Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Latest Episodes:

Ep. 607: Do You Love Whimsy? Celebrate a New Holiday with Us Oct 07, 2026

Show notes

We discuss how we’re using whimsy to find the right date to celebrate our “How do we learn what everyone knows?” day, and listeners share their brilliant tips for elevating your home and how to stop working against yourself (or others).

Episode highlights:

Try this at home: Listeners propose imaginative dates for "What People Know" day [05:10]
Four Tendencies Tips for Rebels: Personal policies, identity, and choosing instead of being told [15:55]
Treat Your House like a Hotel—Add an outdoor shower or a backyard garden [01:35]
Demerits and Gold Stars: Gretchen’s Demerit: stopped a health habit; Elizabeth’s Gold Star: Ferment statue in Kansas City [24:17]

Mentioned in this Episode:

Check out these new items in the Happiness Project Shop: Design Your Year (Deluxe Edition), Twelve-Day Countdown Calendar, Happiness Boost Tear-Away Deck
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (Amazon, Bookshop)
In a Summer Season by Elizabeth Taylor (Amazon, Bookshop)

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: A New Moral for An Old Fable Oct 05, 2026

Show notes

I've always loved Aesop's fables, but I've come to think the accepted morals don't always fit the stories.

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Happier: Embrace a Party Theme, Plus a Lesson About How to Fight Right Oct 03, 2026

Show notes

Turn party-planning stress into fun with a theme, and why one person downplaying can lead the other to overreact.

Episode highlights:

Something Making Us Happier: Embrace a party theme. [00:40]
I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You: Gretchen’s Perfume Party [10:42]
I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You: Gretchen’sinsight on a comment that Elizabeth’s son, Jack, made about communication [19:41]

Mentioned in this episode:

Move 26 in '26 bingo card in The Happier app

PLOT TWIST by Harlan Coben (⁠Amazon⁠, ⁠Bookshop⁠)

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Learn more about Gretchen's Four Tendencies personality framework and take the free quiz.

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify — it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 606: What We Learned from “Do-Spend September,” Plus What’s Safe in the Microwave & Try a Day Pass Sep 30, 2026

Show notes

Here’s what we learned from our own Do-Spend September, and how to get a luxury-resort experience for a fraction of the cost. Plus: really, what can go in a microwave?

Episode highlights:

Try This at Home— Reflect on Do-Spend September [03:10]
Happiness Hack— Buy a hotel-pool day pass for a luxury "staycation" at a fraction of the cost of a room [11:24]
Happiness Stumbling Block: Settling confusion on what can and can't go in the microwave [14:07]
Demerits & Gold Stars: Elizabeth's demerit: not talking to friends on the phone enough; Gretchen's gold star: a surprise hoodie [21:33]

Mentioned in this episode:

Mercer Culinary bread knife
Real Simple/Whirlpool guide to what you can microwave
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (Amazon, Bookshop)
Virginia Woolf by Mary Ann Caws (Amazon)
Gretchen's free 7-Day Email Challenge, Boost Your Energy Through Movement
PLOT TWIST by Harlan Coben

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify — it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: Dolly Parton Always Knew Just What to Say Sep 28, 2026

Show notes

Remembering the gracious words Dolly Parton used to decline a statue in her honor—and how that moment captured her humility, her love for Tennessee, and her commitment to doing good.

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Learn more about Gretchen's Four Tendencies personality framework and take the free quiz.

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Happier: Helping Rebel Kids with School—and Other Rebel Questions Answered Sep 26, 2026

Show notes

We revisit some of our most useful Four Tendencies conversations about Rebels, including listener advice for navigating school and ADHD, what actually motivates Rebels, and practical habit strategies shared by Rebels themselves.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 605: Why You Should Leave the House, Plus Why Sometimes You Don’t Need to Have an Opinion Sep 23, 2026

Show notes

We discuss why we should make an effort to leave the house. Plus, a stumbling block related to “having a take,” and a simple hack for reconnecting with people.

Episode highlights:

Try This At Home—Why leaving the house, even briefly, has a big effect on happiness [06:42]
Happiness Hack: a tip for reconnecting with people you haven't talked to in a while [15:30]
Happiness Stumbling Block— We don't have to have an opinion on everything [21:00]
Demerits and Gold Stars: Gretchen’s Demerit: Leaving her shoe in a cab—Gold Star to the cab company! Elizabeth’s Gold Star: Dinner at the Garland Hotel [23:56]

Mentioned in this episode:

Plot Twist: Life, Craft, and the Messy First Draft by Harlan Coben — upcoming book club pick
Kate Bowler's "Everything Happens" newsletter
Free 7-Day Email Challenge: Boost Your Energy Through Movement
Blacktail by Scott Hawkins (Amazon, Bookshop)

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Learn more about Gretchen's Four Tendencies personality framework and take the free quiz.

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify — it helps other listeners find the show!
Find the transcript for this episode on the episode details page in the Apple Podcasts app.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Little Happier: Some of My Favorite Rules, Paradoxes, Laws, and Razors Sep 21, 2026

Show notes

Whether through science, personal observation, or humor, short statements of these human “laws” help us understand that world we live in.

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

More Happier: A Lesson from the Real Housewives, Plus a Tool for Dealing with Shared Work Sep 19, 2026

Show notes

What reality TV can teach us about miscommunication, plus a simple tool for dealing with shared work based on your tendency.

Episode highlights:

Something Making Us Happier: Elizabeth's first-ever September getaway to Nantucket, and Gretchen's trusty sweatshirt [00:33]
I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You: A grammar rule Gretchen’s been pondering [08:33]
Spotlight on a Tool: 13 strategies for handling shared work based on the Four Tendencies [17:09]
A Lesson from Reality TV— How often are conflicts a simple miscommunication? [18:15]

Mentioned in this Episode:

13 strategies for splitting chores by Tendency
Take the free Four Tendencies quiz
Audition by Katie Kitamura (Amazon, Bookshop)

Connect with Us:

Email: podcast@gretchenrubin.com
Website: gretchenrubin.com
Instagram: @gretchenrubin | @lizcraft
Take Gretchen's free Four Tendencies quiz

Enjoyed this episode? Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or rate us on Spotify—it helps other listeners find the show!

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ep. 604: Clear Clutter With a Courtroom Hack, Plus How to Decline a Request for Accountability Sep 16, 2026

Show notes

Clear clutter fast with a courtroom-inspired trick, and we discuss how Upholders might set boundaries for unwanted accountability partners.

Episode highlights:

Try This at Home: A hack for decluttering by issuing an “order to show cause" [04:34]
Idea for Do-Spend September— A listener’s Do-Spend September upgrade turns into a housewide "Upgrade Week" [01:57]
Four Tendencies Tip: How Upholders might set boundaries with Obligers looking for accountability partners [12:11]
Happiness Hack: A clever way to repurpose empty Altoid tins [09:54]
Fun with the Five Senses: The nostalgia and whimsy of Jello [20:35]
Demerits & Gold Stars: Elizabeth’s Demerit:fallen off on dog-walking duties;Gretchen’s Gold Star:reviewed many books and podcasts [24:26]