How to Be a Better Human

How to make social risks pay off (w/ Ben Swire)

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Many company cultures can feel stagnant and uninspiring, says designer Ben Swire, whose job is to help people take creative risks. Ben shares why iceb...

What it means to truly pay attention (w/ Kevin Townley)

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 & ...

How to experience the world like a good dog (w/ Alexandra Horowitz)

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

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 researche...

How to make 2026 a year full of laughs (w/ Chris Duffy and Manoush Zomorodi)

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For the past five seasons, host Chris Duffy has been interviewing guests from psychotherapist Dr. Orna Guralnik to poet Sarah Kay to author Andrew Lel...

Interview: The razor-thin line between contagion and connection w/ Dan Taberski | from TED Health

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 investi...

Work advice from the world’s favorite couples therapist w/ Master Fixer Dr. Orna Guralnik | from Fixable

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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....

Re-release: Throwing good parties and building community (w/ Priya Parker)

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 sh...

2025 Staff Picks - Best of How to Be a Better Human

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Remember those fun high school superlatives like the “Class Clown” or the “Biggest Flirt”? In this special How to Be a Better Human season fin...

Pods Fight Poverty: Why Giving Money to Others Makes us Happier | from The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

How to find small delights in an uncontrollable world (w/ Sarah Kay)

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Daylig...

How to Eat with Awareness and Purpose (w/ Sean Sherman)

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 She...

How to find belonging (w/ Hanif Abdurraqib)

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 vi...

Why you need to learn how to fight in a relationship (w/ Dr. Julie and John Gottman)

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“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,...

How to break bad habits (w/ Edith Zimmerman)

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Edith Zimmerman is a sketchbook cartoonist and writer of the Substack newsletter, Drawing Links. In this episode, she joins Chris to talk about honest...

How to use your muscles — or risk losing them (w/ Bonnie Tsui)

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How do you stop caring what others think? A filmmaker and a therapist answer | TED Talks Daily

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you quit people-pleasing? Internet filmmaker Baron Ryan and family therapist Stephanie R. Yates-Anyabwile unpack the all-too-common fear of rej...

How Texas became America’s biggest producer of wind energy (from Speed & Scale)

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the surprising story of how Texas – rich in oil and gas – became America's biggest producer of wind energy. For our first episode, Ryan an...

A practical guide to taking control of your life | TED Talks Daily

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

How to strengthen your relationships — one airport ride at a time (w/ Kasley Killam)

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you connect with different people each week? How many many close relationships do you aim to cultivate during those connections? And how ...

How to build your kid's confidence — by leaving them alone (w/ Lenore Skenazy)

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you raise confident and capable children in a seemingly scary and unsafe world? According to Lenore Skenazy, the solution is simple yet controv...

How to talk so people will listen (w/ Julian Treasure)

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What’s more important in communication— the content or the delivery? Julian Treasure is a five-time TED speaker and the author of Sound Affects: H...

How to communicate better (w/ Charles Duhigg)

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What makes some people supercommunicators? How can you become one too? This is the central lesson in Charles Duhigg’s bestseller Supercommunicators:...

How to stop doomscrolling — and what to do instead? (w/ Katherine Cross)

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is it effective to engage with politics on social media — and what does it take to make actual change? Katherine Cross is a researcher on online har...

The future of finding love with Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd | ReThinking with Adam Grant

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What will dating look like in the age of AI? Whitney Wolfe Herd is the founder and CEO of Bumble, the popular dating app that has helped millions of p...

How to rest when life is overwhelming (w/ Katherine May)

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When someone you love is going through a difficult time, what do you say? Despite your best intentions, author Katherine May argues offering help or s...

How to love your complicated family (w/ Ashley C. Ford)

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What parts of yourself did you lose as you grew up? This is one of the central questions asked in Ashley C. Ford’s memoir, Somebody’s Daughter. As...

How to be more joyful (w/ Ingrid Fetell Lee)

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What makes kids so joyful? Why do polka-dots and bright colors invoke feelings of joy? How do our senses shape our experience of joy? These are questi...

How to keep close friendships (w/ Aminatou Sow)

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“People are expected to have good friendships, but nobody talks about how they happen,” says journalist Aminatou Sow. Aminatou is also the host of...

How to find laughter anywhere (w/ Dan Harris and guests)

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Humor is all around us— you only need to be intentional about seeking moments of laughter and joy in your life. In this special compilation episode ...

How to rethink your emotional attachment to clothes (w/ Diarra Bousso)

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We often think donating clothes is a sustainable act, but when tons of garments are shipped to places like West Africa, it creates environmental waste...

