Laurie Renee Santos is a cognitive scientist and Professor of Psychology at Yale University. She has been listed in Popular Science as one of their “Brilliant Ten” young scientists in 2007. In 2018, her course Psychology and the Good Life became the most popular course in Yale’s history, with approximately one-fourth of Yale’s undergraduates enrolled. In June 2016, Santos was named the head of Silliman College, one of the 14 undergraduate residential colleges at Yale. Her course, “Psychology and the Good Life,” has become the most popular class in Yale history.
As of November 2018, over 170,000 people from at least 170 countries have enrolled in the online course. Santos’ scientific work has been published in journals such as Psychological Science, Animal Cognition, Developmental Science, Current Biology, Animal Behavior, and Cognition. Santos was featured in Popular Science as one of the magazine’s “Brilliant Ten” young scientists in 2007. She has won numerous awards for her podcast, which has spent 126 days on the U.S. Podcasts Chart, peaking at No. 3.
In 2018, she received a Genius Award from the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey. She appeared in the 2018 Netflix documentary The Most Unknown on scientific research directed by Ian Cheney.
The Happiness Lab Podcast
Santos has presented the podcast The Happiness Lab since September 2019, which investigates the most recent scientific studies on variables influencing human well-being and happiness. In November 2019, the show finished its first 10-episode season and spent 126 days on the US Podcasts Chart, peaking at No. 3. Santos continued to make podcast episodes. The podcast is produced by Pushkin Industries, a media firm founded by former Slate journalists Malcolm Gladwell and Jacob Weisberg.
Random Citizen 