Laurie Santos

Dr Laurie Santos is a psychologist specialising in human cognition, its origins, and the evolutionary biases that affect our life choices. Her research focuses on how behavioural change through positive psychology can lead to a happier and more fulfilling life. She holds the title of Chandrika and Ranjan Tandon Professor of Psychology and is the former Head of Silliman College at Yale University. Her course, "Psychology and the Good Life", explores how psychological science can help make wiser choices for a better life. This course is Yale’s most popular in over 300 years and has been adapted into a free Coursera programme, taken by over 4 million people.

Laurie hosts "The Happiness Lab podcast", arguing that humans often misunderstand what makes us happy and act against our best interests. Based on her Yale course, she presents the latest scientific research to help listeners rethink happiness and improve their lives. Since its launch in 2019, the podcast has been downloaded over 100 million times.

Her research delves into how we are biologically driven by sex, influenced by others, and prone to repeating mistakes. By using evidence from the animal kingdom, Laurie explains our sometimes illogical behaviours and offers advice on how to use our human faculties to counteract evolutionary tendencies and lead better lives.

Laurie has been featured in numerous news outlets, including the New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, NPR, GQ Magazine, Slate, CNN, and Oprah Magazine. She has received multiple awards from institutions such as Yale and the American Psychological Association for her scientific and teaching contributions. She has been recognised as one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant 10” and was named TIME's “Leading Campus Celebrity.”