How to stop devoting yourself to your job (w/ Sarah Jaffe)

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Jaffe is the author of Work Won’t Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keep Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone. She and Chris discuss the e...

Jon Batiste | from Design Matters

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Widely recognized as a musical genius and once-in-a-generation talent, Jon Batiste is one of history’s most brilliant, prolific, and accomplished mu...

How your brain predicts your reality (w/ Anil Seth)

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is the aspect of being you that you cling to most tightly? Why are you you and not somebody else? How do you understand and make sense of your ex...

Why stealing other people’s ideas can be a good thing (w/ Austin Kleon)

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Austin Kleon thinks stealing inspiration is a good thing — because it requires you to pay attention to the world. Austin is a self-proclaimed “cre...

Why you don't need a personal brand (w/ Debbie Millman)

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“If you’re a good designer in five or ten years, you’re gonna want to look back on your portfolio with horror and nostalgia and somewhat amuseme...

Information Inoculation: Defending Against Medical Myths: Why we need to fight misinformation about vaccines | from TED Health

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ethan Lindenberger never got vaccinated as a kid. So one day, he went on Reddit and asked a simple question: "Where do I go to get vaccinated?" The po...

How to love parts of yourself you may not like (w/ Heather Havrilesky)

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Heather Havrilesky is the author of the book Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage. She’s also the writer behind the advice columns “Ask P...

How to learn from your failures (w/ Dawn Burrell)

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dawn Burrell is a celebrated long jumper, an Olympic athlete, and a chef’s whose cooking made her a semifinalist for a James Beard Award — and the...

Re-release: How peace can persevere (w/ Aziz Abu Sarah)

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s extremely difficult to move past anger and hurt driving you towards revenge. War, violence, and suffering are driven by that cycle of emotions....

How to be a better friend (w/ Rhaina Cohen)

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What would it look like if we took friendship as seriously as we take romance? Rhaina Cohen, author of the book The Other Significant Others: Reimagin...

How to see the humanity in everyone — even people you don’t like (w/ Abigail Marsh)

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is American culture so fascinated with psychopathic people and true crime stories? Why don’t billionaires give more? What makes some people so g...

How to navigate changes in a relationship without fear (w/ Stephanie Yates-Anyabwile)

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is a romantic relationship “supposed” to look like? How do you feel when your relationship doesn’t check all the boxes? In this episode, li...

How you can be more creative by taking a long walk (w/ Craig Mod)

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do we gain from a long walk? Craig Mod is a photographer and writer who has done treks and pilgrimages around the world. From the Camino de Santi...

3 ways to fight climate change without getting overwhelmed (w/ Ayana Elizabeth Johnson)

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The future could be amazing, if we get it right. That’s so rarely how we think about it though. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist and author...

Re-release: How to enrich your everyday life with poetry (w/ Sarah Kay)

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Roses are red, violets are blue, has poetry ever been intimidating for you? For many people, this art form can feel unapproachable, but poet and educa...

How you can move forward and learn from the past (w/ Clint Smith)

07 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you grapple with national history, legacy, and the stories you tell yourself? Clint Smith is the author of the narrative nonfiction, How the Wo...

How to gossip — the right way (w/ Rachelle Hampton)

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What makes a story so good you HAVE to tell everyone you know? How do you hook listeners with juicy details and tantalizing conundrums? In this specia...

How to raise emotionally resilient children (w/ Richard Weissbourd)

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happiness, high achievement, or kindness – which is most important to you in your kids? Which do you think your kids think you care about the most? ...

How to enjoy poetry — without being a poet (w/ Naisha Randhar)

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of National Poetry Month, Chris is speaking with Naisha Randhar. Naisha is the Youth Poet Laureate of Dallas, the author of Roses of Arma, an...

What to do when your beliefs are challenged (w/ Tenelle Porter)

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tenelle Porter’s job is to study humility. Specifically, intellectual humility, the idea that we might be wrong or mistaken about some of our belief...

How to trust in times of uncertainty (w/ Rachel Botsman)

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Botsman studies trust. She’s a professor at Oxford University and the author of the books What's Mine is Yours, Who Can You Trust? and the ne...

How to get your sense of wonder back (w/ Nate DiMeo)

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How do you make sense of the present? Nate DiMeo might suggest you look at the past. Nate is the host of the podcast and book, The Memory Palace. Nate...

Power, purpose, and the American presidency with Jared Cohen | from ReThinking with Adam Grant

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What do the most powerful people in the world do after they've achieved success? Jared Cohen is a history buff and a presidential historian. His lates...

