TED Talks Daily
Want TED Talks on the go? Everyday, this feed brings you our latest talks in audio format. Hear thought-provoking ideas on every subject imaginable – from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between – given by the world's leading thinkers and doers. This collection of talks, given at TED and TEDx conferences around the globe, is also available in video format. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Recent Episodes
What if the path to peace starts with self-interest? After four decades inside some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, mediator Hiba Qasas has learned that most peacebuilding efforts get it...
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You can't just "find" motivation, says scientist Ayelet Fishbach — you have to learn how to motivate yourself. She shares a handful of tips backed by 20 years of motivation research, offering surprisi...
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Behavioral scientist Ayelet Fishbach shares 20 years of research on motivation, revealing that it's not about willpower or strength, but about wisdom and knowledge. She provides practical strategies for setting goals you'll actually enjoy pursuing, sustaining motivation through the difficult middle periods, balancing multiple goals, and leveraging social support to achieve your aspirations.
- The Motivation Crisis and What Motivation Really Is
- Setting Goals You'll Actually Enjoy Pursuing
Do you feel like work is taking over your life? Guy Winch is a psychologist and author of the book Mind Over Grind: How to Break Free When Work Hijacks Your Life. In this episode, Anne sits down with ...
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Dr. Guy Winch, psychologist and author of 'Mind Over Grind,' joins host Anne Morris at TED 2026 to discuss how work hijacks our lives through burnout. They explore the autopilot state that depletes us, the science of recovery, and practical rituals to separate work from life. Winch shares his personal burnout story from his first year as a psychologist and offers brain hacks for leaders and individuals to protect mental health while maintaining productivity.
- The Hidden Ways Work Hijacks Our Lives
- The Science of Recovery: Why Vegging Out Doesn't Work
How to be smarter about the news | Ian Bremmer
May 23, 2026Political scientist Ian Bremmer has access to the rooms, conversations and world leaders who make the news of the day. So how does he stay on top of everything that’s going on? In conversation with TE...
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AI artist Mick Mahler has a counterintuitive take: the more powerful the machines get, the less the technology actually matters. Showing delightful examples of his own art, from jazz-playing spiders t...
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AI filmmaker Mick Mahler explores how AI filmmaking tools are revolutionizing content creation while arguing that human vision and storytelling remain paramount. Drawing from his experiments with AI video generation, he demonstrates that as technical barriers disappear, authentic creativity and original vision become more valuable than ever in distinguishing meaningful content from AI-generated 'slop.'
- The Journey from Early AI Experiments to Cutting-Edge Filmmaking
- The Threat and Promise of Unlimited Possibility
How I set myself free | Keke Palmer
May 21, 2026Multihyphenate entertainer Keke Palmer has mastered the art of performing — on stage and off. But she realized the skills that carried her family out of poverty might be the very thing keeping her tra...
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Kiki Palmer shares her journey from childhood star to successful entertainer, revealing how survival strategies that lifted her family out of poverty eventually became patterns that trapped her. She explores the cost of becoming her family's breadwinner at a young age, performing both on and off stage, and how becoming a mother helped her recognize when survival mode had outlived its purpose. Her powerful message examines how systems we build to survive can keep us from truly living.
- Growing Up in Robbins, Illinois
- Early Success and Shifting Dynamics
Streaming media gives us access to everything instantly, but at what cost? Music professor Tom Rizzuto traces the history of physical media — from CDs and vinyl to bone music (Soviet-era records press...
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Music professor Tom Rizzuto explores the significance of physical media in the digital age by tracing a fascinating historical connection from Cold War-era Soviet teenagers who bootlegged American music onto discarded X-ray plates to today's streaming platforms. While acknowledging the benefits of streaming services, Rizzuto argues that physical media provides permanence and protection against censorship in ways that digital platforms cannot guarantee. Through examples including Soviet 'bone music' and the near-loss of the classic film Nosferatu, he makes the case that preserving physical media should remain a priority as we navigate our evolving media landscape, ensuring that powerful art and ideas remain accessible regardless of corporate or governmental control.
- Introduction to Bone Music and Soviet Censorship
- The Streaming Revolution and Its Trade-offs
We are wired for connection, and yet many of us spend most of our lives avoiding it, says behavioral scientist Nicholas Epley. Drawing on decades of research into happiness, loneliness and well-being,...
