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
We all have a "thing" — the way we act when we're not at our best that we somehow can't see in ourselves. Leadership expert Chris Wheatley learned about his when his best friend at work called him on ...
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Leadership expert Chris Wheatley shares a transformative lesson about feedback: we focus too much on giving it well and not enough on receiving it well. After his best friend at work told him he made her feel stupid during arguments, Chris learned to create psychological safety by responding to hard feedback with gratitude and openness. He introduces the TACT method (Thankfulness, Acknowledgement, Commitment, Thankfulness) for receiving feedback in ways that encourage people to be honest with us, demonstrating how this approach transformed his professional relationships, marriage, parenting, and relationship with his sister.
- The Wake-Up Call: Difficult Feedback from a Best Friend
- Recognizing Patterns: The Arrogance Problem
Neutrality can get you through a tough conversation, but it rarely gets you anywhere. Joshua Johnson, actor/anchor for “The Onion” and former NPR host, makes the case instead for objectivity — parking...
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In this TED Talk, broadcast journalist Joshua Johnson challenges the conventional approach to dealing with difficult people and contentious conversations. Drawing from over 20 years of experience hosting tough discussions on NPR, Johnson argues that neutrality creates harmful distance, while objectivity—moving closer to understand rather than judge—leads to more meaningful dialogue. He shares personal stories from his journalism career to illustrate how shifting from interrogation to exploration can reveal the humanity behind polarizing viewpoints.
- The Problem with Neutrality in Difficult Conversations
- A Missed Opportunity: The Confederate Monument Interview
No one loves to lose. But even if you are a GOAT on a great AND lucky team (and sure, we can debate about who the GOAT is – drop us a line at [email protected]), no one wins every time. So how do peop...
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This Good Sport podcast episode explores the psychology of winning and losing through the experiences of WNBA Hall of Famer Nikki McRae, who played on teams with devastating losing records including a 3-27 season. Through conversations with McRae and neuroscientist Ian Robertson, the episode reveals how maintaining professionalism, routine, and team culture helps athletes persevere through losses, while exploring the winner effect and the neuroscience behind why losing feels like physical pain.
- The Paradox of Expecting to Win While Losing
- Professionalism as the Foundation for Perseverance
Six months into a catastrophic war in Iran — and with no end in sight for the war in Ukraine — the world is embroiled in conflicts with no apparent exit plan. In this interview, political scientist an...
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This episode of TED Explains the World features political scientist Ian Bremmer analyzing two major ongoing conflicts: the war between the United States and Iran, now in its sixth month, and the Russia-Ukraine war. Bremmer discusses why these conflicts persist, the strategies and miscalculations of world leaders, the economic costs to Americans and the global economy, and potential paths forward for both situations.
- The Ongoing US-Iran Conflict: A War of Leverage
- Restraint Amid Conflict: Why the War Hasn't Escalated to Total War
Is authoritarianism winning, or is democracy just failing to deliver? Communications strategist Sally Kohn lays out how democracy has evolved before and why it must evolve again, into what she calls "...
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Political commentator Sally Cohn delivers a provocative TED talk arguing that democracy's survival depends on delivering economic opportunity, not just political rights. She introduces the concept of 'Democracy 3.0' - the idea that democratic outcomes should be as equitable as democratic processes. Drawing on global research, Cohn contends that income inequality is the primary driver of democratic backsliding worldwide, and makes the case for economic justice measures like unions, wealth taxes, and universal healthcare as essential tools for strengthening democracy itself.
- The Wrong Question About Authoritarianism
- Democracy's Crisis: The Numbers
How doodling unlocks your imagination | Joe Whale
Jul 30, 2026Artist Joe Whale used to get in trouble for doodling in class, until a local restaurant let him cover an entire wall with his artwork … and the internet took notice. He traces his unlikely beginning t...
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Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and pot...
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The meaning behind music | Wallis Bird
Jul 28, 2026Irish musician and songwriter Wallis Bird received her first guitar at six months old and has been chasing music ever since. After her TED2026 performance of three genre-bending original songs, Wallis...
