The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos The Surprising Case for Oversharing

We’re kicking off a new season of The Happiness Lab with some happiness hot takes — bold claims that challenge conventional wisdom about what it really takes to feel happier. Today’s hot take is all about oversharing.

We’re usually told that revealing too much is cringe-worthy. That it demonstrates social ignorance. That when it comes to overly personal information, save it for your therapist, because less is usually more.

Dr. Laurie argues that revealing more than feels comfortable can actually strengthen our social connections and boost our wellbeing. She speaks with Harvard Business School professor Leslie John, author of Revealing, about why TLI (too little information) is often more dangerous than TMI, and chats with University of Chicago psychologist Nick Epley, author of A Little More Social, about what “embracing the cringe” can teach us about connection, vulnerability, and trust. 

Together, they explore the line between sharing and oversharing, and explain why what feels like “too much information” is often just information.

Experts Mentioned: 

• Leslie John, James. E. Burke Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
• Nick Epley, John Templeton Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Faculty Director of the Roman Family Center for Decision Research at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business
• Bronnie Ware, author and palliative carer 

Resources Mentioned:

• Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing, by Leslie John (2026)
• “Putting feelings into words: Affect labeling as implicit emotion regulation” by Jared Torre and Matthew Lieberman (Emotion Review, 2018)
• The Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing, by Bronnie Ware (2011)
• A Little More Social: How Small Choices Create Unexpected Happiness, Health, and Connection, by Nick Epley (2026)
• “Undervaluing gratitude: Expressers misunderstand the consequences of showing appreciation,” by Amit Kumar and Nick Epley (Psychological Science, 2018)
• “Insufficiently complimentary?: Underestimating the positive impact of compliments creates a barrier to expressing them” by Xuan Zhao and Nick Epley (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2021)

Related Episodes: 

• “The Secret to Making Friends as an Adult”
• “Why Giving is a Great Daily Habit”
• “Caring What You’re Sharing”