into a superpower. She digs into t...