Kelly McGonigal is a psychologist whose work shows us how to experience hope, connection, and meaning—even when life is difficult.

She is a lecturer at Stanford University and the author of the international bestseller The Willpower Instinct, The Upside of Stress, and The Joy of Movement.

Her TED talk “How to Make Stress Your Friend”—which reveals how stress can be a catalyst for courage and compassion—is one of the most viewed TED talks of all time.

Through the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, she helped create the Stanford Compassion Cultivation Training, a program now taught worldwide to deepen people’s experience of empathy, self-compassion, and social connection.

The Covid-19 pandemic inspired her to help people find hope and connection through joy, including launching The Joy Collective book club for Literati, creating The Joy Workout for The New York Times, and hosting conversations about the power of joy for communities around the world.