In an era where the pursuit of joy often feels like a scavenger hunt amidst the daily grind, happiness podcasts emerge as hidden gems waiting to be discovered.
These auditory delights combine heartwarming stories, scientific insights, and practical advice to illuminate the path to contentment.
Whether you're looking to elevate your mood on a mundane Monday commute or unwind with a thoughtful conversation on a lazy Sunday afternoon, happiness podcasts offer a sound sanctuary for anyone seeking to sprinkle more sunshine into their lives.
So, grab your headphones, tune in, and prepare to be uplifted by some of the most inspiring voices in happiness and well-being.
What Does Happiness Mean?
Happiness means different things to everyone. For some, it is life satisfaction. For others, it is laughing and having fun. For others, it might be gaining new experiences.
According to an article from the Happiness International Organization, being happy means being contented and satisfied with what you have. The true meaning of happiness comes when you find beauty in everything you possess.
When you’re happy, your brain is fueled with positivity. And when you have a positive outlook on life, you become more productive and successful.
There is only one problem: Sometimes, when life throws challenges at us, we forget how simply being happy can alleviate our stress. We tend only to see what’s there to be lonely and sad about.
Well, that doesn’t have to be the case. There is a way to remind yourself that happiness is everywhere, and you might find a bit of it in these happiness podcasts!
This article will provide you with the 19 best happiness podcasts that are on the air today. Whatever you’re feeling, whether overjoyed or lonely, these podcasts can surely brighten up your day.
Let's get to it.
1. Happier with Gretchen Rubin
Gretchen Rubin is an influential and thought-provoking author and podcast host of Happier with Gretchen Rubin, who focuses on happiness and human nature. She is a highly sought-after professional, and you will notice that her name often pops up as a guest host in podcasts on this list. Her podcast updates every Monday with new ideas and conversations about living a happier life. Listeners appreciate her ability to simplify and explain complex ideas using humor and clarity, making her work accessible to a large audience.
She has written “New York Times” bestsellers, including “The Four Tendencies” and “The Happiness Project.” Still, she gets more personal in her podcast, discussing happiness and healthy habits with her sister, Elizabeth Craft.
Gretchen draws on leading science, age-old wisdom, pop culture, and her personal experiences to examine how people can live more happily, productively, and creatively.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
2. The Good Life Project
The Good Life Project airs new episodes every Monday and is hosted by Jonathan and Stephanie Fields.
This couple has raw and honest discussions about living life to the fullest and living with a sense of meaning. They share inspiring stories and have open and frank conversations with iconic trailblazers such as Elizabeth Gilbert, Brene Brown, Seth Godin, and Happier with Gretchen Rubin host Gretchen Rubin and with normal, everyday guests.
Every story they tell is candid and fascinating, prompting listeners to tune in every week.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
3. TED Radio Hour
TED talks have become the “go-to” place to hear inspiring and educational speeches from international experts in various fields.
TED Radio Hour is a co-production of NPR and TED and offers listeners new ideas every Thursday. Each show is based on a TED talk and carries a theme, such as what people believe to be the source of happiness.
The show is hosted by award-winning journalist and correspondent Guy Raz. Listeners get an in-depth look at some of the innovative ideas and new approaches that influential people worldwide are bringing to the TED Talk stage. Its guests include psychologists, CEOs, neuroscientists, athletes, and journalists.
Some episodes of this podcast include “Why Aren't We More Compassionate?” and “Is It Enough to Be Politically Correct?”
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
4. The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes
Hosted by Lewis Howes, The School of Greatness with Lewis Howes encourages people to find their true passion and dedicate their time to doing what they love.
Howes, an “NYT” bestselling author, offers his listeners inspiring stories every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday from influential people such as world-class athletes, CEOs, and celebrities.
Howes uses his platform to mentor others and spread his positivity to as many people as possible. Some episodes include “The Secret to Happiness” and “Happiness Through Hardship,” and all aim to give listeners tools and skills to maximize their potential and have the lives they want.
This show often covers topics such as inspiration, business, entrepreneurship, health, and relationships. If you struggle with finding your sense of purpose, this podcast will help you find it.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
5. 10% Happier with Dan Harris
Dan Harris, an ABC newscaster who suffered a panic attack live on Good Morning America, hosts 10% Happier with Dan Harris. On his show, he discusses his newfound appreciation for meditation and has guests (including neuroscientists, meditation professionals, psychologists, and leading health experts) talk about how to train your mind.
