On any given night, 450,000 people in the United States stay in jail without having been convicted of any crime. Most of them are there because they don't have enough money to pay bail. Exasperated at what she saw as a systemic design flaw that primarily affects poor and marginalized people, public defense lawyer Robin Steinberg came up with a p...

Self-confessed introvert Susan Cain delves deep into this complex personality trait, offering ideas for better offices, better schools and better relationships. (Audio only)

Future forecaster and game designer Jane McGonigal ran a social simulation game in 2008 that had players dealing with the effects of a respiratory pandemic set to happen in the next decade. She wasn't literally predicting the 2020 pandemic -- but she got eerily close. In this episode, McGonigal teaches us how to be futurists and talks about the ...

Was 2017 really the "the worst ever," as some would have us believe? Cognitive psychologist and linguist Steven Pinker shares data that shows: actually, it was one of the best overall. At TED2018, head of TED Chris Anderson sat down with Steven to take a closer look at the data that suggest the world is improving -- and to unpack why so many peo...

Talking about race can be difficult. But Mellody Hobson argues that we need to do it anyway -- boldly and often. Mellody is the president of Ariel Investments, a firm that manages more than 13 billion dollars. And throughout her career and in her personal life, she's experienced just how corrosive it can be when people choose to be "color blind....

Join head of TED Chris Anderson for a very special conversation with legendary inventor and computer scientist Ray Kurzweil, recorded live onstage at TED2018. Listen in to hear what the man who makes a living from predicting the future arc of technology thinks is coming our way next -- including a specific prediction of when he thinks technology...

New York Times pundit David Brooks describes a plan to rebuild broken communities and offers actionable steps to live a more meaningful life. (Audio only)

What shapes happiness -- the experiences we have, or the stories we tell ourselves about them afterwards? When and how does our intuition reliably fail? And why is overconfidence the fatal flaw we should all watch out for? In this fascinating, far-ranging conversation, head of TED Chris Anderson digs into the questions that really matter with Da...

Just after 9/11, Dalia Mogahed asked: What do 1.8 billion Muslims really think? In a grand research project with Gallup, she interviewed more than 50,000 Muslims about their lives, their dreams and the state of their religion. Today, she continues her research on Muslims as the director of research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understa...

Recorded live at TED2019 for the TED Interview podcast: Roger McNamee -- early investor in Facebook turned outspoken critic -- sits down for an extended examination of big tech's missteps, and where we go from here. (Audio only)

Microsoft founder Bill Gates takes us deep into his remarkable history and propels us into the future of technology and philanthropy. (Audio only)

In this season of The TED Interview, conversations with people who make a case for ... optimism. Not some blind, hopeful feeling, but the conviction that somewhere out there are solutions that, given the right attention and resources, can guide us out of the dark place we're in. For the first episode: artificial intelligence. Will innovation in ...

Introducing The TED Interview, a new podcast hosted by head of TED Chris Anderson. As a writer, Elizabeth Gilbert is notorious for placing her heart squarely on her sleeve. Her best-selling memoir "Eat Pray Love" was a sensation precisely because of her eloquent, open-hearted descriptions of fear, divorce and wanting everything life had to offer...

It can be easy to believe that humans are insignificant. We're specks of dust on a random planet in a vast universe. Less powerful than elephants. Fewer than ants. But David Deutsch believes that's all beside the point, because humans possess one unique skill: attaining knowledge. David Deutsch -- Oxford professor, father of quantum computing, r...

Technologist Kai-Fu Lee describes the high-stakes battle between the West and China in artificial intelligence, and what it means for the future of work. (Audio only)

From the strikes that transformed the world's view on climate change to the marches that demanded equity and justice for Black lives, there has been a new awakening of people passionate about creating change. As founder and CEO of Acumen, Jacqueline Novogratz decided early on to dedicate her life's work to doing just that. In this episode, Chris...

According to cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman, our brains are showing us a "hacked" version of reality. His revolutionary new way of thinking about consciousness combines the study of evolution with insights into brain activity in an attempt to solve the mysteries behind how we perceive the world. (Audio only)

Infectious disease expert Adam Kucharski uses mathematical models to help the world understand how diseases like Ebola and Zika spread -- and how they can be controlled. As the threat of COVID-19 continues to rise, he gives us a necessary perspective on its transmission, how governments have responded and what needs to change in order to end the...

Global economist Dambisa Moyo was raised in Zambia and educated in England and the United States. Tune into her unique worldview and how it's shaped her thinking on issues like overseas aid, climate, democracy and the rise of the coronavirus pandemic. (Recorded March 5, 2020. Audio only)

Psychologist Daniel Gilbert delves deep into the weird, counterintuitive science of happiness -- and explains why our minds worry about things we needn't worry about (and fail to worry about things we really should worry about). (Audio only)

Work as we knew it is undergoing seismic shifts as the pandemic in the U.S. wanes. As some businesses reopen, even people lucky enough to work from home face big questions. What lessons do we take from this past year? How should we lead? How should we talk to each other? How should we even relate to work? Chris turns to Simon Sinek, a thinker an...

This past year, scientists racing to stop the novel coronavirus delivered vaccines at a pace and scale the world has never seen before. Adrian Hill, director of Oxford University's vaccine research institute, recounts how he and his team developed the AstraZeneca vaccine. He explains why the challenges were as much about logistics as science, an...

Some believe our world has changed at a rapid pace in recent decades. From the rise of the internet to the proliferation of startups spinning out inventions, it can certainly seem that way. In this episode, though, economist Tyler Cowen argues that none of this has really transformed the ways we live over the last 50 years. But he contends that ...

Endless growth may actually be hurting our economy -- and our planet. Economist Kate Raworth makes a case for "doughnut economics": an alternative way to look at the economic systems ruling our societies and imagine a sustainable future for all. (Audio only)

An intimate conversation with one of the most unique voices in music today. Amanda Palmer shows us how the future of creative work means asking for what you want. (Audio only)

Psychologist Elizabeth Dunn argues that happiness is made, not found, and explains how our everyday choices -- about time, money and technology -- help create it. This episode was recorded on February 5, 2020. (Audio only)

At 26, Michael Tubbs ran for Mayor of Stockton, California, hoping to transform a city in crisis into a community of opportunity. He won. Mayor Tubbs breaks down how initiatives like universal basic income can free people from poverty, what being a good neighbor means in a democratic society, and why eradicating cycles of crime requires helping ...

Life-hack master Tim Ferriss gives an intimate look into the darker moments in his life, his Stoic philosophy, and his new passion for psychedelics. (Audio only)

Dive deep into the fascinating, horrifying, hopeful story of the ocean with world-renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle. (Audio only)

Historian and futurist Yuval Noah Harari has a story about the future that's profound, exciting and unsettling. (Audio only)