Best TED Radio Hour episodes upvoted by the community

Future Consequences

September 15, 2017 • 52m

From data collection to gene editing to AI, what we once considered science fiction is now becoming reality. This hour, TED speakers explore the future consequences of our present actions. Guests include designer Anab Jain, futurist Juan Enriquez, biologist Paul Knoepfler, and neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris.

Screen Time - Part I

January 27, 2017 • 61m

It's normal for us to always be glued to our screens. So how are they changing us, and how will they shape our future? This hour, TED speakers explore our ambivalent relationships with our screens. (Original broadcast date: September 11, 2015).

Believers And Doubters

December 23, 2016 • 53m

In this hour, TED speakers offer perspectives on belief from all ends of the spectrum, from atheists to the devout. (Original Broadcast Date: November 22, 2013).

Manoush's Favorites: Circular

March 06, 2020 • 52m

We're back next week with brand new episodes of the TED Radio Hour featuring our new host, Manoush Zomorodi. While we finish those episodes, Manoush shares a favorite episode of the show from over the years. This episode originally aired on December 7, 2018. We're told if the economy is growing, and if we keep producing, that's a good thing. But at what cost? This hour, TED speakers explore circular systems that regenerate and re-use what we already have. Guests include economist Kate Raworth, environmental activist Tristram Stuart, landscape architect Kate Orff, entrepreneur David Katz, and graphic designer Jessi Arrington.

What Makes Us ... Us

July 15, 2016 • 53m

For thousands of years, we've searched to answer the question: Who are we? Today, science has brought us closer than ever to the answer. This hour, TED speakers share ideas on what makes us ... us.

Guy's Favorites: The Source Of Creativity

December 27, 2019 • 53m

As we transition to our new host Manoush Zomorodi, Guy Raz looks back on some of his favorite episodes over the past seven years. This episode originally aired on October 3, 2014. We want to be creative but channeling our creative impulses is no small feat. Is creativity something we are born with or can we learn it? In this hour, TED speakers examine the mystery of creativity. Guests include musician Sting, neuroscientist Charles Limb, author and educator Sir Ken Robinson, and writer Elizabeth Gilbert.

Guy's Favorites: Solve For X

January 10, 2020 • 53m

As we transition to our new host Manoush Zomorodi, Guy Raz looks back on some of his favorite episodes from his seven years hosting the TED Radio Hour. This episode originally aired on March 6, 2015. Math intimidates a lot of us, but it can deliver surprising answers to life's pressing questions. In this episode, TED speakers discuss the elegant simplicity, and giddy complexity, of solving for X.

The Consequences Of Racism

March 16, 2018 • 53m

What does it mean to be judged before you walk through the door? What are the consequences? This week, TED speakers delve into the ways racism impacts our lives, from education, to health, to safety. Guests include poet and writer Clint Smith, writer and activist Miriam Zoila Pérez, educator Dena Simmons, and former prosecutor Adam Foss.

Painfully Funny

March 24, 2017 • 53m

Humans have a capacity to laugh even in the hardest of times. This hour, TED speakers describe how they use humor as a weapon and a shield, to ward off doubt, discrimination, and even depression.

Why We Hate

July 13, 2018 • 52m

From bullying to hate crimes, cruelty is all around us. So what makes us hate? And is it learned or innate? This hour, TED speakers explore the causes and consequences of hate — and how we can fight it. Guests include reformed white nationalist Christian Picciolini, CNN commentator Sally Kohn, podcast host Dylan Marron, and writer Anand Giridharadas.

What We Fear

March 11, 2016 • 55m

In this hour, TED speakers explore what it means to be afraid, and how we calm ourselves down — or don't — when we're terrified. (Original broadcast date: May 23, 2014)

Getting Better

February 10, 2017 • 52m

We expect a lot of our doctors, but they don't always have the best tools to treat us. This episode, TED speakers explore new ways to think about disease, diagnosis, and the delicate art of healing.

Everything Is Connected

April 13, 2018 • 52m

In this hour, TED speakers explain how everything in nature is connected, and how we can restore its delicate balance. Guests include journalist George Monbiot, author Jane Poynter, bioacoustician Bernie Krause, and entomologist Marla Spivak (Original broadcast date: September 27, 2013).

Guy's Favorites: What Is Original?

January 24, 2020 • 53m

As we transition to our new host Manoush Zomorodi, Guy Raz looks back on some of his favorite episodes from his seven years hosting the TED Radio Hour. This episode originally aired on June 27, 2014. When is copying flattery, when is it thievery, and when is it sheer genius? In this hour, TED speakers explore how sampling, borrowing, and riffing make all of us innovators.

Ingrained Injustice

June 12, 2020 • 51m

As protests for racial justice continue, many are asking how racism became so embedded in our lives. This hour, TED's Whitney Pennington Rodgers guides us through talks that offer part of the answer.

Big Data Revolution

September 09, 2016 • 53m

Once invisible details of our lives can now be tracked and turned into data. Will this make life easier or more complicated? This hour, TED speakers imagine how Big Data will reshape our world.

The Power of Design

September 08, 2017 • 58m

Design is all around us, but much of it could be better, bolder, more elegant. This episode, TED speakers on the essence of good design in buildings, brands, the digital realm and the natural world. Guests include computer engineer Tony Fadell, architect Marc Kushner, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, design critic Alice Rawsthorn, and science writer Janine Benyus. (Original broadcast date: May 20, 2016)

The Big Five

January 12, 2018 • 51m

What are the five biggest global challenges we face right now — and what can we do about them? This hour, TED speakers explore some radical solutions to these enduring problems. Guests include geoengineer Tim Kruger, president of the International Rescue Committee David Miliband, political scientist Ian Bremmer, global data analyst Sarah Menker, and historian Rutger Bregman.

Clint Smith

June 05, 2020 • 53m

The killing of George Floyd by a police officer has sparked massive protests nationwide. This hour, writer and scholar Clint Smith reflects on this moment, through conversation, letters, and poetry.

Anthropomorphic

August 16, 2019 • 52m

Do animals grieve? Do they have language or consciousness? For a long time, scientists resisted the urge to look for human qualities in animals. This hour, TED speakers explore how that is changing. Guests include biological anthropologist Barbara King, dolphin researcher Denise Herzing, primatologist Frans de Waal, and ecologist Carl Safina.