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Life lessons from the DJ booth | ELEW
May 18, 2026Welcome to Club Reality, where no matter what life throws at you, the music never stops. In this talk and performance, musician ELEW shares his path from jazz pianist to DJ — and the unexpected philos...
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Sunday Pick: What are allergies — and how to get rid of them with Dr. Zachary Rubin | from TED Health
May 17, 2026On today's "Sunday Pick" on TED Talks Daily, we bring you an episode from TED Podcast TEDHealth. Does eating local honey help reduce your allergies through microexposure to local pollen? How effective...
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In this episode of TED Health, host Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider interviews Dr. Zachary Rubin, a double board-certified pediatrician and allergist-immunologist, about the science behind allergies. They explore how allergies work at a cellular level, debunk common myths like local honey treating allergies, discuss emerging treatments like oral immunotherapy, and examine how climate change is worsening allergy seasons. Dr. Rubin also shares insights from his social media work combating health misinformation and explains why allergies deserve to be taken more seriously as a public health issue.
- Understanding the Immune Response Behind Allergies
- The Real-World Impact of Allergies on Quality of Life
Why I love my bad days | Alexi Pappas
May 16, 2026One month before the Rio Olympics, runner Alexi Pappas couldn't hit her splits in practice. She was begging her watch to change its mind. Then her coach told her to take it off — and shared the best a...
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Olympic runner Alexi Pappas shares the transformative 'rule of thirds' - the idea that when chasing dreams, you should feel good a third of the time, okay a third, and crappy a third. This single piece of coaching wisdom helped her break a national record at the Rio Olympics and later shaped how she approaches everything from ultramarathons to filmmaking to mental health recovery. In conversation, Alexi opens up about befriending pain, recovering from severe depression by treating it like an athletic injury, and learning that you can commit to action even without belief.
- The Breaking Point and the Rule of Thirds
- Olympic Success and the Shift from Force to Expansion
Most managers give feedback. Few give feedback that actually works. Drawing on her background in psychology and executive coaching, Renee St Jacques breaks down what so many well-intentioned leaders g...
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Licensed psychologist and executive coach Renee Saint-Jacques explores how emotional intelligence (EQ) transforms workplace performance and leadership. Drawing from her career coaching hundreds of leaders, she introduces the 'Leadership Activated' framework—Connect, Correct, and Cultivate—three research-backed skills that help leaders build trust, guide behavior, and foster growth. Saint-Jacques argues that emotional intelligence isn't 'fluff' but rather the greatest strategy for achieving results, as work is only as good as our work with other people. She challenges leaders to break cycles of low EQ and create legacies defined not just by bottom-line goals, but by meaningful, human-centered impact.
- The Cost of Low Emotional Intelligence
- The Leadership Challenge: From Individual Contributor to Team Leader
Why humans should merge with AI | D Scott Phoenix
May 14, 2026Deep tech entrepreneur D. Scott Phoenix spent years building AI — now, he believes we're on the cusp of a profound merger between humans and machines. Reframing the AI debate through the lens of evolu...
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Scott draws a powerful parallel between ancient biological mergers and our current AI moment, arguing that humanity is on the cusp of merging with artificial intelligence just as cells merged with mitochondria 2 billion years ago. As a former AI company founder who sold to Google, he reveals that most AI leaders believe there's a 10% chance AI could kill most of humanity within 20 years, yet they're trapped in a race where stopping means being overtaken. His central thesis: we're already merging with AI through our devices, and this integration is inevitable—but for humanity to survive this transition, we must stay merged with each other, as major transitions fail when the parts break apart before they can adapt.
- The Ancient Merger That Made Us Possible
- Major Transitions and the Coming AI Merger
Leadership expert Melissa M. Mikus breaks down why most workplace friction isn't about personality clashes or bad intentions — it's about not knowing how to effectively communicate. Her solution? A sm...
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Leadership expert Melissa M. Mikus addresses the costly problem of workplace miscommunication, which causes U.S. businesses to lose $1.2 trillion annually. Through personal stories of simple messages gone wrong, she introduces the concept of a 'communication style tag'—a brief addition to email signatures and profiles that explains how you best communicate and work. This zero-cost solution helps teams avoid misunderstandings, build trust, and work more effectively by making communication preferences visible and accessible.
