logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2024
35m 21s

Top 5: Love the Past, But Don't Live The...

Pushkin Industries
About this episode

Happiness Lab is five years old. To mark our birthday, Dr Laurie has picked her favorite five episodes from the archive. The show Why Nostalgia Ain't So Rosy was certainly a memorable one for her.  

Actor Rob Lowe LOVES the 1980s. And who can blame him? He was one of the most famous men on the planet. But, as he tells Dr Laurie, he's careful not to wallow in nostalgia for the music, fashions and events of his youth too much - and happiness science backs him up on this.

Research suggests that our memories of the past can be very selective and highly unreliable - causing us to misremember events and cast them in a rosy glow. Sadly, this also causes us to make very bad decisions about what will make us happy in the future.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Up next
Oct 6
How to Make Better Choices (with Barry Schwartz)
Every choice you make shapes your wellbeing - and the bigger the decision, the greater the impact. So when it comes to life-changing questions like where to live, who to marry, or which career to pursue, how can you tell if you’re making the best decision for your long-term happi ... Show More
40m 48s
Sep 29
Take a Three-Day Weekend Without Losing Any Pay (with Juliet Schor)
Many of us toil for long hours - and even take work home at the end of the day. That's bad for us in so many ways - but extensive research shows that it just doesn't have to be this way. Many of us could work a four-day week and still get everything done. Economist Juliet Schor h ... Show More
55m 51s
Sep 26
Presenting Heavyweight: Etta
As a podcast host, I'm often asked, "What's your favorite podcast?" and my answer is always the same: Heavyweight. So you can imagine my excitement when my favorite podcast joined the Pushkin slate! Hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, Heavyweight creates space for difficult conversatio ... Show More
37m 30s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2024
The Downside of Positivity & Turn Back the Clock on Aging - SYSK Choice
There is a lot of common summertime advice. For example, don’t go swimming for a half hour after you eat. Don’t scratch a bug bite. Don’t touch someone who has poison ivy because you might catch it. Are these things true or summertime folklore? This episode starts with some answe ... Show More
51m 25s
Dec 2024
The Psychology of Nostalgia
In the first of two special holiday episodes, Claudia Hammond and an expert panel of psychologists look back, nostalgically. At this festive time of year, you might be thinking wistfully about Christmas past – perhaps you’ll be rewatching old films, arguing over a game of Monopol ... Show More
29m 45s
Aug 11
The Best Years of Your Life
Aging isn’t just a biological process. Our outlooks and emotions also change as we age, often in ways that boost our well-being. This week, we revisit a favorite conversation with psychologist Laura Carstensen, who helps us unpack the science behind this surprising finding, and s ... Show More
1h 19m
Aug 2024
220. The psychology of nostalgia and getting stuck in the past
All of us find ourselves remincising on the 'good old days' every now and then, but sometimes we can find ourselves getting trapped in the memories of the past and feeling like it will never be as good as it was. This is the nostalgia trap and it can keep us from being present, f ... Show More
35m 50s
Feb 2024
786: Biscuits & Gravy, Candyland, & Moth to Flame
Sarah makes her triumphant return to today's show, and we are so glad she's on the mend. We hear some of the details form her surgery and recovery and what she learned through it all. She describes how she feels like she's a wise old woman now and suddenly has a new food obsessio ... Show More
1h 1m
Jul 2024
The Science Of Memory: How To Get Better At Remembering And Be Okay With Forgetting | Charan Ranganath
New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers. --- A neuroscientist’s strategies to help you remember what really matters, and how mood, multitasking and other people can impact our memories Charan Ranganath ... Show More
1h 16m
Mar 2024
796: Over the Rainbow, Rock Hudson, & Quantum Leap
We start with a rummage through the old mail bag with some feedback from listeners about recent episodes. Yikes. We hear why some people think Over the Rainbow was plagiarized, but others think it's similarities are a coincidence. We discuss some famous musical thefts and how all ... Show More
1h 3m
Oct 6
What's worth remembering?
We like to think of memory as a record of the past. But that’s not really what it is. Memory doesn’t keep the past — it can also remake it. It stitches fragments into stories, and those stories — true or not — are what we end up calling our life, and sometimes, our collective his ... Show More
58m 54s
Aug 27
The Surprising TRUTH about Anti-Aging, Food as Medicine & What They’re Hiding About Alzheimer’s with Max Lugavere
Max Lugavere—NYT bestselling author of Genius Foods and brain-health crusader—joins us to reveal the secrets to living longer, sharper, and stronger. From food-as-medicine hacks that have gone viral to his provocative take on MAHA (Make America Healthy Again), Max brings the scie ... Show More
1h 11m
Aug 2024
More Happier: The Fun of an Unexpected Gift, Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and Herding the Cats During Holidays
We talk about the happiness that comes from getting a gift we don’t expect, and we discuss some quality screen time. We also consider the question: Does every family need a holiday-tradition-enforcer?Get in touch: podcast@gretchenrubin.comFollow on social media:@GretchenRubin on ... Show More
22m 56s