How to find your purpose (w/ Yara Shahidi)
March 16, 2026
Optimism is not a naive state existing on your best days, but rather the active practice of pulling through for yourself on your worst days.
How to understand money stuff (w/ Matt Levine)
March 9, 2026
Money, in its most common form (bank deposits), fundamentally represents debt claims on a bank, which are collective agreements used to track claims on society.
Your job or your sanity? How to not lose both (w/ Guy Winch)
March 2, 2026
Stress and burnout are increasing despite greater awareness of work-life balance because the stress is spilling over and operating like a pinball machine between work and personal life, preventing resolution.
How to be a caregiver (w/ Courtney Martin)
February 23, 2026
Caregiving, especially for a loved one with advanced dementia, can serve as an "existential portal" that reveals profound truths about the human condition, stripping away ego and forcing presence.
How to make (and keep) friends | from A Slight Change of Plans
February 16, 2026
Friendships expand our sense of self by exposing us to different ways of living and bringing out different sides of our identity, which is crucial for well-being.
How to find true love (w/ Francesca Hogi)
February 9, 2026
True love is fundamentally an inside job, meaning internal beliefs about love and self-worth are more crucial to finding lasting relationships than external factors like demographics or meeting many people.
How to confront your inner critic (w/ Anu Gupta)
February 2, 2026
Bias is defined as a learned habit that distorts perception, reasoning, memory, and decision-making, becoming problematic when it influences decisions affecting others' livelihoods.
How to make social risks pay off (w/ Ben Swire)
January 26, 2026
True safety is found in the emotional sweet spot of "safe danger," where individuals feel secure enough to take risks and grow, rather than confusing safety with mere comfort.
What it means to truly pay attention (w/ Kevin Townley)
January 19, 2026
Engaging deeply with art, by moving beyond initial judgment and spending significant time looking, allows one to see the object itself rather than just one's preconceived opinions about it.
How to experience the world like a good dog (w/ Alexandra Horowitz)
January 12, 2026
Dogs perceive the world immediately and viscerally through their powerful sense of smell, which connects directly to emotion and instinct centers in the brain, allowing them to 'time travel' through scent trails.
How to make 2026 a year full of laughs (w/ Chris Duffy and Manoush Zomorodi)
January 5, 2026
Good humor is built on three pillars: being present and noticing absurdity, being willing to laugh at oneself (while being mindful not to undercut competence), and taking social risks to connect with others through humor.
Interview: The razor-thin line between contagion and connection w/ Dan Taberski | from TED Health
December 29, 2025
Mass psychogenic illness, or mass hysteria, is the rapid spread of real physical symptoms without an organic cause, often occurring at cultural stress points and revealing deep connections between people.
Work advice from the world’s favorite couples therapist w/ Master Fixer Dr. Orna Guralnik | from Fixable
December 22, 2025
Dealing with difference is the basic of human experience, requiring a shift from a flawed premise of right/wrong to a state of curiosity modeled by emotional regulation like patience and breath.
Re-release: Throwing good parties and building community (w/ Priya Parker)
December 15, 2025
Meaningful gatherings focus on making meaning through human connection rather than obsessing over superficial details like food or decor.
2025 Staff Picks - Best of How to Be a Better Human
December 8, 2025
The staff of "How to Be a Better Human" celebrated the end of the season by awarding superlatives to favorite past episodes, framed in a high school yearbook style.
Pods Fight Poverty: Why Giving Money to Others Makes us Happier | from The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos
December 5, 2025
Giving money away, especially to help others, has been shown to make people happier than spending on themselves, a core theme of the collaboration between *
How to find small delights in an uncontrollable world (w/ Sarah Kay)
December 1, 2025
Converting internal feelings of care or love into demonstrable behavior or action is necessary for those feelings to be experienced by others.
How to Eat with Awareness and Purpose (w/ Sean Sherman)
November 24, 2025
Chef Sean Sherman's restaurant, Owamni, spotlights indigenous produce by intentionally excluding colonial ingredients like dairy, wheat flour, cane sugar, beef, pork, and chicken to reclaim indigenous history and culture.
How to find belonging (w/ Hanif Abdurraqib)
November 17, 2025
The act of caring for others, even in small ways like sharing shelter or time, fosters a sense of connection and responsibility that grounds an individual, as illustrated by Hanif Abdurraqib's experience with a neighbor during a power outage.
Why you need to learn how to fight in a relationship (w/ Dr. Julie and John Gottman)
November 10, 2025
The manner in which a couple fights in the first three minutes of a conflict predicts the relationship's trajectory with 96% accuracy over the following six years.
How to break bad habits (w/ Edith Zimmerman)
November 3, 2025
The process of creating honest, personal art, as discussed in the episode of "How to Be a Better Human," often involves establishing a time buffer between the experience and publication to maintain integrity and silence the pressure of an audience.
How to use your muscles — or risk losing them (w/ Bonnie Tsui)
October 27, 2025
Muscle strength is not just about aesthetics or bodybuilding stereotypes; it is a philosophy where strength, flexibility, and endurance are qualities we strive for in personhood.
How do you stop caring what others think? A filmmaker and a therapist answer | TED Talks Daily
October 20, 2025
People-pleasing often stems from a fear of rejection or a desire for approval, sometimes rooted in early life experiences like birth order dynamics.
How Texas became America’s biggest producer of wind energy (from Speed & Scale)
October 16, 2025
Texas became the largest producer of wind energy in the U.S. through policy enacted in the late 1990s, driven by customer demand for renewables and energy efficiency identified via deliberative polling.
A practical guide to taking control of your life | TED Talks Daily
October 13, 2025
Personal agency, defined as the capacity to see and act on life's hidden degrees of freedom, is more critical for a satisfying life than intelligence or hard work.
How to strengthen your relationships — one airport ride at a time (w/ Kasley Killam)
October 6, 2025
Social health is a distinct pillar of well-being, essential for longevity and comparable in importance to not smoking cigarettes.
How to build your kid's confidence — by leaving them alone (w/ Lenore Skenazy)
September 29, 2025
Overprotecting children and constantly monitoring them deprives them of the necessary real-life experiences needed to build competence and confidence, which is the core argument of Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids Movement.
How to talk so people will listen (w/ Julian Treasure)
September 22, 2025
Effective communication hinges on both the content of what is said and the skillful delivery of those words, with a focus on the audience's reception.
How to communicate better (w/ Charles Duhigg)
September 15, 2025
Effective communication transcends mere information exchange, prioritizing connection and understanding through active listening, empathy, and vulnerability.