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Irish musician and songwriter Wallace Bird shares her journey from receiving her first guitar at six months old to becoming a performer known for her boundless energy and cosmic connection to music. In this TED conversation with Anna Bulbrook, Wallace performs three original songs and discusses her approach to songwriting, activism, grief, and the transformative power of music to create culture and bring people together.
- The Origins of a Musical Life
- The Source of Boundless Energy
In a globe-trotting career that has spanned corporations, governments, nonprofits and philanthropy, Rosita Najmi has often found herself translating among them. Instead of focusing on leadership style...
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Rosita Najmi, an Iranian refugee who has lived and worked across more than 30 countries, shares her discovery that effective leadership isn't about mastering one fixed style—it's about becoming multilingual across different organizational sectors. Drawing from her experience in nonprofits, business, philanthropy, and public policy, she explains how the most successful leaders learn to translate and communicate across corporate, nonprofit, philanthropic, and government worlds. She illustrates this concept through the lens of gender equality, showing how multilingual leaders can bring different sectors together to address complex challenges like data, climate, and power.
- The Discovery of Leadership Languages
- The Limitations of Fixed Leadership Styles
Sunday Pick: The Office’s Rainn Wilson on meaning and happiness | ReThinking with Adam Grant
Jul 26, 2026Rainn Wilson was a late bloomer: he landed the role of Dwight Schrute on The Office after over a decade of struggling as an actor. But success didn’t solve all of his problems -- and it even created s...
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In this live episode of Rethinking with Adam Grant, actor Rainn Wilson shares his unlikely journey from struggling theater actor to playing Dwight Schrute on The Office. The conversation explores Wilson's decade of poverty before finding success at age 38, his mental health struggles despite achieving fame, and his deep dive into spirituality and philosophy. Wilson discusses his book Soul Boom, the search for meaning beyond work, climate activism, and his documentary series exploring happiness around the world. The episode includes an improvised scene where Adam Grant attempts to motivate Dwight Schrute, offering both humor and profound insights on success, mental health, and finding purpose.
- The Long Road to The Office
- Landing Dwight: The Perfect Audition
How does studying the end of time change your perspective of life on Earth? Cosmologist and TED Fellow Katie Mack joins designer and podcaster Debbie Millman to talk about the story of the cosmos — fr...
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Cosmologist Katie Mack joins Debbie Millman to discuss the intersection of theoretical physics, human creativity, and our place in the cosmos. From her childhood fascination with Stephen Hawking to her current work on dark matter and the end of the universe, Mack explores how physics is fundamentally an act of imagination. She shares insights about finding meaning in a temporary existence, the creative collaboration behind theoretical physics, and how studying incomprehensible cosmic scales has changed her relationship with time and purpose.
- From Apollo 11 to Aerobatics: Family Legacy and Finding Focus
- A 10-Year-Old Reading Hawking: The Origins of Cosmic Curiosity
Did progress on your next big project stall out? Transformation expert Mary Martin refers to this moment as the "messy middle" — the frustrating gap between starting and finishing a goal, when you mig...
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Mary Martin, a transformation expert at BCG, explores the concept of the 'messy middle' - that challenging phase in any transformation journey when initial optimism fades and the goal seems out of reach. Drawing from her work with business leaders and personal experiences, she argues that messiness isn't a sign of failure but rather an indicator of bold ambition. Martin provides practical strategies for navigating this difficult period by identifying 'glimmers of progress' in three key areas: business results, team dynamics, and personal leadership growth.
- Introduction: The Messy Middle Concept
- Why Messiness Indicates Bold Ambition
As a self-proclaimed radical street librarian, Storybook Maze makes books appear where they're scarce. Through initiatives like free, public book vending machines and street corner story times, she el...
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If you ate bread this week (or cooked with salt and oil), you probably benefited from something millions miss out on: food fortification. Social entrepreneur Felix Brooks-church is on a mission to sol...
