Happy Enough

Garvia Bailey returns to host season five of Happy Enough, a podcast from The Globe and Mail podcast about happiness—and why it matters in an age of stress and bad news. This season, we’ll explore how happiness can benefit the climate, why volunteering brings us joy and whether humans really need sex to be happy. Season five of Happy Enough launches September 23.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As of 2021, roughly 72 percent of Canadians lived in cities with populations of more than 100,000 — and that number continues to climb. Yet urban life comes with trade-offs: costly housing, less space, gridlock, poor air quality and relentless noise. Which prompts the question: Is city living at odds with our happiness? 

This week on Happy Enough, Garvia speaks with Houssam Elokda, a community planner, housing expert, and managing principal at Happy Cities, a Vancouver-based consultancy that aims to improve city living. They explore why Canadians are flocking to cities in greater numbers, how that shift affects wellbeing and profile global examples of how design and policy choices can restore community trust and boost wellbeing in urban areas.

 

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“Laughter is the best medicine” isn’t a cliché—it’s biology. Research finds that laughter increases your endorphins, activates and calms your stress response system, improves your immune system, and, critically, connects you with the people you love. But these days, it can feel hard to overcome the bad news and find time for a good chuckle. 

To dig into why laughter matters—and why we should make time for it—Garvia is joined by Chris Duffy, comedian and author of Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy. They discuss laughter as a practice, how poking fun at ourselves and the world builds connection, and how cultivating humour can boost wellbeing, especially in hard times.

 

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our society, ambition is viewed as a good thing. A force to be reckoned with, a badge of hard work and dedication. But does ambition come at the cost of happiness?  It can leave us wanting more, never stopping to consider what “enough” even is. What if leaning into “good enough” is the secret to true happiness?

In this episode, Garvia sits down with Amil Niazi, writer, producer and author of Life After Ambition: A Good Enough Memoir. Amil talks about what ambition meant early in her career, the reckoning that followed, and how embracing “good enough” has made her life happier and healthier.

 

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As kids and young adults, friendship is front and centre. Then careers, marriages, and mortgages crowd it out — despite global research showing that friendship is one of the strongest predictors of wellbeing.

In this episode, Garvia speaks with Dr. Marisa Franco, psychologist, professor, and bestselling author of Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make–and Keep–Friends. She explains why our culture undervalues platonic relationships and why making friends gets harder as we get older. She also shares practical tips for meeting new people, turning acquaintances into close friends, and strengthening the bonds you already have.

 

 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.