How to Be a Better Human

If you could switch places with someone and peek into their mind, who would you pick? For journalist Courtney Martin, she chose her aging dad with advanced dementia. Courtney joins Chris to talk about her deep desire to understand her father’s experiences, what it’s like to witness a loved one's health decline, and why it’s important to practice asking for help. This is a perfect episode to listen to if you’re taking care of a lov...

Many of us tend to prioritize our romantic and familial relationships over friendships — and that could be harming our wellbeing and health. In this special episode from our friends at A Slight Change of Plans, cognitive behavioral scientist and bestselling author Dr. Maya Shankar looks at how friendships expand our sense of self. Maya is joined by psychologist Dr. Marisa Franco, who offers research-based strategies to make new fri...

Love coach Francesca Hogi is dedicated to helping daters find “lasting love in the midst of a broken dating culture.” In this episode, Francesca shares her approach to analyzing romantic patterns and feeling more empowered in your love life. From discussing romantic manifestations to reflecting on bell hooks’ claim that humans are unskilled at love, Chris and Francesca talk about the ways you can be more open to finding love.

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How do you quieten the judgmental voice in your head? Educator and entrepreneur Anu Gupta suggests you actually listen to it.Anu joins Chris to discuss the effects of human biases on our psyche and how to combat self-destructive habits by swapping out harmful emotions with constructive thoughts. They also talk about how individuals, when they come together, can create a society that is anchored around a loving, not critical, cultu...

Many company cultures can feel stagnant and uninspiring, says designer Ben Swire, whose job is to help people take creative risks. Ben shares why icebreakers, compliments, and competitive bonding games can undermine workplace camaraderie. Later Ben shares how he finds success leaning into creativity and provides five activities for more meaningful connections.

Host & Guest

Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | https://chrisd...

Kevin Townley is a meditation teacher. But he’s also a comedian who leads museum tours and an actor whose career spans Men in Black 3 and Law & Order. In today’s episode, Kevin talks about how to practice the art of looking and the deep Buddhist wisdom that can be found in every museum. Inspired by his book Look, Look, Look, Look, Look Again: Buddhist Wisdom Reflected in 26 Artists, Kevin shows Chris how letting go of judgmen...

Can our dogs feel guilt? Or have they successfully trained us with their puppy eyes to win a treat and extra kibble? Alexandra Horowitz is a researcher and head of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College; she joins Chris to chat about how dogs make us laugh and ways to be more present in life.

For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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For the past five seasons, host Chris Duffy has been interviewing guests from psychotherapist Dr. Orna Guralnik to poet Sarah Kay to author Andrew Leland and more on how they work to become better humans. In this special episode kicking off season 6, Chris is now in the hot seat. Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR’s TED Radio Hour, joins as guest host to interview Chris on finding joy and how a 5th grader taught Chris humor. They also d...

After a mysterious wave of tics and twitches swept through a small-town high school in New York, documentary podcaster Dan Taberski set out to investigate what was really happening. Drawing on extensive research and intimate interviews with the people involved, he explores the roots of mass hysteria — and what it reveals about the line between illness and belonging. What happens when the very thing that makes us sick ... is also wh...

Relationships of any kind can be tricky—but therapists are here to help. In this special episode, Anne and Frances talk to clinical psychologist Dr. Orna Guralnik, star of the hit show Couples Therapy, to translate her advice for romantic relationships to the professional world. Together, they discuss the art of deep listening, underline the importance of patience and working through differences, and reframe relationships as a cons...

Many of us are entering the new year with a similar goal — to build community and connect more with others. To kick off season five, Priya Parker shares ideas on how to be the host with the most. An expert on building connection, Priya is the author of “The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.” Whether it's a book club, wedding, birthday or niche-and-obscurely themed party, Priya and Chris talk about how to create mean...

Remember those fun high school superlatives like the “Class Clown” or the “Biggest Flirt”? In this special How to Be a Better Human season finale, you will be hearing from our previous guest Dallas Youth Poet Laureate Naisha Randhar and our team of editors, marketers, producers, fact-checkers and more on their favorite episodes this year. 

How to Be a Better Human 2025 Superlatives

• Most Likely to Make You Rethink Your Pl...

Money can buy you happiness – but not in the way we think. Giving money away – especially to help others – has been shown make us happier than spending on ourselves.

Social psychologist Lara Aknin explains the best ways to spend on loved ones, friends and even total strangers to get the biggest happiness bang for your buck.

And Harvard’s Josh Greene reveals how much money Happiness Lab listeners gave to charity via Giving Mul...

What makes a hometown home, and how do you find community? Sarah Kay is a spoken word poet and author of the latest poetry collection, A Little Daylight Left. Sarah and Chris grew up in New York City where the energetic and diverse community shaped their lives. They discuss how to find belonging in new neighborhoods, how to focus on creating art and being empathetic when it feels like the world is chaotic, and how to take note of t...

If you remove ingredients like dairy, wheat, flour, cane sugar, beef, pork, and chicken from your diet—then what do you eat? For Sioux chef Sean Sherman, excluding colonial ingredients from his cuisines gives him the opportunity to spotlight indigenous produce and uplift local communities. Sean is the owner of the James Beard Award-winning restaurant Owamni in Minneapolis. Sean joins Chris to discuss the philosophy behind his indig...

Where do you belong and what does community mean to you? These are the central questions Chris asks poet and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib while visiting Hanif’s hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Hanif is a poet and essayist of many notable works such as They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us, A Fortune for Your Disaster, and A Little Devil in America, among others. Hanif joins Chris to share his love for the city Columbus, what it mea...

“All couples fight. In fact, how they fight in the first three minutes predicts with 96% accuracy not only how the rest of the conversation will go, but how the rest of the relationship will go six years down the road,” says relationship expert Dr. Julie Gottman. Dr. Julie and John Gottman are founders of the Gottman Institute and the Love Lab where they study how to sustain love and health in relationships. They join Chris to disc...

Edith Zimmerman is a sketchbook cartoonist and writer of the Substack newsletter, Drawing Links. In this episode, she joins Chris to talk about honesty and self-discovery. From sharing her artwork to discussing her sobriety journey to falling in love with running, Edith and Chris explore how creativity and pursuing new activities can help you overcome personal challenges.

This episode is part of the How to Be a Better Human Bonu...

Did you know that you start losing bone AND muscle mass as soon as the age of thirty? Or that your fingers and toes don’t have muscles? Or how women in Scotland are starting to compete in the lighting of Dinnie Stones – which weighs 733 pounds?! These are topics that Chris discussed with Bonnie Tsui, author of the book On Muscle: The Stuff That Moves Us and Why It Matters. They also discuss what strength and weightlifting means in ...