How to stop being weird about money (w/ Paco de Leon)

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Talking about money can feel confusing and awkward, but it doesn’t have to be. Paco de Leon is a financial planner and author of the book Finance fo...

How to make the most of a finite life (w/ Oliver Burkeman)

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There’s only so much you can do in a week – or, according to Oliver Burkeman, in the roughly 4,000 weeks the average human lives. Oliver is a jour...

How to believe in God even when the world sucks (w/ Nadia Bolz-Weber)

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nadia Bolz-Weber believes the good and bad in all of us is what makes us human. Nadia has built a career talking about personal failings, recovery, gr...

How to turn climate anxiety into action (w/ Luisa Neubauer) (re-release)

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amidst the multiple devastating fires in Los Angeles, where Chris lives, extreme weather events and shifting climate patterns are occurring across the...

Throwing good parties and building community (w/ Priya Parker)

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 sh...

How changing your story can change your life (w/ Lori Gottlieb) (re-release)

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lori Gottlieb believes we all have an inner narrator. In this episode, she explains why the story you tell yourself is key to your happiness (or lack ...

How to set boundaries and find peace (w/ Nedra Glover Tawwab) (re-release)

30 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Telling other people what you want – or need – can be a really difficult thing to do! Nedra Glover Tawwab is a therapist and New York Times bestse...

How to cultivate resilience and get through tough times (with Lucy Hone) (re-release)

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Life can throw curveballs that you feel wholly unprepared for-- just ask Dr. Lucy Hone, a resilience researcher, who tragically lost her 12-year-old d...

How to talk about your body without shame (w/ Anita Rao)

16 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why is having the sex talk, admitting you passed gas, or being open about your body hair so seemingly uncomfortable for all of us? Journalist and host...

How Sikh wisdom can transform your life (w/ Simran Jeet Singh)

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

No matter how religious you may or may not be, or how much you do or do not know about the Sikh religion, there’s something we can all learn from th...

How to make dating not suck (w/ Logan Ury)

02 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s natural to romanticize the random meet-cutes we’ve all seen in romantic comedies, but is hoping for a chance encounter with the next great lo...

How to have curious conversations in dangerously divided times (w/ Mónica Guzmán) (re-release)

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's not a good feeling to be stuck in an argument with someone who doesn't seem to be listening to your point of view, especially when that someone i...

How to fix any problem (w/ Anne Morriss and Frances Frei)

18 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some problems seem impossible. But this week’s guests say any problem can be solved. Leadership coach Anne Morriss and Harvard Business Professor Fr...

How to make every job a good job (w/ Zeynep Ton)

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zeynep Ton believes that low-wage work (in childcare, customer service, assembly lines and other essential industries) is front-line work — and that...

How to finally embrace your body (w/ Ronald Young Jr.)

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ronald Young Jr. is an award-winning podcaster, producer, and writer and the creator of Weight For It — a podcast about his own experience with body...

How to gain perspective in a climate crisis (w/ David Finnigan)

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When it comes to a controversial topic like climate change represented in art, is the conversation its sparks more significant than the art itself? In...

How to reclaim your cringe

21 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever laid awake at night, cringing at something your younger self did or said? So why is it that when we hear other peoples’ memories from ...

Why you should make a spectacle out of life (w/ Lear deBessonet)

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When was the last time something you watched struck you? Award-winning theater director Lear deBessonet is deeply passionate about spectacle – and t...

How to let go of needing a plan (w/ Reggie Watts)

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Reggie Watts has no plan when he walks out on the TED stage — he just lets go and tries to make himself laugh. In this episode, he shares with Chris...

Why solving global issues is more accessible than we think (w/ Angeline Murimirwa)

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Solving the world’s biggest problems can seem impossible. But, Angeline Murimirwa — the CEO of Camfed, a pan-African movement revolutionizing educ...

Why is talking about money and class so awkward?! (w/ Jonathan Menjivar)

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you know your friends’ exact salaries? For most of us, the answer is almost never. Yet, in our everyday lives and interactions, we noti...

How to approach the daunting question: who am I? (w/ Brian Lowery)

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you take away how others see you, how do you see yourself? Psychologist, author and Stanford Graduate School of Business professor Brian Lowery arg...

How peace can persevere (w/ Aziz Abu Sarah)

09 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s extremely difficult to move past anger and hurt driving you towards revenge. War, violence, and suffering are driven by that cycle of emotions....

