A Toolkit for a Noisy Mind: How John Green Manages Anxiety, Depression, and Intrusive Thoughts

Plus, how the bestselling author writes his way out of despair.

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of books including Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, and The Anthropocene Reviewed. With his brother, Hank, John has co-created many online video projects, including Vlogbrothers and the educational channel Crash Course. His most recent book is Everything Is Tuberculosis.

In this episode we talk about:

John's toolkit for managing thought spirals and dispair
Why he wrote a whole book about the thing that terrifies him
How he maintains hope in a chaotic and unfair world
Finding the "self"
Shame reduction through naming
What John learned from his time as a chaplain in a pediatric hospital
His current view of God
And the question of how much––or how little––we should be sharing about ourselves with other people

Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Join Dan and Emmy Award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert at 92NY on May 17th for a live conversation about how mindfulness can deepen connection and combat loneliness, available in person and via streaming. Register here.

Join Dan, Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren for Meditation Party, a 3-day immersive retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, October 16–18, 2026. Register here.

This episode is sponsored by:

Paleo Valley — 100% grass-fed beef sticks made without preservatives or additives. Get 15% off at https://www.paleovalley.com/happier or use code HAPPIER at checkout

Square — Business tools with AI, smart reporting, and payments all in one place. Get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://www.square.com/go/happier

Gainbridge — Guaranteed-rate financial products with no hidden fees. Learn more at https://www.gainbridge.com

LinkedIn Ads — Reach the right professionals with precision targeting. Spend $250 and get a $250 credit at http://www.linkedin.com/happier

To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1036)

Anxious? Confused? Powerless? A Four-Part Recipe for Staying Centered From a Buddhist Nun. | Ayya Anandabodhi

Reclaim your power from the news, booze, shopping, or denial. Ayya Anandabodhi is the spiritual director of Pārāyana Vihāra, a monastic residence in Port Townsend, WA. She was raised in Wales, in the ...

30 Jul 20251h 5min

Stop Caring What Other People Think About You | Bruce Hood

A happiness expert explains how to alter your ego, reduce self-consciousness, and boost "okayness". Bruce Hood has been a Professor of Developmental Psychology in Society at Bristol University sinc...

28 Jul 20251h 7min

Mayim Bialik on: Anxiety, Imagination, Manifestation, Faith, and the Best Time of Day to Meditate

Dan welcomed his friend, the actor, neuroscientist and podcaster Mayim Bialik, and her co-host Jonathan Cohen to Substack with a live conversation. They talked about anxiety – one of many things they ...

27 Jul 202550min

A Radical, Counterintuitive Stress Reliever with Alua Arthur | Staff Picks

We're bringing you some of our favorite gems from the archives, as chosen by our staff. This week, we're hearing from death doula Alua Arthur, as chosen by our managing producer Lauren Smith. Arthur h...

25 Jul 202515min

Is It Possible To Improve Your Personality? The Science Says Yes. Here's How To Do It. | Olga Khazan

Plus other intriguing questions answered such as: should you change your personality? What exactly is a personality anyway? Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic. Her new book is called Me...

23 Jul 20251h 7min

An Antidote to Overwhelm and Anger | Father Gregory Boyle

The attitude that can help you survive the Trump era. Gregory Boyle is an American Jesuit priest and the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, ...

21 Jul 20251h 1min

Am I Meditating Correctly? Am I Doing the Right Kind? | FAQ With Teacher-Of-The-Month Dawn Mauricio

A lot of us have questions about our meditation practice, but we may not have anybody to ask. Am I doing it right? Which kind of meditation should I be doing? How do I choose? Today, our Teacher of th...

20 Jul 202518min

How to Catch Unhelpful Thoughts Before They Take Over with Bhikkhu Bodhi | Staff Picks

We're bringing you some of our favorite gems from the archives, as chosen by our staff. This week, we're hearing from Buddhist scholar and teacher Bhikkhu Bodhi, as chosen by Tara Anderson, one of our...

18 Jul 202521min