What are Mike and Angela’s favorite songs to cry to? Can upbeat music lift you out of a bad mood? And what is Angela going to sing the next time she does karaoke?

• SOURCES:
  • Matthew Desmond, professor of sociology at Princeton University.
  • Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
  • Joshua Knobe, professor of philosophy, psychology, and linguistics at Yale University.
  • Simon McCarthy-Jones, professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin.
  • Yael Millgram, senior lecturer of psychological sciences at Tel Aviv University.
  • Stanley Milgram, 20th-century American social psychologist.
  • Ruth Reichl, food writer.
  • Laurie Santos, professor of psychology at Yale University.
  • Barbara Tversky, professor emerita of psychology at Stanford University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "On the Value of Sad Music," by Mario Attie-Picker, Tara Venkatesan, George E. Newman, and Joshua Knobe (The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 2024).
  • "The Reason People Listen to Sad Songs," by Oliver Whang (The New York Times, 2023).
  • "Adele 30: The Psychology of Why Sad Songs Make Us Feel Good," by Simon McCarthy-Jones (The Conversation, 2021).
  • "Why Do Depressed People Prefer Sad Music?" by Sunkyung Yoon, Edelyn Verona, Robert Schlauch, Sandra Schneider, and Jonathan Rottenberg (Emotion, 2020).
  • Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, by Matthew Desmond (2016).
  • "Sad as a Matter of Choice? Emotion-Regulation Goals in Depression," by Yael Millgram, Jutta Joormann, Jonathan D. Huppert, and Maya Tamir (Psychological Science, 2015).
  • "Music and Emotion Through Time," by Michael Tilson Thomas (TED Talk, 2012).
  • Thinking, Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (2011).

• EXTRAS:
  • Girl Power Sing-Along with Laurie Santos and Catherine Price, at the Black Squirrel Club in Philadelphia (September 28, 2024).
  • "What Makes a Good Sense of Humor?" by No Stupid Questions (2024).
  • "How Contagious Is Behavior? With Laurie Santos of 'The Happiness Lab' (Replay)," by No Stupid Questions (2023).

What is the evolutionary purpose of laughter? What’s the difference between Swedish depression and American depression? And why aren’t aliens interested in abducting Mike?

• SOURCES:
  • Jennifer Aaker, professor of marketing at Stanford University.
  • Judd Apatow, film director, screenwriter, and comedian.
  • Fredrik Backman, author.
  • Naomi Bagdonas, lecturer in management at Stanford University.
  • James Corden, actor, comedian, and former late-night television host.
  • Dick Costolo, former C.E.O. of Twitter.
  • Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford University.
  • Jimmy Fallon, comedian and late-night television host.
  • Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus of psychology and public affairs at Princeton University.
  • Jimmy Kimmel, comedian and late-night television host.
  • Larry LaPrise, 20th-century American singer-songwriter.
  • Jerry Seinfeld, comedian, actor, and writer.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Fredrik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination," by Fredrik Backman (Simon & Schuster Centennial Celebration, 2024).
  • "The Relative Importance of Joke and Audience Characteristics in Eliciting Amusement," by Hannes Rosenbusch, Anthony M. Evans, and Marcel Zeelenberg (Psychological Science, 2022).
  • "The 100-Million-Year Origin Story of Laughter and Humor," by Dean Russell (Endless Thread, 2022).
  • Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And How Anyone Can Harness It. Even You.), by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas (2021).
  • "What Makes Things Funny? An Integrative Review of the Antecedents of Laughter and Amusement," by Caleb Warren, Adam Barsky, and A. Peter McGraw (Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2020).
  • Sick in the Head: Conversations About Life and Comedy, by Judd Apatow (2015).
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (1936).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Can A.I. Take a Joke?" by Freakonomics Radio (2023).
  • "The Comedian-Ophthalmologist Will See You Now," by Freakonomics, M.D. (2022).
  • There's Something About Mary, film (1998).

Also: are the most memorable stories less likely to be true? Stephen Dubner chats with Angela Duckworth in this classic episode from July 2020.

• SOURCES:
  • Pearl S. Buck, 20th-century American novelist.
  • Jack Gallant, professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • Steve Levitt, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Chicago, host of People I (Mostly) Admire, and co-author of the Freakonomics books.
  • George Loewenstein, professor of economics and psychology at Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Deborah Small, professor of marketing at Yale University.
  • Adin Steinsaltz, rabbi, philosopher, and author.
  • Diana Tamir, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Princeton University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "The Representation of Semantic Information Across Human Cerebral Cortex During Listening Versus Reading Is Invariant to Stimulus Modality," by Fatma Deniz, Anwar O. Nunez-Elizalde, Alexander G. Huth and Jack L. Gallant (Journal of Neuroscience, 2019).
  • "Reading Fiction and Reading Minds: The Role of Simulation in the Default Network," by Diana Tamir, Andrew B. Bricker, David Dodell-Feder, and Jason P. Mitchell (Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2016).
  • Think Like a Freak, by Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt (2014).
  • SuperFreakonomics, by Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt (2009).
  • Encyclopedia of Ethical Failure, by the Department of Defense (2009).
  • "Stories or Statistics? Farmers' Attitudes Toward Messages in an Agricultural Safety Campaign," by S. E. Morgan, H. P. Cole, T. Struttmann, and L. Piercy (Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 2002).
  • "Explaining the Identifiable Victim Effect," by Karen Jenni and George Loewenstein (Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 1997).
  • "Explanation-Based Decision Making: Effects of Memory Structure on Judgment," by N. Pennington and R. Hastie (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1988).
  • The Good Earth, by Pearl S. Buck (1931).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Abortion and Crime, Revisited (Update)," by Freakonomics Radio (2022).
  • "This Is Your Brain on Podcasts," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).