Barnaby Marsh

Creator and host of the podcast The Gratitude Diaries and New York Times bestselling author Janice Kaplan examines the phenomenon of luck--and discovers the exciting ways you can grab opportunities and make luck for yourself every day. After spending a year researching and experiencing gratitude for The Gratitude Diaries, Janice Kaplan is back to tackle another big, mysterious influence in all … Janice Kaplan is back to tackle another big, mysterious influence in all our lives: luck.

A woman named Ann Hodges was at her home in Sylacauga, Alabama, one day in 1954, napping on the couch under a big quilt, when a hunk of black rock crashed through the ceiling and hit her on the thigh. With that (unlucky) burst from the sky, she became the only confirmed person in history to have been hit by a meteorite.

iStock Being lucky in love isn’t like being struck by lightning — it’s a lot less random (and painful). Psychologist Barry Schwartz and biological anthropologist Helen Fisher share their opinions on the subject. “A lucky relationship is created, not discovered,” Barry Schwartz said when Barnaby and I called him one morning. A longtime professor at Swarthmore, Schwartz became nationally known for his surprising research on choice (TED Talk: The paradox of choice).