Happiness Break: How Poetry Helps Us Feel and Heal

What happens in your brain when you read or write a poem? We listen to powerful poetry from you, our listeners, and uncover the neuroscience of why it helps us feel, process, and recover. Scroll down for a transcription of this episode. Today’s Happiness Break Guest: SUSAN MAGSAMEN is a Neurology professor at John Hopkins, and author of the New York Times bestseller, Y our Brain On Art: How the Arts Transform Us . Find Susan’s book here: Related Happiness Break episodes: Using Art As Medicine Series: Making Space For You: How To Awaken Your Creative Energy: Related Science of Happiness episodes: How Art Heals Us: Our Brains on Poetry: Are You Following Your Inner Compass:

You can listen to Happiness Break: How Poetry Helps Us Feel and Heal online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Happiness Break: How Poetry Helps Us Feel and Heal is an episode from The Science of Happiness by PRX and Greater Good Science Center.

This episode is 17:15 long.

This episode was published on Mar 31, 2026.

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