My friend Chip Conley joins the “Dan Buettner Podcast” to explain why the old idea of a “midlife crisis” holds us back and how reframing this stage can open the door to purpose, curiosity, and stronger connection in life after 50.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As part of our Happier Podcast Book Club, we revisit our conversation with Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast about her compelling bestselling memoir “Crying in H Mart.” 

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Crying in H Mart

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We report on our experience with the “Design Your Year” exercise of the annual challenge: Read 25 in ’25. We also reveal the annual challenge for 2026—join us.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Move 26 in 2026 
• Visit the Happiness Project shop 
• The science-backed trick that soothes an itch better than scratching
• Elizabeth: is coming into the end of War and Peace (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do You Feel Like an Employee of Your Former Self? Renowned novelist Ian McEwan makes a funny observation about book tours that’s applicable to many familiar situations.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Make entertaining easier. These simple hacks take the stress out of hosting and help you focus on what really matters: enjoying the people you’re with.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why choosing a one-word theme for the year can be such a creative, constructive, and satisfying exercise. We review our words for 2025 and reveal our words for 2026. Plus we share an original and fun reason to have a party.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Amazing scene in Mad Men
• Work through my new Gift Idea Generator worksheet
• Elizabeth is reading: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Couples by John Updike (Amazon, Bookshop) 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gap between expectations and reality determines whether we feel happy or disappointed. From empty-nest parents hoping for daily texts to tourists experiencing "Paris syndrome," our expectations shape our emotions. Sometimes adjusting expectations—rather than changing reality—is the key to happiness.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We revisit our long list of hacks to make the holidays a happier time.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We discuss a know-yourself-better question related to how we conceive of ourselves at different ages. Plus we talk about a way to find excellent book recommendations.

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Join the The Happiness Project: Revisited course
• Since You Asked advice podcast
• Shop the biggest journal sale of the year!
• Substack Live with Sari Botton 
• "Oldster Magazine" on Substack
• Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers by Larry McMurtry (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Amazon, Bookshop) 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk about why it’s such a happiness-booster to raise your hand to organize an event or undertaking—to realize that if you don’t do it, no one will. We also share a hack for making it easier to take medication, and why it’s a good idea to “suffer fools gladly.”

Resources & links related to this episode:

• Shop the Black Friday Sale in the Happiness Project Shop
• Use the gift guide for thoughtful and easy gift ideas 
• Elizabeth: is catching up on War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Amazon, Bookshop) 
• Gretchen is reading: Rules for Visiting by Jessica Francis Kane (Amazon, Bookshop) 

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app. 

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The awe-inspiring true story of “Mountain Man” Dashrath Manjhi is an example of how we can transform pain into action that can help others. After his wife died for lack of medical care, Dashrath Manjhi spent more than twenty years single-handedly carving out a path to make his remote village more accessible.

Get in touch: [email protected]

Visit Gretchen's website to learn more about Gretchen's best-selling books, products from The Happiness Project Collection, and the Happier app.

Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.