Podcasts · Health & Fitness

Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

Arthur Brooks

65 episodes

Hi Friends, I’m Arthur Brooks, a social scientist, Vanderbilt professor, and columnist at The Free Press. I write, speak, and teach about the science of human happiness, blending neuroscience, behavioral science, philosophy, and religion for insights on how to live better and be happier. Each week on Office Hours, you’ll get a glimpse into the research on happiness and explore how to use it to improve your life—and share what you learn with those you love. Join me in the movement to build a happier world–starting with you.

More about the show

Production by penname.co. Photography by www.calebhargett.com.

Episodes page 1 of 2

  1. How to Be Real in a Fake World

    · 44 min

    When I was a kid, I loved Halloween—I mean who doesn’t love candy and dressing up for a night? It turns out, October 31 is not the only day we wear a disguise. Today, I’m talking about the masks we wear the other 364…

  2. 2 Ways to Sleep Better and Be Happier

    · 45 min

    We all know how important sleep is for our health and happiness. So why do we resist going to bed, even when we know we should? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore the science of sleep and how it affects our…

  3. My 3-Step Protocol for Managing Anxiety

    · 50 min

    If you struggle with anxiety, you might wish you could get rid of it altogether. But your brain’s alarm system exists for a reason. The trouble is that the way we live today can set it off far more often than it…

  4. 3 Ways to Stop Letting Your Past Control Your Life

    · 47 min

    Are painful memories keeping you from enjoying your life today? Maybe you avoid a particular place or person because of an experience you can’t seem to let go of. In this episode of Office Hours, I explore how memory…

  5. 4 Ways to Avoid Your Professional Decline

    · 51 min

    What happens when the abilities that brought you professional success start to decline? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore how our strengths change with age and how to be happier as they do. Drawing on my book…

  6. How to Be More Optimistic with Simon Sinek

    · 56 min

    Simon Sinek is an optimist, bestselling author of Start with Why, and founder of The Optimism Company. In this special episode of Office Hours, part of the Be Hope podcast takeover during the United Nations General…

  7. 5 Ways to Kill Your Envy and Get Happier

    · 51 min

    Dante had a particularly gruesome punishment for the envious: their eyes were wired shut. In this episode of Office Hours, I explore why envy is such a powerful happiness killer—and how to stop feeding it in your own…

  8. What Is the Happiest Personality? (It Actually Might Be Yours)

    · 51 min

    If you’re an introvert, you might not like what the research has to say: Extroverts tend to be happier. But before you start striking up conversations with strangers in the elevator, there’s more to the story. In this…

  9. 5 Ways to Find Your Faith

    · 51 min

    Why do so many people drift from faith in early adulthood, only to feel drawn back to it later in life? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore the Hindu concept of Ashramas and the parallels with what modern…

  10. The Three Secrets to Raising Great Kids

    · 46 min

    Being a parent is one of the most meaningful things you can do with your life, and one of the easiest things to worry about getting wrong. Most of us ultimately want the same things for our children: for them to grow…

  11. Success Secret: Finding People Who Disagree With You

    · 49 min

    Most of us prefer spending time with people who are like us. They think like us, share our values, and make us feel comfortable. But while similarity may be easy, it isn't always what helps us grow. In this episode of…

  12. One Year of Office Hours: Lessons on Love and Friendship

    · 1 h 18 min

    In this special one-year anniversary episode of Office Hours, I'm joined by six young adults to discuss the modern crisis of meaning and why so many people feel disconnected despite having more ways to connect than…

  13. Why You Should Let People Help You More

    · 37 min

    We usually think generosity means helping other people. But what if accepting help is generous, too? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore why letting others help us can be a gift. We’ll look at the science of…

  14. The Power of Sunlight: Protocols for Better Mood, Sleep & Happiness

    · 45 min

    It's easy to assume that we'd be happier if we lived somewhere with more sunshine. But how much does sunlight actually matter? In this episode of Office Hours, I examine what the research says about the relationship…

  15. How Lying Sabotages Your Happiness

    · 50 min

    Most people don't start with huge lies. They start with little white lies meant to avoid conflict, spare someone's feelings, or make life a little easier. But what if those small compromises are quietly making us less…

  16. Use Music to Change Your Brain and Get Happier

    · 44 min

    There's a reason music has mattered to people for thousands of years. Across cultures and generations, we’ve treated it as more than entertainment—as a kind of language that can express what words can’t and help us…

  17. How to Stay in Love with Your Soul Mate, with Special Guest Ester Brooks

    · 1 h 09 min

    Thirty-five years ago, I somehow convinced an extraordinary woman to marry me. Our relationship began like any other—attraction, a leap of faith, and eventually the decision to embark on the unknown journey ahead of us…

  18. Why Success Never Feels Like Enough

    · 45 min

    Do you find yourself chasing success, working long hours, doing far more than is required, and thinking about work all the time? Congratulations—you might be a workaholic. (There’s no trophy for this, by the way. I…

  19. How to Beat Burnout

    · 53 min

    If you feel emotionally exhausted, cynical about your work, or like you’re no longer enjoying parts of the job you used to, you may be experiencing burnout. In this episode of Office Hours, I explain what burnout is,…

  20. 9 Rules for a Happier Vacation

    · 42 min

    Many people come home from vacation feeling disappointed. Not because the trip was bad, but because they expected it to do more than any vacation possibly can. In my previous episode on leisure, I discussed its…

  21. How to Stop Dating the Wrong Person

    · 42 min

    Finding the right person is hard. Being attracted to the wrong one is just as common. In this episode of Office Hours, I explore why some people find themselves stuck in the same dating patterns over and over again,…