Harris wrote the bestselling book 10% Happier, which led to the creation of an app and eventually this podcast. In it, he explores whether it is possible to go beyond the 10% happiness that he suggests in his title and questions whether people can be ambitious while still striving for enlightenment. New episodes are available every Tuesday morning.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
6. Invisibilia
Invisibilia is produced and hosted by Alix Spiegel and Hanna Rosin and features irregular updates. Beginning in early 2015, the hosts explore the intangible elements of life that shape human behavior. Forces such as ideas, beliefs, feelings, and emotions are examined through narrative storytelling that incorporates science and aims to help people see their lives in a new light.
Some of the episodes include “The Secret History of Thoughts,” “Future Self,” and “True You.” The show maintained a consistent Top 10 ranking for several months after its initial episode and has maintained a strong following.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
7. The Science of Happiness
Award-winning professor Dacher Keltner hosts the Science of Happiness and co-produced with Public Radio International. It aims to provide listeners with research, tips, and inspiring stories. Guests such as Inside Out director Pete Docter, ABC News’s Dan Harris, and author Michael Pollan have been featured on the show to test practices like gratitude, mindfulness, meditation, self-compassion, and forgiveness in their daily lives and then recap their experiences with well-being researchers.
The hosts also teach their listeners about scientifically researched strategies to live a happier, more meaningful life. The show updates every Thursday and has produced episodes such as “How to Find Your Best Possible Self” and “Quieting Your Inner Critic.”
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
[Like these podcasts? Check out 17 more motivational podcasts to inspire your day.]
8. The Tony Robbins Podcast
Tony Robbins is considered by many to be the premier voice of the self-help movement.
In The Tony Robbins Podcast, Robbins shares helpful tips and strategies so his listeners can achieve better results in their personal and professional lives. He updates the podcast every week or two and features notable guests to have an open and honest conversation about self-improvement. His famous guests include Dana White, Gretchen Rubin, Daniel Pink, and Robyn O’Brien.
Listeners appreciate the motivational truths that can be taken away from the episodes in this podcast. People find Tony's intensity to be inspirational.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
9. The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Hosted by Dave Asprey, The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey strives to use a wide variety of professional technologies and techniques to improve as a human being. Using knowledge from doctors, scientists, Olympic nutritionists, meditation gurus, and over a million dollars worth of personal self-experiments, Asprey aims to explain the simplest things that people can do to improve themselves in every way.
In his ideal world, people can take control of their lives and use their biochemistry, bodies, and minds in unison to work at levels much higher than expected without becoming sick or stressed out. Follow along every Tuesday and Thursday as Dave Asprey and his guests give you everything you need to improve your physical and mental states.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
10. The One You Feed
The One You Feed was created and produced by longtime friends Eric Zimmer and Chris Forbes. They began this show to discuss the subject of “creating a life worth living”—both for themselves and their listeners. They believe it takes a conscious and constant effort to create a life worth living.
Eric and Chris address how people can keep themselves moving in the right direction through open discussions of their habits, motivation, meditation, insight, depression, anxiety, happiness, mental health, and philosophy.
Their approachable, conversational style and ability to incorporate their own life experiences into their discussions make this podcast a helpful resource for learning life skills. Eric and Chris post updates every Tuesday.
NOTE: The title “The One You Feed” is based on the famous “two wolves” analogy. To learn more about this parable and get three powerful moral takeaways, see this Two Wolves post.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
11. The Tim Ferriss Show
Tim Ferriss, a well-known self-help professional, releases episodes of The Tim Ferriss Show every Thursday, where he discusses topics ranging from broad personal development to your specific morning routine.
Tim teaches his listeners the habits of successful people with a wide range of backgrounds, such as investors, celebrities, CEOs, chess players, and sports professionals.
He finds tools and tricks that these world-class performers use that his listeners can adopt to improve their own lives. Some well-known guests he has had on his show include Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James, and Tony Robbins. As of 2018, this podcast had over 300 million downloads.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
12. Stuff You Should Know
Stuff You Should Know is an award-winning podcast hosted by Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, both writers at HowStuffWorks. With new releases every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, Josh and Chuck educate their listeners on an extensive range of topics, with a specific focus on the way things work and the addition of a comedic twist.
The episodes on this podcast are well-researched and cover a variety of topics, such as science, conspiracy theories, history, urban legends, and pop culture. Josh and Chuck discuss a topic in such a way that, by the end of the episode, their listeners walk away with basic working knowledge.
