Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Latest Episodes:

Little Happier: "Love Is Unconditional, and Love is Demanding” & Other Secrets of Adulthood for Parents Jul 07, 2025

Show notes

With time and experience, we learn “Secrets of Adulthood,” and parenthood teaches us many of those lessons.

Resources & links related to this episode:

"Secrets of Adulthood"

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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More Happier: Talking Secrets of Adulthood with Shannon Watts Jul 05, 2025

Show notes

In a recent Secrets of Adulthood Substack Live conversation, I talked to the terrific Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action (the nation’s largest grassroots group fighting gun violence. We discuss insights from her latest book and how we've arrived at several of our own Secrets of Adulthood, including why it’s important to ask yourself whether your life goals are your own or someone else's, the cost of indecision, and when to double-back or double-down.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Subscribe to Secrets of Adulthood on Substack
Playing with Fire by Shannon Watts on Substack

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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Ep. 541: Try These Parenting Hacks from Listeners, Manage Your Own Worry & an Easy Packing Hack Jul 02, 2025

Show notes

We share a treasure trove of creative, easy parenting hacks from our listeners, as well as a happiness hack about creating a "prep station" bin to stay organized for trips and special events. In our "Know Yourself Better" segment, we explore how the desire to manage our own worry can lead us to burden or try to control others. Plus, we share some ideas related to reading.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Order your copy of Secrets of Adulthood
Subscribe to Secrets of Adulthood on Substack
Subscribe to Happier in Hollywood on Substack
Check out the Libby app
Elizabeth is reading: Climbing in Heels by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (Amazon, Bookshop)
Gretchen is reading: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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Little Happier: Is it a Bug? Is it a Feature? It Depends on You Jun 30, 2025

Show notes

The familiar proverb “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature” is a reminder that one person may seek out a product, an experience, or a situation for the very reason that someone else avoids it.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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More Happier: No “Guilty” Pleasures & Returning to the Treadmill Desk Jun 28, 2025

Show notes

We talk about why it can helpful to trust our interests and inclinations about what to read, watch, or listen to, without imposing a lot of judgment on our choices.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Elizabeth's treadmill desk

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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

Ep. 540: Very Special Episode: Treasure Trove of Easy Ideas to Add Whimsy to Daily Life Jun 25, 2025

Show notes

In this Very Special Episode, we share dozens of ideas from listeners—and ourselves—about how to add an element of whimsy to everyday life, without needing to spend much time, energy, or money.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Order your copy of Secrets of Adulthood
My article: Why Whimsy Is Having a Moment
Elizabeth's newsletter: Happier in Hollywood
Gretchen's book Happier at Home
Bookshop.org
Join other readers in person at an in-store event! For a list, head to happiercast.com/read25day

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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Little Happier: “New Yorker” Covers and My Peculiar Yearning for a City I Already Have Jun 23, 2025

Show notes

New Yorker magazine covers capture something both true and elusive about the city, by distilling New York in single images, so that the place feels simultaneously familiar and out of reach.

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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

More Happier: Bestselling Novel "The Ministry of Time" Audiobook Preview Jun 21, 2025

Show notes

In honor of our upcoming Read 25 Day, we are excited to share an audiobook preview of bestselling novel "The Ministry of Time" from Lemonada's own "Your Next Listen" podcast.

More about the book: This genre-bending time-travel sci-fi slash romance slash mystery slash spy thriller was a breakout hit for debut author Kaliane Bradley. It’s been recommended by everyone from Barack Obama to Cosmopolitan magazine – so what’s all the fuss about? Jump into this excerpt, and we are willing to bet you’ll be hooked right away on this funny, sexy, twisty story.

Resources & links related to this episode:

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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

Ep. 539: Don't Disparage What Matters, Funny Travel Trends & Handling Hurtful "Jokes" Jun 18, 2025

Show notes

We discuss why we shouldn't downplay things that are actually important to us (such as saying “I don’t care about my birthday” if you do care). We also review some fun new travel terms, such as "townsizing" and "JOMO travel," and we address the problem of waiting until we're ready to make big decisions. Plus, we tackle a listener's question about dealing with a spouse who makes hurtful comments disguised as jokes.

Resources & links related to this episode:

Order your copy of Secrets of Adulthood
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Amazon, Bookshop)
After Hours with Jamie Rubin podcast
The latest travel lingo
A Little Happier: The Power of Telling the Truth: What Nebraska's and Oslo's Tourists Know
Happier in Hollywood Substack
Secrets of Adulthood Substack
Design Your Summer Worksheet
Elizabeth is reading: Year Zero: A History of 1945 by Ian Baruma (Amazon, Bookshop)
Gretchen is reading: All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert (Amazon, Bookshop)

Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.com

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.

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

Little Happier: Paris, Rose, a Fortune Cookie—an Anniversary Toast to My Husband Jamie Jun 16, 2025

Show notes

A double anniversary (of a wedding and of a life-saving medical cure) inspired this toast—with allusion to Gertrude Stein, Wendell Berry, and “The Office.”

Resources & links related to this episode: