Dr. Chris Martin is a sociologist who does fascinating research on a range of topics that include culture, mental health, and well-being. He joined us to talk about a college course he teaches on happiness, his stand-up comedy experiences, and the podcast he hosts, Half Hour of Heterodoxy. First, we talked about how Chris got into positive psychology and his pathway to a Ph.D. in sociology. Then, we discussed the definitions and differences between hedonic and eudaimonic types of happiness. Chris told us what the science says on links between life satisfaction and relationships, money, and meaning. We concluded with descriptions of therapy-informed approaches to happiness before learning about Chris’ academic approach to stand-up comedy and the premise of his podcast.

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Show Notes

Follow Chris on Twitter, check out his research via Google Scholar, and read his Medium blog. You can see some of his stand-up comedy here (though he warns that it involves political and religious humor that some might find offensive).

Chris is a founding member of the Heterodox Academy and currently serves on their academic advisory board.

This episode includes discussion of mindfulness, The Happiness Trap, and David Burns’ Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy book.

Chris hosts the Heterodox Academy podcast, Half Hour of Heterodoxy. Here are some of the episodes he recommends:

***Clinical Psychology and Mental Health

Katie Gordon – Can Offensive Political Speech Cause Trauma?

Ellen Hendricksen – Maintaining Your Sanity in Academia

Scott Lilienfeld – Microaggressions and the Goldwater Rule (note: the audio quality on this episode isn’t as good as later episodes)

Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt – The Coddling of the American Mind

***Politics and Social Psychology

Christopher Federico – The Psychology of Political Behavior

Lee Jussim – Stereotype Accuracy and Biased Science (note: the audio quality on this episode isn’t as good as later episodes)

Arthur Sakomoto – Asian Americans’ Educational Attainment

***History

Kevin Kruse – America’s Fault Lines

Julian Zelizer – Polarization and U.S. History