Some of their most popular episodes have been tipping in restaurants, hangovers, pinball, death, cheese, and Barbie.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
13. The Daily Boost
The Daily Boost is a motivational podcast that offers various personal development strategies and acknowledges common sense logic. Hosted by Scott Smith, this show combines lessons, personal experience, and humor to create a new type of motivational podcast that can fit into listeners' lives.
Scott Smith offers a fresh, funny, and personable dose of motivation to help listeners make their lives more meaningful. This quick, nine-minute podcast is updated every Monday, giving you the perfect boost to start your week. This might be the right podcast for you if you want to reach the next level in your life but are unsure how to do so.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
14. Self-Help(ful)
Ziglar, a world-class motivator, releases new episodes of the Self-Help(ful) podcast bi-weekly to inspire people and equip listeners with the tools they need to move ahead of their current realities. Hosted by Kevin Miller and Zig Ziglar, this show addresses the unique things that successful people do in order to achieve greatness that everyday people can learn from and adopt into their own lives.
The hosts ask guests questions about how they became successful and how they have overcome challenges. Some of the episodes include “How Self-Aware Are You?” “Habits—Rick Hanson on Being Enough,” “How to Gain a Positive Outlook on Life,” and “Simply Tracking Your Daily Activities Will Increase Your Results.”
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
15. Earn Your Happy with Lori Harder
Lori Harder is a fitness, self-improvement, and mindfulness expert who offers her followers practical tools to encourage sustainable physical health, emotional well-being, and financial freedom. She has helped countless people transform their lives, empower themselves, gain economic independence, and gain a new appreciation for themselves and their lives.
In Earn Your Happy with Lori Harder, she offers all of the inside tips and tools that one may need to break through their fears, connect their mind and body, and get focused to improve their life, relationships, and careers. This podcast updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday and has hosted noteworthy guests such as Aaron Alexander, Olivia June, and Tracy O’Malley.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
16. The Positive Psychology Podcast
Kristen Truemph is a positive psychology guru who hopes to significantly impact her work by helping people flourish.
In The Positive Psychology Podcast, Kristen talks about the things in life that genuinely make people happy, such as the ability to appreciate beauty, gratitude, and positive emotions.
She hosts guests, including doctors, authors, and psychologists, to discuss happiness on her podcast, which she updates about once a month.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
17. Live Happy Now
Join the editors of “Live Happy” magazine every Tuesday to learn about some proven ideas and tips to help you live a life with more meaning and happiness. The hosts interview leaders in the positive psychology industry, such as Gretchen Rubin, Dr. Sasha Heinz, and Nick Ortner. Some categories often covered in the Live Happy Now podcast include home, inspiration, the “Live Happy” magazine, happiness, science, and work.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
18. Adventures in Happiness
“New York Times” bestselling author Jessica Ortner is on a mission to help others uncover their best selves by reducing stress and anxiety. After a successful weight loss journey, Ortner began teaching other people “tapping,” which she attributes to a lot of her success.
Some of the episodes on Adventures in Happiness include “Eating for Happiness with Julie Daniluk,” “How to Live a Good Life When You Feel Like You’ve Lost Your Spark,” and “How to Get Unstuck and Find Your Flow.”
This podcast updates once or twice a month.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher
19. The Kindness Project
Join father and daughter duo Chris and Charlotte on The Kindness Project every Wednesday as they explore how people can be kinder to one another.
Each week, they share stories of kindness and illustrate how being kind to other people can help you live a happier life. The team welcomes stories from listeners to share on their show.
Listen on Apple Podcasts
A final word on these happiness podcasts
They say that happiness is a choice, and I can’t help but agree. Life is an everyday battle, and how we fight these battles with a cheerful heart makes the difference.
To help you be happy while struggling through life, try listening to an episode or two of each of the happiness podcasts above. Each has its own style, format, and structure, but they are all excellent sources of happiness.
When you find the best among this list, subscribe to it and enjoy listening to make your life happier and more meaningful.
Want more happiness in your life? I highly recommend you check out our article: 54 Ways to Increase Happiness
Finally, one proven way to improve your happiness and life satisfaction is to focus on goals that truly matter. To get started, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.
Check out some more “must listen to” podcast genres:
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- 7 Best Psychology Podcasts to Expand Your Mind
- 9 Best Thought-Provoking Podcasts to Enlighten Your Day
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