How to Be a Better Human

How to understand your family history (w/ Keith Rushing)

Journalist Keith Rushing has spent years trying to report on his most difficult story - the history of his own family. Who do we come from? What do we inherit from the past? How can understanding our ancestors make us better humans today? To find out the answers, Chris invites Keith to talk about his book Descended: Searching for my Gullah-Geechee Roots. They cover how everything from the history of slavery to the cultural significance of African connections to the Gullah-Geechee people. This is a conversation about how you can spark your own curiosity to start researching your own family history. Featured guest * Follow Keith Rushing on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/rushingwrites/] and LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-rushing-04292114/] * Buy Descended: Searching for my Gullah-Geechee Roots [https://uscpress.com/Descended] Connect with the team * Follow Chris on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chrisiduffy/?hl=en] and at chrisduffycomedy.com [https://chrisduffycomedy.com/] * Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me [https://t.ted.com/ZGuYfcL]  * Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods [https://www.youtube.com/@TEDPods] * Follow TED on X [https://x.com/TEDTalks], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ted], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/TED], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences/], and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks] For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6 [https://bit.ly/BHSurvey6] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Summer Fridays: How to find “your thing” (or your many things) (w/ Constance Hockaday) (re-release)

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. But most of us have multiple passions and identities, making it difficult to visualize our own unique paths. So, how do we explore who we are and what we love to do in our careers and in our lives? This week, guest & TED Fellow Constance Hockaday helps us navigate and voice our deepest hopes and desires. She walks us through her perspective as an artist, what she’s learned from immersing herself into small and sometimes very isolated communities, and gives tips on how to find liberation by pursuing your passion. (This episode originally aired in 2024.) For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6 [https://bit.ly/BHSurvey6] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

What the data shows about youth mental health (w/ Candice Odgers)

“Social media and screen time aren’t the most important factor in teen mental health,” says development psychologist Candice Odgers. While this claim sounds counterintuitive, Candice shares why it’s so pervasive—scary stories sell. They always have. In this episode, Candice joins Chris to discuss social inequity and the five areas that would be more effective in helping improve teens mental health than banning social media. Featured guest * Follow Candice Odgers on LinkedIn [linkedin.com/in/candice-odgers-a75124265] and at https://candiceodgers.com/ [https://candiceodgers.com/] * Watch Candice's TED Talk [https://www.ted.com/talks/candice_odgers_what_we_re_getting_wrong_about_teens_and_tech] Connect with the team * Follow Chris on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chrisiduffy/?hl=en] and at chrisduffycomedy.com [https://chrisduffycomedy.com/] * Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me [https://t.ted.com/ZGuYfcL]  * Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods [https://www.youtube.com/@TEDPods] * Follow TED on X [https://x.com/TEDTalks], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ted], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/TED], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences/], and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks] For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6 [https://bit.ly/BHSurvey6] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Summer Fridays: How to get your sense of wonder back (w/ Nate DiMeo) (re-release)

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 joins Chris to discuss how the past can teach us to live life in a new, rich, and complex way. Nate shares how to exercise the muscle of curiosity, how to tap into your sense of wonder to escape algorithmic filters, and urges you to seek moments of meaning in between life’s biggest plot points. This is an episode of TED's How to Be a Better Human podcast. Listen on your favorite podcast app: https://tedtalks.social/4gmAZt3 [https://tedtalks.social/4gmAZt3] For the full text transcript, visit https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Audio excerpted courtesy of Penguin Random House Audio from THE MEMORY PALACE by Nate DiMeo; excerpt read by Nate DiMeo. © 2024 Nate DiMeo ℗ 2024 Penguin Random House, LLC. All rights reserved. This episode originally aired in 2025. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6 [https://bit.ly/BHSurvey6] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

How to think fast and talk smart (w/ Matt Abrahams)

Matt Abrahams is a communication expert who teaches strategic communication at Stanford University, hosts the podcast Think Fast Talk Smart, and wrote the new book Think Faster, Talk Smarter. In this episode, he joins Chris to share his insights on mastering communication on the spot. From breaking down the four-step format on how to give an excellent speech to identifying which peers would be most effective as your test audience, Matt’s tips demonstrate the clues you can use to help you communicate better and deliver messages worth remembering. Featured guest * Follow Matt Abrahams on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thinkfasttalksmart/], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/maabrahams/], and at https://mattabrahams.com/ [https://mattabrahams.com/] Connect with the team * Follow Chris on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/chrisiduffy/?hl=en] and at chrisduffycomedy.com [https://chrisduffycomedy.com/] * Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me [https://t.ted.com/ZGuYfcL]  * Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods [https://www.youtube.com/@TEDPods] * Follow TED on X [https://x.com/TEDTalks], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/ted], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/TED], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences/], and TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks] For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts [https://go.ted.com/BHTranscripts] Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6 [https://bit.ly/BHSurvey6] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.