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The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos Podcast
Forget Small Talk: Go Deep Instead

Forget Small Talk: Go Deep Instead

The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos vor 1 Monat

0:00

37:37

Most of us default to small talk. It's polite, familiar, and
feels like the safest way to start a conversation. But it may
also be one of the biggest barriers to genuine connection.

Dr. Laurie speaks with author and metal-health advocate Claire
Eastham about her month-long experiment replacing small talk with
deeper conversations while living with social anxiety. She
also chats with psychologist Nicholas Epley about why going
deeper often scares us, what research reveals about opening up,
and what happens when you tell a stranger about the last time you
cried.

Experts Mentioned:

Claire Eastham, author, blogger, and mental-health advocate

Nicholas Epley, Professor of Behavioral Science and Faculty
Director of the Roman Family Center for Decision Research at the
University of Chicago Booth School of Business

Arthur Aron, Professor of Psychology at the State University
of New York at Stony Brook

Elaine Aron, psychologist and author

Resources Mentioned:

We're All Mad Here: The No-Nonsense Guide to Living with
Social Anxiety, by Claire Eastham (2016)

A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected
Happiness, Health, and Connection, by Nicholas Epley (2026)

“The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A
Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings,” by Arthur Aron, Edward
Melinat, Elaine Aron, Robert Darrin Vallone, and Renee Bator
(Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 1997)

Related Episodes:

“The Surprising Case for Oversharing”

“Make Vulnerability Your Superpower (with NBA Star Kevin
Love)”

“Harnessing People Around us to Feel Happier (Live with Ethan
Kross)”

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