TED Talks Daily

Rha Goddess is an entrepreneurial soul coach and author of the new book "Intentional Ambition: Redefining Your Work for Greater Joy, Freedom, and Fulfillment." In this TED Talks Daily Book Club interview with host Elise Hu, Goddess talks about moving forward after the 2020 pandemic and how you can center your life around joy and mental wellbeing. She lays out the three stages to renegotiate your relationship to work in order to dis...

Have you had your daily dose of fun? It's not just enjoyable, it's also essential for your health and happiness, says science journalist Catherine Price. She proposes a new definition of fun -- what she calls "true fun" -- and shares easy, evidence-backed ways to weave playfulness, flow and connection into your everyday life.

This episode originally aired on July 20, 2022.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea...

What if saving lives and growing a company went hand in hand? Public health expert Myriam Sidibe thinks many businesses are going about social impact all wrong — and leaving millions of dollars on the table at the same time. Drawing from decades of experience, she reveals a playbook for brands to create real impact, proving that what’s good for society can be great for business.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the I...

Headlines often reduce migration to crisis and controversy, leaving out the bigger picture that movement is a natural, even necessary part of who we are. As borders tighten and debates intensify, journalist Sonia Shah and professor Zeke Hernandez unravel our historical understanding of migration and examine immigration's impact on creating resilient, safe and economically flourishing societies.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk...

It's a hard nut to crack: in order to prevent food waste, we rely on plastic packaging and refrigeration, which harm the environment. What if we could turn to nature to address these challenges? Engineer and chemist Jenny Du shares how a simple plant-based innovation — using the same elements found in fruit and vegetable peels — can extend the shelf life of produce, while also fighting food waste and spurring a healthier, more sust...

Does the world still need classical music? What about orchestras? In this gorgeous talk and performance, violinist Joshua Bell and the Chamber Orchestra of America play selections of classical music masterpieces — from Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and more — sharing why this art form remains a singularly unifying force.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: t...

Over the last 40 years, Brazil has lost an area larger than California to deforestation — and 90 percent of the clear-cutting has been illegal, all part of a multi-billion-dollar global environmental crime economy. Civic entrepreneur Ilona Szabó de Carvalho sees this crisis as an opportunity. Revealing how Brazil is pioneering an economic model actually profiting from protecting nature, she shares the ambitious restoration goals an...

Competitive sports give athletes structure, community and purpose. And an outlet for their passion. So what happens when, because of injury or age, they can’t play anymore? Does the competitive drive find a new home? Or get slowly extinguished? Jody talks to aging expert Tracey Gendron, Olympian, turned chef, Dawn Burrell, and soccer legend Carli Lloyd about finding grace and direction when closing a chapter. Transcripts for Good S...

Does venting actually help you cool off, or does it just add fuel to the fire? Social psychologist Jennifer Parlamis busts common myths about anger, showing how curiosity — not catharsis — can keep you calm. Discover the surprising science behind anger management and four practical tools for building stronger relationships from a researcher who’s rethinking Freud, one deep breath at a time.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fi...

What if ending food insecurity meant ditching charity models that haven’t been updated since the 1960s? Dion Dawson, TED Fellow and founder of Dion’s Chicago Dream, shares how he turned a spontaneous idea for giving back to his community into a thriving social enterprise, delivering top-quality produce to thousands of Chicago households every week and reaching a million dollars in revenue in just 18 months. He’s proving that it’s p...

The real lever of a meaningful life isn’t intelligence or hustle — it’s personal agency, says Cate Hall, former Supreme Court attorney and once the world’s top-ranked female poker player. Sharing her journey from the throes of addiction to leading a multibillion-dollar foundation, Hall shares tactical wisdom for increasing your ability to see and act on life's hidden degrees of freedom, showing how even the most trapped among us ca...

In an enchanting talk and performance, singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Yijia Tu traces a path from the world’s biggest stages to a family lullaby passed down through the generations, showing how music carries memory across centuries and cultures. Blending East Asian folk traditions into modern sound, she shows how honoring tradition isn’t worshiping ashes — it’s keeping the fire alive.

For a chance to give your own TED ...

Are you unemployed, or just an entrepreneur who doesn’t know it yet? Drawing on a decade of experience building a social platform that connects self-employed pioneers in the informal economy, social entrepreneur Anuj Tanna unpacks three surprising levers — from identity shifts to “jungle‑gym” career paths — that could help you pick up the mindset and moves you need to spot opportunity, build trust and grow your earning power.

For a ...

Common knowledge is the secret engine of social life, letting us coordinate everything from meet-ups to markets to international diplomacy. In this fascinating talk, experimental cognitive scientist Steven Pinker explores its momentous impact, threading together stories of why autocrats fear blank signs, why central bankers mumble and why saying the quiet part out loud can wreck a friendship. With wit and wisdom, he invites us to b...

In this season of WorkLife, we’re pairing each of our regular episodes with a companion interview to do a deeper dive into the topic. This is the deeper dive for our episode on how to say no. Linda Babcock is a professor emerita of economics at Carnegie Mellon and co-author of “The No Club,” a club of people who help each other set boundaries. Linda and Adam share some of their personal struggles and lessons with around no, discuss...

Growing up in the public eye, multi-hyphenate creator Bryce Dallas Howard experienced the familiar pressure to share her life with the world on social media. But with her mother's steadfast guidance, Howard learned to set personal boundaries and savor the beauty of private moments. In this personal talk, she draws on three generations of family wisdom to remind us that "a private life makes a public life worth living."

This epis...

Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning textile waste into $9-per-pound yarn and factory workers into business owners. Discover how her long-haul approach is rebuilding rural economies stitch by stitc...

What makes music “real” — is it the instruments, the voice, the creator’s intention or something else entirely? Dustin Ballard, the creative force behind the viral channel “There I Ruined It,” explores the weird, wonderful and sometimes unsettling ways AI is reshaping music. With fiddle solos and AI-powered mashups of your favorite songs, he invites us to ask: Are new tools fostering creativity, or just making noise?

For a chance to...

With humor and hard science, obstetrician and gynecologist Jaime Seeman reveals why building muscle is one of the best ways to combat women’s top health risks. Learn the truth behind three weightlifting myths that prevent women from getting serious about strength training — and why your future self will thank you for picking up those dumbbells.

For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.co...