Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

Why do we care so much about what other people think of us? In this episode of Office Hours , I explain the science behind why concern about others’ opinions is so powerful in the first place. I talk about the two reasons we are wired to care what people think, how our brains treat social judgment as a real threat, and why this fear can quietly shape our choices, our behavior, and even our sense o...

In this episode of Office Hours , I sit down with my friend Hoda Kotb and talk about how we meet change when it shows up uninvited. Hoda has lived through transitions that resist simple narratives. Early rejection in her career. Public reinvention. Serious illness. Grief. Becoming a parent later in life. Each chapter forced a decision about how to move forward when there were no clear answers. Hod...

Every New Year, we set ambitious goals. Unfortunately, most of our resolutions fade faster than we would like to admit. In this episode of Office Hours , I explain why New Year’s resolutions so often fail. This isn’t a question of discipline per se. Instead, our failure occurs because of the way we frame our goals (and how we sometimes set the wrong goals in the first place). I explain how these f...

Does Christmas never live up to the version you remember from childhood? Or does it bring up painful memories that keep you stuck in the past? Or maybe you’re like I once was, feeling more like a curmudgeon than a bundle of holiday cheer. In this episode of Office Hours , I explain why the holidays so often surface disappointment, sadness, and annoyance, and what research on memory reveals about w...

Satisfaction is one of the three macronutrients of happiness, yet it has a way of slipping through our fingers. We reach a long-awaited goal, feel a brief lift, and then find ourselves wanting something more.  In this episode of Office Hours , I explore why this happens and how our ancient impulses keep pulling us back toward craving and comparison. I talk about the tendencies that erode our sense...

Everyone wants to be happier—but too often we go chasing things that make us miserable instead. In this episode of Office Hours , I break down the three big elements—what I call “macronutrients”—that you must have to live a happy life: enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning. I offer practical ways to strengthen each macronutrient in your own life and revisit the concept of emotional profiles. I help...

Creativity might not make you happier, but it can make you less unhappy. We know this from research. When people recall moments of creativity, their symptoms of anxiety and depression decrease, and well-being improves. Brain scans show that creative work activates the same regions of the brain as meditation, which helps to relieve the burdens of life.  Millions of people now use creative practices...

The benefits of gratitude aren’t exactly a secret, but many of us still think of it as some kind of fixed personality trait. Some people seem to be born grateful, while the rest of us feel like we’re the ones who automatically notice what’s wrong. It’s true that we all have different affect profiles, but gratitude works the same way happiness does. It’s a skill you can train, and it becomes more p...

Want to make your own evening protocol? Download Arthur’s guide to help you get started: https://www.arthurbrooks.com/evening-protocols .  Most of us know how important it is to start the day well, but ending it well is what sets up your morning for success. A few weeks ago, I shared my 6-step morning protocol for managing mood and maximizing creativity. This week, I share its companion: my evenin...

Our phones make life easier in countless ways. They connect us, inform us, and keep our lives running. But they also creep into every quiet moment, stealing our focus and dulling the satisfaction we find in real experiences. In this episode of Office Hours, I talk about how our phones tap into the brain’s reward system and what we can do to reclaim control. I am not suggesting that you give up you...

Many people think Stoicism is about suppressing emotions or accepting suffering with a stiff upper lip. But it’s really about learning to live well, to find peace, courage, and happiness in a chaotic world. In this episode of Office Hours, I sit down with my friend Ryan Holiday , bestselling author and modern Stoic who has written several books about Stoicism, including his latest, Wisdom Takes Wo...

Many people think a successful career moves in a straight line, always upward and forward. But life isn’t that neat. There are actually four different career paths, and which one is best for you depends on your individual psychology. In this episode of Office Hours , I talk about why the happiest people are those whose work reflects their values and stage of life, not someone else’s idea of succes...

America doesn’t have an anger problem. We have a contempt problem. In this episode of Office Hours , I talk about how we can bring more love and happiness into a world that feels increasingly bitter and divided. Too often, contempt fills the space where love could exist. When we choose to love those who disagree with us, we not only make the world better, but we also make our own lives happier. A...

Are you managing your emotions, or are they managing you? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore how to manage your emotions by understanding how they work and what they are trying to tell you. Emotions like fear, anger, joy, and disgust evolved to protect and guide us, yet in the modern world, they often become misaligned, leading us to overreact or lose perspective. The goal is not to elimin...

Learn more about your affect profile by taking the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule quiz (PANAS) here .  So much of life depends not only on what we know, but also on what we know that others know as well. This shared awareness—what social scientists call common knowledge—explains how we cooperate, why markets rise and fall, and why silence in the face of cancel culture is so damaging. In thi...

Learn more about your affect profile by taking the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule quiz (PANAS)  here , and download Arthur’s morning protocol  guide  to help you start your mornings happier. — Today, I want to talk about one of the lowest-hanging fruits for improving your well-being: exercise. Most Americans don’t get the recommended amount of physical activity, which means there’s an enorm...

Want to make your own morning protocol? Download Arthur’s guide to help you get started:  https://www.arthurbrooks.com/6-protocols — How you start your morning sets the tone for your whole day. In this episode of Office Hours , I share the science and habits behind my “Mad Scientist” morning routine, a six-step protocol I use to lower negative affect, boost positive mood, and make mornings a time...

Most people assume getting older means getting less happy. Maybe you’ve thought it too. But the research shows otherwise. In this episode of Office Hours, I’ll show you how your later years can be some of the happiest of your life and how to make that happen. I’ll take you inside the Harvard Study of Adult Development, the world’s longest scientific study of happiness. I’ll explain why well-being...

What can faith teach us about happiness that science alone cannot? In this episode of Office Hours , I sit down with my friend, the actor and writer Rainn Wilson. Best known as Dwight Schrute on The Office , Rainn is also a writer and thinker who explores spirituality in his book Soul Boom and on his podcast of the same name. Together, we explore the Baháʼí faith and the lessons it offers for livi...

Have you ever felt anxious for no clear reason, like a vague alarm going off in your mind? You’re not alone. Anxiety has become one of the fastest-growing ailments in America, affecting more than 40 million adults. Rates among young people have doubled in the past decade, and the pandemic pushed them even higher. In this episode of Office Hours, I’m tackling the epidemic of anxiety: what it is, wh...

Have you ever had an abusive boss, a partner who gaslit you at every turn, or a friend who always seemed to bend the truth? You might have crossed paths with someone in the Dark Triad. On this episode of Office Hours , I’m diving into a topic that doesn’t create happiness but often destroys it: the Dark Triad personality constellation. These are the people with three characteristics: narcissism (i...

Welcome back to Office Hours with Arthur Brooks. In this episode, I turn to a place where many of us spend most of our waking hours: the workplace. Whether you’re an employee, a manager, or leading an organization, happiness at work is not just a nice-to-have; it is a proven driver of productivity, loyalty, and even company performance. Drawing on research from Irrational Capital and insights from...

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Office Hours with Arthur Brooks . I’m thrilled to start this podcast with a topic I’ve devoted much of my life to: how we can be truly happier. This episode draws from my new book, The Happiness Files , a collection of essays from my How to Build a Life column in The Atlantic . But more importantly, it’s grounded in science, drawing on a 2020 study where top res...

Hi Friends, I’m Arthur Brooks. I’m a social scientist, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and a columnist at The Atlantic. I write, speak, and teach about the science of human happiness. This is a field that blends neuroscience, behavioral science, philosophy, and religion for insights on how all of us can live better, and be happier.  This work is more importan...