Happiness in an age of fear and grievance

Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School Professor Arthur Brooks studies happiness: Where it comes from, how to achieve it, and how it affects our lives, our decision-making, and the world around us. But how do we define happiness? Is it how we feel? Is it an approach to life? And how much control over it do we really have? What percentage of our happiness comes from, say, our environment, or from genetics? Can government make us happier? Should it? In a time of stress and division when the world is seemingly desperate for more happiness, Brooks joins host Ralph Ranalli to explore some of those questions.

About our guest:

Arthur Brooks is the William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School and a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. Brooks is also the former president of the American Enterprise Institute and a former member of the City Orchestra of Barcelona. He is the author of 11 books, including “Love Your Enemies” (2019), “The Conservative Heart” (2015), and “The Road to Freedom” (2012). He is a columnist for The Atlantic, and host of the podcast The Art of Happiness with Arthur Brooks.

PolicyCast is a production of Harvard Kennedy School and is hosted by Staff Writer and Producer Ralph Ranalli

PolicyCast is co-produced by Susan Hughes.

For more information please visit our web page or contact us at PolicyCast@hks.harvard.edu.