TED Talks Daily

Do you feel short on time? Writer and work expert Danielle Roberts would like to help you with that. In this quick talk, she makes the case that free time isn't a reward you earn but a civil right you're owed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Laura Smythe spent years in legacy newsrooms, and she thinks the habits journalists use to vet information should belong to all of us. Using Fyre Festival as a cautionary tale, she explains why media literacy is a vital skill in our age of deepfakes and algorithmic feeds — and describes the country that’s already found a way to start teaching it in elementary school. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Jessica Irwin is many things: a photographer, artist, author, performer. She also happens to be nonverbal, born with cerebral palsy that affects the muscles she needs to talk. Speaking through a device that turns her typed words into speech, she gives a sharp, funny and urgent reminder that being unable to speak has nothing to do with intelligence — and shares a few easy ways anyone can better com...

Urban planner James Rojas has led hundreds of workshops where participants creatively design their ideal communities with small objects — and he's noticed that people of every age, income and background build strikingly similar places. Through play and storytelling, he shows how we can use our childhood memories and imaginations to shape the places we live and love. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

With more information at our fingertips than ever before, learning should be getting easier ... yet the opposite seems to be true, says cognitive scientist Tania Lombrozo. Drawing on her research into how our minds understand and reason, she explores why more information can actually make learning harder — and shares the critical skill all great learners possess. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pri...

For all of human history, a baby's DNA was determined by chance at conception: the so-called genetic lottery. "That era is over," says Noor Siddiqui, whose company builds screening tools to read the whole genome of embryos in an effort to give parents more genetic information than standard IVF. She makes the case that this kind of technology helps families understand and reduce healt...

Monica Lewinsky is an anti-bullying activist and host of Reclaiming with Monica, a podcast that shines her guests’ unguarded conversations about how they make sense of the world. In this episode filmed in front of a live audience at TED 2026, Chris interviews Monica on how she finds healing throughout the years. They discuss the role of public shaming in an online world, the differences between ca...

Activist Leopoldo López learned the true value of freedom in a solitary confinement cell, when someone else decided if he would eat or see sunlight. In this searching conversation, he explains why democracy is losing ground across the globe, the state of Venezuela's transition after Maduro's capture and the 2026 earthquakes — and why he founded the World Liberty Congress to unite activists...

What does confidence look like? Public speaking expert Cara Hale Alter studies how to project confidence and credibility — and she's pinpointed two key behaviors that shape how others see you. In this actionable talk, she explains how to make sure you're showing your true potential at work and beyond. Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. S...

Homelessness can feel like an issue that’s too big and complicated to fix, something we've learned to walk past. Jen Loving, who leads the nonprofit Destination: Home, has spent her entire life proving that mindset is wrong. She shows why we must stop waiting until someone is pushed outside before intervening — and introduces Right at Home, a proven model helping communities across the US keep...

Workers everywhere are quietly redesigning their jobs around AI, boosting productivity but also creating new kinds of problems. AI advisor Julie Bedard thinks she has a fix. She shares new research on three areas for leaders to focus on — including how to avoid "AI brain fry" — and why we need to shape this change rather than let it happen to us. Vote for our show in the Signal Awards fo...

Do you avoid talking to people you disagree with? Author and mediator Emily Kasriel thinks you should try it out. She explains why engaging with ideas that bother you is one of the most powerful things you can do — and presents her framework for “deep listening” that can help you form relationships across generations, cultures and political divides. Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most...

When parents first have kids, some risk entering “the loneliest decade,” where they fall out of touch with friends. Writer Stacey McLachlan decided to do something different when she had her daughter, refusing to let her social life slip away. In this witty talk, she shares her solution — and why it matters for all of us. Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hoste...

Technology has been promising to revolutionize education for a long time. Online learning, smartphones, and even asynchronous classes during COVID seemed for a while like they might finally transform what learning can look like, but all we really learned was that changing education is slower and harder than anyone wants it to be. Could AI finally be the unlock we’ve been looking for? Leah Belsky h...

As AI reshapes work, school and love, what part of being human can't a machine take over? In a wide-ranging conversation, psychotherapist Esther Perel and TED's vision steward Sal Khan provide their unique takes on the answer. From personalized learning and AI companions to "emotional capitalism" and the rituals we create to live with uncertainty, the two explore if we're get...

On paper, Blake Mycoskie is a glowing success story: he founded TOMS Shoes, building a global brand that has given away more than 100 million pairs of shoes to children in need. Yet despite his success, his struggle with depression nearly cost him his life. In this personal talk, he explores the all-too-common shame that keeps people suffering in silence — and shares his new mission to spread the...

All children develop at different paces — so why do schools expect every student to learn the same way? Early education researcher Anna Rainio introduces "playworlds," a learning activity where adults and kids create imaginary stories together. She shows how pretend play helps students find their place — and the power of a teacher or parent starting with a simple question: Why not? Hoste...

Tami Pyfer has five kids who belong to five different political parties, and sometimes family conversations get heated. Drawing on her work as a former policy advisor to the governor of Utah, she wanted to find a healthier way for people to talk about politics without contempt. The result is the Dignity Index: an eight-point scale that measures the language we use to disagree, aiming to ease polit...

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. (This episode originally aired in 2025.) Hosted on Ac...

Social psychologist Eli J. Finkel has spent decades studying what makes partnerships successful. In a practical talk drawing on lessons from pop culture, he explores why so many of us struggle to be true to ourselves in our relationships — and what the happiest couples do differently. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From group chats to video calls, technology should make social connection easier than ever. So, why is everyone so lonely? In this special featured episode from the new TED podcast, Corner Piece , host Sabrina sets out to investigate the "loneliness epidemic" that is sweeping the globe and impacting her friends and cohosts. She interviews Professor Fay Bound-Alberti, author of "A Bi...

There's a whole world of food growing right outside our doors — in our backyards, on sidewalks, in the parks we walk through every day — and most of us pass by it without a second glance. Alexis Nikole Nelson wants to change that. A self-described “ethnobotany nerd,” she’s spent years teaching people how to forage the wild food hiding in plain sight. She explores how paying closer attention to...

Where you live shapes your relationships, your emotions and even how long you live, says community designer Zach DeBoer. After studying what a century of building cities around cars has done to downtowns in the US, he turned to lessons from some of the most walkable, carefully designed streets in the country: the ones inside Disney theme parks. With ideas ranging from narrower roads to buildings t...

Relationship expert Amy Chan believes we're in a relationship recession, fueled by modern daters constantly looking for what could go wrong. But what if your dealbreakers are the very thing keeping you from finding love? In this relatable talk, she reveals how to discover true connection — and why the right person for you might not be who you expect. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

AI companions may soon cure loneliness, says psychologist Paul Bloom: a gift for the isolated and the elderly, but a danger for the young, who need to experience the hard work of real relationships. So what happens to a generation raised on chatbots that never need an apology or get bored of a story? Bloom pitches a stranger, more hopeful solution, one that lets us lean on AI without ever losing o...