Ted Talks Daily

In an infectiously joyous talk, Milk Bar founder Christina Tosi shares the sugary jolt of her first food memory and behind-the-scenes stories of her bakery's famously inventive cakes, cookies and treats. This talk may make you hungry -- but it'll also leave you a resonant message about how breaking the rules and challenging your assumptions can make for a sweet life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every day, tens of thousands of cargo ships, filled to the brim with goods, release heavy pollution into the air as they make their way across the ocean. In this eye-opening talk, reporter Maria Gallucci introduces a planet-friendly alternative that could fuel these globe-trotting vessels: green ammonia. Listen as she makes the case for this game-changing solution that has the potential to clean up the world's dirtiest ships. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A young trans man and his mother speak about her struggle to accept his gender identity. Listen and subscribe to Conversations with People Who Hate Me, and more podcasts from the TED Audio Collective, at audiocollective.ted.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An unnoticed industry worth two trillion dollars a year is influencing almost every carbon emission. Sustainability solution seeker Solitaire Townsend calls this sector the "X industry" (where "X" stands for influence), and it includes professional services like advertising and PR firms, management consultancies, corporate law firms, lobbyists and more. In this eye-opening talk, she exposes the industry's massive but largely invisible influence on the environment -- and proposes ways they can use their creativity, inventiveness and knowledge to fix climate change instead of contributing to it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For smallholder farmers in India, agriculture has long been an unreliable source of income -- crops that flourish one season can fail the next, thanks to heat, pests and disease. But climate risk is now making the profession nearly impossible. TED Fellow Sathya Raghu Mokkapati is determined to change that with "greenhouse-in-a-box": a small, low-cost, easy-to-build structure aimed at helping farmers weather sizzling summers, increase monthly revenues and grow more food with less water. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alzheimer's doesn't have to be your brain's destiny, says neuroscientist and author of "Still Alice," Lisa Genova. She shares the latest science investigating the disease -- and some promising research on what each of us can do to build an Alzheimer's-resistant brain. TED Talks Daily listeners get a special treat after the talk: a catch-up interview with Lisa Genova on the exciting new developments in this field. And to make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe to TED Talks Daily on your favorite podcast platform. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As kids, play comes naturally. But over time, it gets replaced by work. This hour, TED speakers explore how to reconnect with play -- to spark creativity, combat despair and find our way in the world. In this segment, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to Grammy winner Jacob Collier, who makes a case for why we should emphasize play, passion and curiosity over practice. This is part of a three-part series on Work, Play and Rest. To listen to the whole episode and check out the series, find TED Radio Hour on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We can’t rely on those who created climate change to fix it, says climate justice organizer Ozawa Bineshi Albert. An Indigenous woman living in the heart of oil and gas country in the US, she’s observed an alarming disconnect between empty promises made by corporations and the actual needs of communities on the ground. In this call for urgency and a shift in values, she advocates for climate policy to center frontline leaders and outlines some grassroots-led projects -- from water protection efforts in Minnesota to off-grid solar power in Arizona -- that have already sparked real change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To thrive in today's competitive economy, you need to constantly reimagine your business. So what's the secret to sustained success? Strategist Martin Reeves makes a pitch for embracing play to spark innovative business ideas -- and invites you to try out a series of imagination games that he uses to get leaders to stretch their thinking and dream up new possibilities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why is China appointing thousands of judges to environmental courts and training prosecutors to bring cases to them -- even if it means suing the government? Eco-lawyer James Thornton takes us inside the country’s growing effort to use the power of the courts to address environmental problems -- a little-known story that indicates China could become a champion of legal action on climate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Breathing clean air is every child's human right," says grassroots campaigner Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, sharing the heartbreaking story of her seven-year-old daughter, Ella Roberta, whose asthma was triggered to a fatal point by air pollution. Now, Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is on a mission to raise awareness about the harmful effects of unsafe air on our health and the planet. In this moving talk, she details why governments have an urgent responsibility to take action on air pollution -- and ensure that all children have a chance to live full and healthy lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Debbie Millman talks to therapist and author Esther Perel about marriage, polyamory and adultery. Listen and subscribe to Design Matters with Debbie Millman and more podcasts from the TED Audio Collective at audiocollective.ted.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Lebanon was rocked by a massive explosion at the port of Beirut, filmmaker Mounia Akl came face-to-face with chaos -- and the power of art to create some sense of order. In this poetic, moving talk, Akl shares the story of how she and her crew finished their film as the city recovered from disaster, discovering the truth that comes out of us in times of crisis and creating a new understanding of home in the process. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lucas Joppa, Microsoft's first chief environmental officer, thinks about climate change through the lens of coding, and he says the world's current net-zero approach simply won't compute. So how do we create a system that actually accounts for all the world's carbon emissions -- and helps us get to zero (as in zero additional carbon added to the atmosphere by 2050)? Joppa shares three "bugs" in our current net-zero code, a four-point plan for fixing them – and how logic can help us change the current course of climate change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The ocean is often thought of as a victim of climate change, in need of human protection. But ocean expert Susan Ruffo says that mindset needs to shift. From storing carbon to providing protection to coastal communities, Ruffo highlights the ocean’s ready-made solutions to the climate crisis and asks: With more than eighty percent of the ocean still unexplored, what new solutions are waiting to be discovered? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're wondering why blackface -- mimicking people of African descent via stereotypes and makeup-darkened skin -- is a big deal, then perhaps a little history lesson can help demystify the outcry. Dwan Reece, curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, explains how this practice permeates the American psyche and culture (in theater, music, books and beyond) and why it's not simply harmless fun, but continuing a legacy of oppression. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From “got milk?” to “avocados from Mexico”, marketing influences what you eat more than you may realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than they are for advertising geniuses. Agricultural development expert Zoë Karl-Waithaka outlines three ways industry, governments, NGOs and others can help African farmers improve their livelihoods – and positively impact society, the economy and the environment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the last two decades, the wind power industry has grown at a dizzying pace. (Fun fact: a single rotation from one of the world’s most powerful wind turbines can generate enough electricity to charge more than 1,400 cell phones.) Building off this exponential growth, Denmark’s climate minister Dan Jørgensen lays out his plan to end the country’s oil industry by 2050 and transition to a fossil-free future powered by wind energy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In an engaging, insightful conversation, criminal justice reformer Nick Turner breaks down the ways the US criminal legal system perpetuates centuries-old racial and economic inequality. He joins TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers to outline why the best way to actually deliver justice and safety is to shrink the system and recognize the humanity of those caught in it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Consent can be a tricky topic to talk about in sex education curriculums, but it doesn’t have to be. In this hilarious and relatable talk, sex educator and TED Fellow Kaz offers a fresh look at teaching young people about the core principles of consent -- and shows how demystifying this topic leads to healthier and more satisfying relationships for people of all ages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.