Want to ‘Optimize’ Your Happiness? This Happiness Expert Says: Don’t.
The Daily
The New York Times
4.3 • 107.6K Ratings
🗓️ 30 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the New York Times, this is the interview. |
| 0:08.9 | I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. |
| 0:12.1 | Are you happy? |
| 0:13.8 | It's a deceptively simple question, right? |
| 0:16.3 | But for me, at least, it's a really difficult one to answer. |
| 0:19.8 | Another tough question. |
| 0:20.9 | Why is it so hard to be happy for so many people? |
| 0:24.5 | Despite a culture of wellness influencers with their happiness hacks and mindset tricks, |
| 0:29.5 | all of the indicators show that we Americans are less happy than ever. |
| 0:33.6 | What is going on and what can we do about it? |
| 0:36.5 | I put those questions to Dr. Lori Santos. |
| 0:39.7 | Santos is a cognitive scientist whose class on happiness quickly became the most popular |
| 0:44.8 | in Yale's history. |
| 0:46.4 | And through her podcast, The Happiness Lab, and her free online course called The Science |
| 0:50.7 | of Wellbeing, Santos's reach has extended well beyond the classroom. I wanted to understand what the science of well-being, Santis's reach has extended well beyond the classroom. |
| 0:55.7 | I wanted to understand what the science says happiness really is, |
| 0:59.6 | how our understanding of what it takes to be happy has changed over time, |
| 1:03.8 | and why, with the pandemic in our rear-view mirror, |
| 1:07.0 | it's still been so hard for me and many others |
| 1:09.6 | to do the things that will actually make us happier. |
| 1:13.2 | And what you told me was surprising. |
| 1:15.9 | Here's my conversation with Dr. Lori Santos. |
... |
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