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Felix Brooks Church shares the story of Sanku, a social enterprise he co-founded to combat hidden hunger—malnutrition affecting 3 billion people who have full stomachs but lack essential nutrients. Through an innovative device called a dosifier that adds vitamins and minerals to flour at local mills, Sanku has scaled to reach 75 million people daily across East Africa. Felix reveals how this solution not only helps millions globally but also transformed his own son Leo's life, who has autism and an extreme eating disorder. With a new ambitious vision to reach 1 billion people across 10 countries in the next decade, the talk demonstrates how simple, mechanical technology combined with systemic change can address massive global health challenges.
- The Hidden Hunger Crisis and Food Fortification Solution
- Building the Dosifier: From Prototype to Scalable Solution
Most of the technology powering life in Europe today — chatbots, the cloud, digital infrastructure — is owned by companies in the United States. Writer and curator Bruno Giussani makes the case that E...
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Netflix cofounder and Anthropic board member Reed Hastings joins TED's Sal Khan to give a look inside the race to build AI. Hear his take on how the technology could accelerate education — including t...
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Sunday Pick: Why you should try improv comedy (w/ Rick Andrews) | How to Be a Better Human
Jul 19, 2026What do radio personality Ira Glass, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and your host Chris Duffy have in common? They all have practiced an unexpected skill that makes them more human—improv comedy....
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In this episode of How to Be a Better Human, host Chris Duffy interviews master improv teacher Rick Andrews about how improvisation builds essential life skills beyond comedy. They explore how improv teaches managing uncertainty, authentic listening, building trust, and embracing playfulness. Through discussion and demonstrations of games like Alibi, Seven Things, and Fortunately/Unfortunately, they reveal how improv's core principles—presence, collaboration, and supporting others—translate into better communication, reduced anxiety, and stronger relationships in everyday life.
- The Power of Teaching Over Performing
- Managing Uncertainty and Letting Go of Control
Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love -- with a fish. In this ode to parrotfish, she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amaz...
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Marine biologist Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson shares her deep love for parrotfish and coral reefs, exploring five extraordinary traits of these remarkable creatures. From their ability to produce white sand through digestion to their fabulous color-changing abilities and hermaphroditic sex changes, parrotfish are ecological marvels. However, this love story carries profound heartache as overfishing and climate change threaten to destroy coral reef ecosystems within 30 years, endangering the hundreds of millions of people who depend on them for survival.
- The Journey to Marine Biology and Caribbean Conservation
- Five Incredible Traits of Parrotfish
The Mystery of Sea Creatures (2/5): A giant Jurassic sea dragon, unearthed | Dean R. Lomax
Jul 18, 2026Among the dinosaurs, giant sea dragons roamed the ancient ocean. Millions of years later, paleontologist Dean R. Lomax and his team freed the remains of one of these colossal creatures from the Earth....
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Paleontologist Dean Lomax shares the remarkable story of discovering and excavating Britain's largest and most complete ichthyosaur fossil at Rutland Water Nature Reserve. This 180-million-year-old sea dragon, found by chance during routine maintenance, represents one of the greatest finds in British paleontological history. The talk chronicles the meticulous 14.5-day excavation process, modern techniques like photogrammetry that revolutionize the field, and the global excitement generated by this extraordinary Jurassic giant.
- The Unexpected Discovery
- The February Exploratory Dig
What if we could hear nature's ultrasonic communication -- and talk back? From a bat's shrill speech to a peacock's infrasound mating call, conservation technology researcher Karen Bakker takes us thr...
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Karen Backer, a conservation technology researcher, explores how AI and bioacoustics are revolutionizing our understanding of non-human communication. From bats and orcas to coral larvae and even plants, she reveals the hidden acoustic world that exists beyond human hearing range and demonstrates how this technology is being used to decode animal languages, restore ecosystems, and protect endangered species.
- The Hidden Acoustic World Beyond Human Hearing
- Surprising Communication in Unexpected Species