  22. The Real Cost of Family Estrangement

    · 49 min

    Family estrangement is strangely common—affecting one-third of American adults today. While cutting ties can bring temporary relief, research suggests that, over time, it often resembles grief. In this episode of…

  23. The Diet Protocols for Happiness

    · 46 min

    We obsess over diets, fasting, and weight-loss drugs in the name of health. But we rarely ask a more important question: what kind of eating actually makes us happier? In this episode of Office Hours, I explore what…

  24. 4 Ways to Get Better at Friendship

    · 48 min

    We spend much of our lives building our careers. We chase success, recognition, and expansive networks—yet despite all of it, many of us still experience a quiet, persistent loneliness. In this episode of Office…

  25. Stop Trying to be Perfect

    · 44 min

    Sometimes, the most insidious thing someone can tell you to make you feel better is the age-old phrase, “but you’re perfect!” While research suggests this may ease emotional pain temporarily, it might actually be…

  26. How to Enjoy Your Life

    · 36 min

    Want to miss (or forget) life’s sweetest moments? Easy: don’t savor anything. My late mother, an artist, knew this was a terrible strategy for happiness. Through her art, she was an expert at savoring—and the first to…

  27. How to Manage Grief

    · 41 min

    Grief is part of the human experience. If you love, you will lose. And when you do, the pain is inescapable. It can be disorienting, overwhelming, and in the case of acute grief, the symptoms can even resemble…

  28. Why You Literally Need to Touch Grass

    · 33 min

    In a previous episode on leisure, I talked about how fewer and fewer people are spending time outdoors. Today, the average child spends just minutes outside each day, a dramatic shift from how most of us grew up and…

  29. 6 Big Lessons to Build Your Dream Life with Sahil Bloom

    · 50 min

    Sahil Bloom is an entrepreneur and investor, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book The 5 Types of Wealth. Most of us chase success that doesn’t reflect what we truly value. In this episode, Sahil and I…

  30. How to Create Your Calling

    · 37 min

    Your professional calling is a mysterious idea. It’s the ineffable sense that you are meant to do something. Many people get tripped up in their pursuit of their calling, because they conceive of it like buried…

  31. 6 Protocols to Find Meaning and Build a Happier Life

    · 40 min

    Pre-order The Meaning of Your Life (out March 31). This is the final episode in my 3-part series on meaning, and it begins with a question I couldn’t ignore when I returned to campus five years ago: why do so many…

  32. How the Meaning of Life Affects Your Brain: Part 2 of 3

    · 42 min

    Don’t miss The Meaning of Your Life Virtual Experience, my free live global book launch event this Friday (3/27), where I’m joined by an extraordinary lineup of guests to dive into all things meaning. Learn more at…

  33. Find the Meaning of Your Life Part 1 of 3: Get Better at Boredom

    · 46 min

    Most of us hate waiting. Whether it’s standing in line, sitting in traffic, or waiting for a delayed flight, those idle moments feel irritating and pointless. Our instinct is to escape them as quickly as possible,…

  34. 3 Steps to Embracing Your Fears

    · 38 min

    Some of the experiences that scare us most are also the ones that can change us for the better. The right kind of challenge increases confidence, deepens courage, helps us feel more fully alive, and connects us to a…

  35. How to find your faith

    · 38 min

    Faith and spirituality are on the decline—but what does that mean for our happiness and sense of meaning? In this episode of Office Hours, I approach that question not as a theologian, but as a social scientist. I…

  36. The Science Behind Being Good at Leisure

    · 52 min

    Not all leisure is created equal—some of it feels good in the moment (pleasure) but leaves you depleted afterward. Other forms of leisure actually restore you (enjoyment). They lift you up, deepen your sense of…

  37. How to Live Your Life Like a Start-up with Codie Sanchez

    · 1 h 14 min

    Codie Sanchez (founder of Contrarian Thinking and author of Main Street Millionaire) believes ownership changes lives. Her mission is bold and specific: create one million business owners. But beneath that mission is a…

  38. How to Find Love in 2026

    · 59 min

    Today’s topic: love. Forget Valentine’s Day—where romance only happens once a year. Try my new book, The Meaning of Your Life, out March 31, where I describe how to make love lifelong. Many people today feel…

  39. 4 Ways to Be Less Lonely

    · 38 min

    If you’ve been feeling empty or lonely and are looking for immediate solutions, I hope today’s episode helps—and if you want to go deeper, you can order my new book, The Meaning of Your Life, out March 31. Today’s…

  40. 6 Financial Rules for Greater Happiness with Dave Ramsey

    · 56 min

    I’ve hinted at this before, but in my new book, The Meaning of Your Life, I explore where meaning actually comes from—one place, for example, is by serving others with our time and treasure. However, you certainly…

  41. How to Set the Right Goals in Life

    · 42 min

    Most of us know that we should set goals, but there is a lot of confusion about why they matter and how to choose them well. In this episode of Office Hours, I reflect on the difference between meaning and purpose,…

  42. How to Stop Caring What Others Think

    · 43 min

    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…

  43. The 8 Life Lessons that Hoda Kotb Follows

    · 1 h 03 min

    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…

  44. 3 Ways to Set Smarter New Year’s Resolutions

    · 35 min

    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…

  45. My 4-Step Method for Making the Holidays Better

    · 35 min

    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…

  46. 3 Ways to Want Less and Be Happier

    · 58 min

    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…

  47. The 3 Macronutrients of Happiness, and How to Measure Yours

    · 57 min

    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…

  48. The Truth About Creativity, Aging, and Discipline: From the World’s Best-Selling Author (James Patterson)

    · 50 min

    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…

  49. 5 Steps Toward a More Grateful Life

    · 42 min

    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…

  50. My 9-Step Evening Protocol for More Happiness and Better Sleep

    · 54 min

    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…

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