Arthur Brooks (@arthurbrooks) is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness. He is also the host of the weekly podcast Office Hours with Arthur Brooks and a columnist at The Atlantic, where he writes the popular weekly “How to Build a Life” column.
Brooks is the author of 15 books, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers, Build the Life You Want, co-authored with Oprah Winfrey, and From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. His next book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness, will be released on March 31, 2026.
Please enjoy!
This episode is brought to you by:
- Humann’s SuperBeets Sport for endurance and recovery
- Monarch track, budget, plan, and do more with your money
- AG1 all-in-one nutritional supplement
- Coyote the card game, which I co-created with Exploding Kittens
Additional podcast platforms
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Audible, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Transcripts
- This episode (coming soon)
- All episodes
SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE
Books
- The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness by Arthur C. Brooks
- From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur C. Brooks
- Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
- Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher Keltner
- The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World by Iain McGilchrist
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- A Collaboration with Nature by Andy Goldsworthy
Supplements
Tools/Devices
Concepts
- Brahma Muhurta
- Arthur Brooks’s morning routine
- PANAS (“Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule”)
- Meaning in Life Questionnaire
People
- Bill Ackman
- Peter Attia
- Marcus Aurelius
- Johann Sebastian Bach
- Raymond Babbitt
- Dave Baszucki
- Tom Brady
- Dale Carnegie
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
- Anthony de Mello
- Rhett Diessner
- Mauro Di Pasquale
- Dan Duchaine
- E.T.
- Andy Galpin
- Ernest Hemingway
- Napoleon Hill
- Sherlock Holmes
- Andrew Huberman
- Saint Irenaeus
- William James
- Dacher Keltner
- Jack Kornfield
- Lord Krishna
- Iain McGilchrist
- Lisa Miller
- BJ Miller
- Ester Munt-Brooks
- Pablo Neruda
- Chuck Palahniuk
- Chris Palmer
- Rhonda Patrick
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Henry Shukman
- Nassim Taleb
- James Turrell
- David Foster Wallace
- Brad Wilcox
- Jocko Willink
- Rainn Wilson
- Oprah Winfrey
This episode is brought to you by Monarch! Traditional budgeting apps can help, but they don’t compare to the complete financial command center you get with this episode’s sponsor, Monarch. Monarch was named The Wall Street Journal’s Best Budgeting App of 2025, and it’s the top-recommended personal finance app by users and experts, with more than 30,000 5-star reviews. Get control of your overall finances with Monarch. Use code TIM at monarchmoney.com/Tim for half off your first year.
This episode is brought to you by Humann! I first learned about Humann’s endurance formula, SuperBeets Sport, a decade ago from a friend who’s a multiple-time world champion. More than 160 professional sports teams and college sports programs use SuperBeets Sport by Humann. Humann’s own clinical studies demonstrate up to an 18% increase in workout endurance. They’ve also shown a 7% improvement in lactate threshold and faster recovery during HIIT intervals. The formula is NSF Certified for Sport and uses concentrated beetroot powder with clinically-studied dietary nitrates to fuel nitric oxide production and power blood flow. Get 15% off your first order of SuperBeets Sport. First-time subscribers also receive a FREE month’s supply of sugar-free Humann Tart Cherry Gummies to support recovery and healthy inflammatory response.
This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. And right now, when you first subscribe to AG1, you’ll get an AG1 Welcome Kit, a bottle of Vitamin D3+K2, a Morning Person hat, AND you’ll get to try each new flavor of AG1 and their new sleep supplement, AGZ. That’s $126 in free gifts for new subscribers! Visit DrinkAG1.com/Tim to claim this special offer today
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