. >>> we welcome comedienne paula poundstotone to this program, t self-proclaimed doubting thomas determined to find the secret to lasting happiness and tried a series of experiments in that quest. she shares her findings in a new book titled "the totally unscientific study of the search for human happiness." i am delighted to have paula poundstone on this program. >> thanks so much for having me. >> good to see you again. why self-proclaimed doubting thomas? >> my book is a series of experiments, as you say, doing things this i or other people thought would make me happy. and every chapter is written as an experiment with a hypothesis and the conditions and the variables and hopefully the funniest field notes ever written. but the question for me wasn't whether i would enjoy doing something, the question was what could i do that would give me, you know, a little lasting something, you know what i mean, like when i finished doing it i would have an umbrella, so to speak, for the inevitable rains of one's daily life. the story of raising a house full of kids and animals and being a standup co