Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

Hi Friends, I’m Arthur Brooks, a social scientist, professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, and columnist at The Atlantic. 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 cutting edge research on happiness, and explore how you can 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.

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Episodes

The 4 Types of Careers, and How to Find Yours

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 success. We’ll look at what happens to happiness when we change jobs, why satisfaction almost always drops...

Oct 27, 2025•44 min

4 Ways to Love the People You Disagree With

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 lot of what I share today draws from my book Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America f...

Oct 20, 2025•52 min

3 Steps to Managing Your Emotions

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 eliminate emotions entirely, but to understand that they work for you, not the other way around. To learn ...

Oct 13, 2025•59 min

4 Ways to Use Common Knowledge to be Happier with Steven Pinker

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 this episode of Office Hours, I’m joined by Dr. Steven Pinker, Harvard psychologist and bestselling auth...

Oct 06, 2025•45 min

Exercise Your Way to Greater Well-Being

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 enormous opportunity to feel better. In this episode of Office Hours, I explain the science behind how exerc...

Sep 29, 2025•36 min

My 6-Step Morning Protocol for a Better Day

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 of focus and flow. I introduce the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), explain why morning...

Sep 22, 2025•44 min

7 Habits That Lead to Happiness in Old Age

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 follows a U-shaped curve and why, after midlife, your trajectory depends on the “investments” you’ve...

Sep 15, 2025•54 min

Fame ruined me, but faith saved me: Office Hours meets The Office, with special guest Rainn Wilson

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 living a more meaningful life. Rainn shares his journey from growing up in the faith to losing his way d...

Sep 08, 2025•1 hr 7 min

2 Proven Strategies (and 1 Big Mistake) for Dealing with Anxiety

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, why it’s on the rise, and how to work with it instead of against it. Using insights from psychology, e...

Sep 01, 2025•37 min

The Sociopaths Among Us: How to Spot (and Avoid) a Dark Triad

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 (it’s all about them ), Machiavellianism (they’re willing to hurt you ), and psychopathy (they feel li...

Aug 25, 2025•48 min

6 Science-Backed Ways to Raise Happiness (and Success) at Work

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 my book The Happiness Files , I share the six factors that truly make people happier at work, and e...

Aug 18, 2025•50 min

5 Ways to Get Happier Starting Today

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 researchers ranked the most practical and effective ways to get happier. Today I discuss: • The top 5 r...

Aug 11, 2025•42 min

Welcome to Office Hours with Arthur Brooks

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 important now than ever. Happiness has been falling, and unhappiness rising, marked by increases in depressio...

Aug 08, 2025•37 sec

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