TED Talks Daily
TED
Want TED Talks on the go? Everyday, this feed brings you our latest talks in audio format. Hear thought-provoking ideas on every subject imaginable – from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between – given by the world's leading thinkers and doers. This collection of talks, given at TED and TEDx conferences around the globe, is also available in video format. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
7 snips
Sep 24, 2026 • 14min
Inside the "play labs" helping refugee kids heal | Erum Mariam
Erum Mariam, a Bangladeshi education leader with BRAC, creates play labs for children displaced by crisis. She shares how Rohingya children rediscovered traditional games, songs, art and stories in welcoming spaces shaped by their community. Hear how rope jumping, seesaws and rhymes help children rebuild confidence, empathy, leadership and a sense of belonging.
18 snips
Sep 23, 2026 • 37min
Why we blew up four dams — and saved a river | Amy Bowers Cordalis
Amy Bowers Cordalis, a Yurok attorney and Indigenous environmental leader, recounts the fight to remove four dams from California’s Klamath River. She explores salmon’s collapse, Indigenous sovereignty, coalition-building, and the river’s remarkable recovery. Along the way, she shares generations of resistance, a surprising rowboat standoff, and how children are witnessing a landscape come back to life.
25 snips
Sep 22, 2026 • 14min
What makes a good game? | Eric Zimmerman
Eric Zimmerman, an American game designer, author, and educator, explores how rules can spark creativity rather than restrict it. He examines the art of bending systems, designing playful participation, and using constraints to transform games, social experiences, architecture, and even democracy. Expect fresh perspectives on how thoughtful design can make ordinary life more interactive and surprising.
92 snips
Sep 21, 2026 • 13min
How to clean up the world's dirtiest industry | Joojin Kim
Joojin Kim, a South Korean climate strategist leading Solutions for Our Climate, joins Hasiba Haq, an Audacious Project curator. They explore maritime shipping’s hidden climate costs, East Asia’s shipping and finance choke point, and lessons from ending coal funding. The conversation spotlights LNG ships, clean fuels, green corridors, hydrogen steel and a bold plan to turn global trade into a force for decarbonization.
125 snips
Sep 20, 2026 • 22min
The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler
Bruce Feiler, an acclaimed writer exploring family, culture and personal change, introduces “lifequakes,” the upheavals that reshape our stories. He examines why the old linear life plan no longer fits, the emotional stages of transition, and how rituals, creativity and meaningful support can help. Feiler also shares how storytelling can repair fractured histories and open the door to renewal.
109 snips
Sep 19, 2026 • 29min
How tech will (and won't) replace your doctor | Zack Abbott and Dhruv Khullar
Physician and health policy researcher Dhruv Khullar joins microbiologist and biotech entrepreneur Zack Abbott to explore medicine’s future. They discuss AI-assisted care, earlier cancer detection, genetically engineered probiotics, heritable gene editing, and biotechnology’s potential to improve food. Along the way, they examine the gut microbiome, patient values, uncertainty, and how innovation earns public trust.
23 snips
Sep 18, 2026 • 15min
How to make AI companies pay your energy bill | Ari Matusiak
Ari Matusiak, a climate entrepreneur transforming America’s energy system, explores the collision between AI’s booming power demand and rising household bills. He explains how solar panels, heat pumps, batteries and virtual power plants could help power data centers. Matusiak also proposes that tech companies fund home energy upgrades instead of building costly new power plants, giving communities a stronger voice in the energy deal.
65 snips
Sep 17, 2026 • 22min
How to use tech to outsmart dictators | Leopoldo López
Whitney Pennington-Rogers, a TED curator focused on technology and democracy, presents Leopoldo López, a Venezuelan opposition leader and former political prisoner. López recounts building secret communication networks in prison and explores Bitcoin, stablecoins, mesh networks, Nostr, BitChat and sovereign AI. He examines how open-source, decentralized tools can support medical workers, resist censorship and strengthen democracy.
47 snips
Sep 16, 2026 • 13min
Campaigns spend millions to influence voters. This works better | Katie Paris
Katie Paris, a community organizer and founder of Red Wine and Blue, explores why politics feels so exhausting and how local action can change that. She shares her journey from Washington strategy rooms to grassroots organizing, the power of friendship and collective action, and why mapping existing community networks may outperform costly campaign advertising. A hopeful look at civic engagement beyond election day.
37 snips
Sep 15, 2026 • 13min
The wiggly wonder of music | Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier, Grammy-winning musician, composer and arranger, explores the “wiggle” that brings music to life. Using his voice, a piano and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” he unpacks melody, rhythm and harmony. He also connects musical flexibility, emotional movement and resilience with the way we navigate an ever-changing world.
