Practical happiness for difficult days.
Live Happy Now treats happiness as a daily practice, not a bright slogan. Through guest-led conversations, it moves from research and personal stories toward small changes that can steady people through pressure, uncertainty, and hard seasons.
PRESS PLAY
Live Happy Now is an interview-led well-being show built around a grounded version of happiness. It does not treat joy as denial. It treats it as something people can practice, protect, and return to when the world feels too loud. Recent episodes move through play, humor, dignity, social media, optimism, nature, and adaptability with a calm editorial rhythm. The conversations often begin with a broad problem: chronic seriousness, public contempt, online comparison, pessimism, overwhelm, or the health cost of staying indoors. Then they narrow toward something doable. A guest might explain why play helps people move through serious times, why laughter gets easier with practice, or why stepping away from contempt can make problem-solving possible again. The show’s strength is translation. Research and expert language are kept close to everyday life, so ideas about hope theory, emotional aptitude, social bonds, biophilia, and overload become practical choices rather than abstract concepts. It is also comfortable with complexity. Humor can sit near grief. Optimism can include struggle. Dignity can matter most when someone is difficult to face. Social media can connect people while also changing how they judge their own lives. Episodes tend to favor reflection over speed, giving guests space to tell the story behind the tool before landing on the tool itself. Paula Phelps keeps the frame warm and curious, drawing out examples that make the advice feel lived-in rather than polished for a brochure. The show is useful for listeners managing stress, anxiety, burnout, or a general sense of too much information coming at them at once. It also suits people who like wellness conversations with research behind them, but who do not want the tone to become clinical. Across the recent run, the recurring promise is modest and humane: life may stay difficult, but people can still build steadier habits, kinder conversations, more connection, and brighter pockets of agency.
Made for: For listeners interested in stress relief, resilience, optimism, and mental well-being. It especially suits people who want research-informed advice delivered through warm, accessible conversations.
What sets it apart: Live Happy Now stands out by refusing both empty positivity and clinical distance. Its conversations turn expert ideas into small practices that fit ordinary life, from mirror moments to playful creativity to more dignified conflict.
Bringing you scientifically proven tips and ideas to live a happier and more meaningful life through interviews with authors, positive psychology experts and well-being thought leaders.Join host Paula Felps as she talks to best-selling authors and happiness gurus who share their knowledge on topics such as wellness, gratitude, well-being and mindfulness. You’ll hear from experts such as Mel Robbins, Gretchen Rubin, Tal Ben-Shahar, Jodi Wellman, Kristin Neff, Rick Hanson, and many more.
This is where happiness gets practical enough to rearrange your room and rethink your friendships.
Press play if you want
Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A warm discussion of negativity bias, information overload, and shared experiences that can help people look for the good.
Live Happy Now frames its episode around a familiar imbalance: criticism tends to stick, while a steady stream of information and negativity can leave people feeling overloaded.
A friendship conversation that treats honesty and equal footing as daily work.
Live Happy Now uses Friendship Month to frame a conversation about why friendship matters, and Barnett Bain begins with a personal lesson about not listening well at dinner after his daughter returned from college.
A thoughtful case for mattering as a human need shaped by empathy, conflict, and a broad moral frame.
The episode treats Rebecca Neuberger-Goldstein's argument as something larger than a self-help idea. Mattering comes through as a human need, linked to empathy, compassion, and the friction of social conflict.
Humor treated as a practice, not a personality trait.
Chris Duffy's appearance on Live Happy Now gives National Humor Month a practical angle. Paula Phelps keeps things steady while Duffy talks about humor as something people can build into daily life, not just something they happen to have.
Jonquilyn Hill chases one listener question per episode to the experts who can answer it.
Hard conversations, patiently held, with room to laugh.
Fearne Cotton interviews guests like Boy George and Bryony Gordon about mental health and identity.
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford pairs therapy insight with Black TV recaps, maternal health, and history.
Host Paula Felps interviews Dr.
This episode features an interview with relationship expert Dr.
Dr.
Host Paula Felps interviews comedian Chris Duffy about his book 'Humor Me' for National Humor Month.
On Live Happy Now, Cindra Kampoff explains how to build confidence with tools from her book, The Confidence Habit.
Leidy Klotz’s “space before screen” practice links phone habits, GPS navigation, mental sharpness, and connection with the world.
This episode features an interview with Piera Gelardi, author of 'The Playful Way', discussing how embracing play and creativity can combat burnout and enhance well-being, especially in serious times.
Comedian Chris Duffy discusses how humor and laughter can improve happiness, health, and social connections, based on his book 'Humor Me'.
This episode features an interview with Tom Rosshirt about the Dignity Index, an eight-point scale designed to rate dialogue tone and help heal societal divides by promoting dignity in conversations.
This episode features economics professors discussing their research on how social media affects well-being differently across generations, based on their chapter in the World Happiness Report.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
Dr.
Paula Phelps and Michelle Jones examine a Gallup poll showing that 59% of Americans rated their lives highly when imagining the next five years, the lowest result in roughly 20 years of questioning.
Friendship Month sets the frame.
Rebecca Neuberger-Goldstein joins Paula Phelps to explore why mattering can feel like a basic human need.
Licensed mental health counselor Travis McNulty explains why holiday gatherings can reactivate childhood roles, family triggers, and performance pressure.
This episode features an interview with Dr.
This episode features an interview with Mike Rucker, Ph.D., discussing the importance of prioritizing fun for well-being and promoting an eight-week email series to help listeners have a more enjoyable summer.