- The Cost of a Simple Miscommunication
- The Trillion-Dollar Communication Problem
Creator Maya Higa is on a mission to use the internet to build the next generation of conservationists. Her virtual education center, Alveus Sanctuary, is one of the most-watched sanctuaries on Earth,...
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Content creator and conservationist Maya Higa shares her innovative approach to wildlife conservation by building Alveus Sanctuary, an animal rescue facility in Austin, Texas that nobody visits in person. Instead, she leverages social media and live streaming to reach millions globally, turning the internet into a powerful conservation tool. Through her journey from college zookeeper to founder of a sanctuary funded entirely by online supporters, she demonstrates how digital platforms can create accessible, engaging conservation education while keeping rescued animals stress-free and building the next generation of environmentalists.
- From Zookeeper to Streaming Pioneer
- The Crazy Fundraising Vision That Worked
What if we could solve the problem of fatal car accidents? Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana joins TED's Sal Khan to explore why fully autonomous vehicles (where you never have to touch the wheel) could e...
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Waymo CEO Takedra Malakar discusses the current state of autonomous driving technology with Sal Khan, revealing how Waymo has achieved superhuman safety performance with over 10 times fewer injury-causing crashes than human drivers. The conversation explores Waymo's massive scale of operations across 11 U.S. cities, the challenge of overcoming public complacency about road deaths, and the transformative potential of autonomous vehicles to reshape urban spaces and save hundreds of thousands of lives globally.
- Waymo's Current Scale and Safety Performance
- The Unacceptable Status Quo of Road Deaths
Sunday Pick: How Adam Grant uses data and intuition to make life decisions | from WorkLife with Molly Graham
May 10, 2026Most of us assume data-driven people make data-driven decisions. Not quite. Adam Grant has built a career helping others think more clearly — but when it comes to his own career, the most important ca...
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Forget the corporate ladder — winners take risks | Molly Graham (re-release and interview)
May 09, 2026Success in your career looks different for everyone — but no matter your industry, you'll need to take risks. Company and community builder Molly Graham took to the TED stage two years ago to share th...
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In this episode of TED Talks Daily, Molly Graham discusses her viral 2024 TED Talk about building careers through risk-taking rather than traditional ladder-climbing. As the new host of TED's WorkLife podcast, she shares insights on embracing being a beginner, managing the emotional side of work, distinguishing between good and bad fear, and reinventing yourself at midlife. The conversation explores how to navigate career decisions authentically, separate personal programming from genuine desires, and find meaning in work during uncertain times.
- The Illusion of the Stairs and Jumping Off Cliffs
- Three Skills for Getting Good at Cliff Jumping
When is the last time you did absolutely nothing for 10 whole minutes? Not texting, talking or even thinking? Mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe describes the transformative power of doing just that: ...
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Andy Puddicombe, co-founder of Headspace and former Buddhist monk, delivers a compelling case for meditation in modern life. In this 2012 TED talk, he argues that just 10 minutes of daily meditation can transform how we experience life by helping us step back from constant mental distraction. Drawing from his personal journey from stressed student to monk, Puddicombe explains that meditation isn't about stopping thoughts or controlling the mind, but rather about being present and witnessing thoughts without judgment. He demonstrates that while we spend 47% of our time lost in thought—a direct cause of unhappiness—we can cultivate mindfulness through simple, practical techniques that require no special equipment or postures.
- The Problem of Modern Distraction
- A Personal Journey to Meditation
In November 2025, Neal Kumar Katyal was asked to do what no US Supreme Court litigator had ever done: convince the justices to strike down a sitting president's signature initiative. After enlisting t...
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Neal Katyal shares the behind-the-scenes story of arguing one of the most significant Supreme Court cases in a century, challenging President Trump's $4 trillion tariff initiative. He reveals how he combined human wisdom with AI technology, working with four unlikely teachers—a sports psychologist, an AI system, an improv coach, and a meditation coach—to prepare for and win a case that legal scholars deemed impossible. The talk explores the irreplaceable role of human connection in an age of artificial intelligence.
- The High-Stakes Challenge: Arguing the Impossible Case
- Teacher One: Ben and the Power of Reframing