How labor unions shape society

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The weekend. Social Security. Health insurance. What do these things have in common? They all exist thanks to the advocacy of labor unions. In this ep...

How to be less cynical (w/ Jamil Zaki)

26 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s an age-old question - are people innately good or bad? Watching the news and constantly consuming social media, many of us are cynical about hu...

How to be an adult - and how to raise one (w/ Julie Lythcott-Haims) (re-release)

19 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Whether it’s grades and test scores, cushy jobs or big salaries, our ideas of “success” tend to be incredibly narrow and often start incredibly ...

How to re-spark your imagination (w/ Anab Jain)

12 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you use your imagination? Anab Jain is on a mission to help us all dream bigger. As the co-founder and director of Superflux (a design an...

How to tap into your creativity using technology (w/ Claire Silver) (from The TED AI Show)

05 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like many new, exciting artistic technologies before it, the development of AI is begging us to ask: what counts as art? In a provocative conversation...

How to craft the work-life balance you deserve

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most of us would like to find meaning in the work we do, but many of us are burnt out or stressed at our jobs. In this episode, an international menta...

How to get into nature and out of your head

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Think of the last time you were in nature. How did it make you feel? This week, a forager, a cave diver, a birding enthusiast, and science writer shar...

How to be civil even if you disagree (w/ Alexandra Hudson)

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean to be civil with others – and why does this value often feel at risk? Alexandra Hudson, author of The Soul of Civility: Timeless P...

How to make grassroots political change (w/ Katie Fahey)

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What can you do when a problem feels too daunting to take on? Enlist some help. Political issues can often feel too difficult to solve, but Katie Fahe...

How to have a say in how society is built w/ Tessza Udvarhelyi

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

No matter who you are or where you live, political choices influence your life. Hungarian activist and academic, Tessza Udvarhelyi, emphasizes that an...

Why spirituality is important in our increasingly secular world (w/ David DeSteno)

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Faith has always been a strong force in human history – but in modern times, it may feel antiquated to have it. Psychology professor and author Davi...

How to be brave when family life gets tough (w/Kelly Corrigan)

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every person, no matter how ordinary, has to occasionally summon extraordinary bravery to get through life’s challenges. If you haven’t already ha...

The art of paying attention (w/ Wendy MacNaughton and Laurel Braitman)

10 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

If you found yourself doodling or writing a lot as a child but then lost the hobby as you grew up, Wendy MacNaughton and Laurel Braitman want to help ...

The meaning of embodiment w/ Prentis Hemphill

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We often forget that our bodies and minds are fundamentally connected. But so much of our day-to-day lives are influenced by the state of our bodies. ...

How to stay grounded in an increasingly artificial world (from The TED AI Show)

27 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re sharing the first episode of the newest TED Audio Collective Podcast – The TED AI Show. Now before you think, “wait, isn’t artifi...

How to follow the laws of nature (w/ Nonette Royo)

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is your relationship with the planet we live on? As a human rights lawyer and environmental activist, Nonette Royo is trying to make us all live ...

How to give and receive good advice (w/ Hola Papi’s John Paul Brammer)

13 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever wished someone would just help you figure out your life? John Paul Brammer’s job is to do exactly that – he’s the writer behind th...

Re-release: How to co-parent as allies, not adversaries (with Ebony Roberts)

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you think of your home or your childhood, what comes to mind? Did you feel cared for and loved? Did you trust that your parents were always doing...

How to laugh at yourself (w/ Nuar Alsadir)

29 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Poet and psychoanalyst Nuar Alsadir believes there’s a thin line between comedy and the self-discovery often found in therapy offices. In this episo...

How to build resilience through architecture (w/ Alyssa-Amor Gibbons)

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Millions of people around the world are displaced by the enhanced natural disasters brought on by climate change, and sometimes, our economically driv...

How to find food in your own backyard (w/ Alexis Nikole Nelson)

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s easy to forget that the packaged lettuce you bought from the store originally grew out of the ground – but it did! What if you could cut out ...

How to develop the habits you want – and get rid of the ones you don’t (w/ James Clear)

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all have habits - the good and not-so good kind. But can we use them to our advantage? In this week’s episode, Chris is joined by James Clear, en...

How to find “your thing” (or your many things) – (w/ Constance Hockaday)

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Some people are born knowing exactly what they want to do with their life – and because of that, they’re able to get to the top of their field. Bu...

How to find wisdom and wholeness in a modern world (w/ Krista Tippett)

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Keeping hope and courage alive before the many pains and promises of the world can be tough. So how do you do it? Journalist and host of podcast On Be...