TED Radio Hour

Many of us either cope with mental illness or know someone who does. But we still have a hard time talking about it. This hour, TED speakers explore ways to push past — and even erase — the stigma. Guests include musician and comedian Jordan Raskopoulos, neuroscientist and psychiatrist Thomas Insel, psychiatrist Dixon Chibanda, anxiety and depression researcher Olivia Remes, and entrepreneur Sangu Delle.

Original broadcast date: April 17, 2015. Humans need food, sleep, safety, love, purpose. Psychologist Abraham Maslow ordered our needs into a hierarchy. This week, TED speakers explore that spectrum of need, from primal to profound. Guests include psychologist Margie Lachman, neuroscientist Russell Foster, computer security expert Bruce Schneier, journalist Sebastian Junger, activist Caroline Casey, and psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

Original broadcast date: December 1, 2017. Sometimes, being truthful can be uncomfortable--even risky. But can radical honesty and openness change things for the better? This hour, TED speakers take transparency all the way to its limit. Guests include business writer David Burkus, entrepreneur Ray Dalio, journalist Trevor Timm, and hospital-patient liaison Leilani Schweitzer.

More than test scores or good grades — what do kids need to prepare them for the future? This hour, guest host Manoush Zomorodi and TED speakers explore how to help children grow into better humans, in and out of the classroom. Guests include educators Olympia Della Flora and Liz Kleinrock, psychologist Thomas Curran, and writer Jacqueline Woodson.

Original broadcast date: November 10, 2017. Art can evoke powerful feelings. But can it do more? This hour, TED speakers share ideas on the transformative nature of art and its ability to shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Guests include painter and sculptor Titus Kaphar, painters Dre Urhahn and eL Seed, textile artist Magda Sayeg, and conductor Benjamin Zander.

The past few years have ushered in an explosion of new discoveries about our universe. This hour, TED speakers explore the implications of these advances — and the lingering mysteries of the cosmos. Guests include theoretical physicist Allan Adams, planetary scientist Sara Seager, and astrophysicists Natasha Hurley-Walker and Jedidah Isler.

Original broadcast date: February 20, 2015. The brain can seem as mysterious as a distant galaxy, but scientists are starting to map and manipulate its many regions. In this hour, TED speakers take us on a trip through the human brain. Guests include neuroanatomist Jill Bolte-Taylor, neuroscientists Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Nancy Kanwisher, and Rebecca Saxe, and philosopher David Chalmers.

Why do some of us believe, and some of us don't? And can doubt bring our beliefs into sharper focus? In this hour, TED speakers, from ardent aetheists to the devout, explore all ends of the spectrum. In a brand new interview, minister Greg Tonkinson describes how he had to reckon with doubt when his faith was shaken to its core. Other guests from the original 2013 episode include actor Julia Sweeney, and writers Lesley Hazelton, Alain de Botton, and Devdutt Pattanaik.

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.

Original broadcast date: March 27, 2015. In this episode, TED speakers describe how all forms of amusement — from tossing a ball to video games — can make us smarter, saner and more collaborative. Guests include neuroscientist Jeff Mogil, comedian Charlie Todd, Dr. Stuart Brown, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo, and researcher Jane McGonigal.