How to Be a Better Human

2025 Staff Picks - Best of How to Be a Better Human

December 8, 2025

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  • 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. 
  • Key episode themes highlighted by the team included rethinking spirituality through kindness (Nadia Boles-Weber), the bravery of personal change (Edith Zimmerman), embracing contradiction in identity (Clint Smith), and the power of food sovereignty (Sean Sherman). 
  • The episode featured several actionable insights, such as embracing 'wintering' as necessary rest (Catherine May), understanding that joy is linked to sensorial qualities like repetition and bright color (Ingrid Lee), and practicing presence by catching oneself in 'subjective existence' (Niel Seth). 

Segments

Episode Introduction and Superlatives
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(00:01:08)
  • Key Takeaway: The episode format involves podcast team members assigning high school yearbook superlatives to their favorite episodes from the season.
  • Summary: Host Chris Duffy introduces the ‘2025 Staff Picks’ episode, framing it as a look back using high school yearbook superlatives. Team members, including guest Naisha Randhar, select episodes for categories like ‘Most Likely to Make You Rethink Your Place in the World.’ The structure involves presenting the superlative, the chosen episode/guest, and then an excerpt from that episode.
Rethinking Spirituality and Belief
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(00:02:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Spirituality can be rooted in believing in other people and practicing sincere kindness, rather than strictly adhering to specific religious doctrines.
  • Summary: Lainey Lott nominates the Nadia Boles-Weber episode for ‘Most Likely to Make You Rethink Your Place in the World,’ emphasizing that faith involves recognizing resurrection or renewal in one’s own life experiences. True spirituality is simplified to treating others with sincere kindness, which is humbling and brings peace. This perspective broadens the definition of faith beyond literal interpretations of religious stories.
Inspiration in Personal Change
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(00:04:22)
  • Key Takeaway: Significant personal changes, such as achieving sobriety, are possible when one is willing to look at their life clearly and honestly.
  • Summary: Michelle Quint selects the Edith Zimmerman episode for ‘Most Inspiring Story,’ noting the bravery in Zimmerman’s open and vulnerable approach to sobriety. The core inspiration lies in the realization that big personal changes are achievable if one can eventually face difficult situations honestly. This segment reflects on the difficulty of immediate self-honesty when situations feel too overwhelming.
Holding Contradictory Identities
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(00:05:57)
  • Key Takeaway: Being human involves accepting the ‘both-andedness’ of life, recognizing both the shame of a difficult past and the pride in resilience and progress.
  • Summary: Naisha Randhar nominates Clint Smith for ‘Most Likely to Help You Rethink Your Place in the World,’ focusing on the intersectionality of American identity. Smith argues for truthfully dealing with the past, acknowledging both heavy history and progress simultaneously. The central element of being human is accepting that one is a bundle of contradictions, constantly striving to align actions with stated values.
Motivation Through Physical Philosophy
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(00:16:54)
  • Key Takeaway: Muscle strength, form, and action are tangible qualities that mirror philosophical aspirations for personhood, requiring stress and challenge to strengthen.
  • Summary: Tansuka Sangmaniwong selects Bonnie Soy’s episode on using muscles as the ‘Best Motivator’ because it spurred her to join a gym to combat osteoporosis risk. Soy frames muscle characteristics like strength and flexibility as qualities to strive for in personhood. Strengthening a muscle requires stressing and challenging it, which serves as a life lesson for overcoming challenges.
Improving Life Tomorrow
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(00:20:35)
  • Key Takeaway: Shifting perspective by catching oneself in the act of subjective existence—noticing small feelings and sensory input—can make the day feel completely different and more vivid.
  • Summary: Lainey Lott and Matteus Salas present competing picks for ‘Most Likely to Improve Your Life Tomorrow.’ Lainey suggests reclaiming cringe by viewing embarrassing moments with kinder, funnier eyes, inspired by the ‘Mortified’ episode. Matteus highlights Niel Seth’s concept of ‘catching yourself in the act of subjective existence’ to become more present and vivid in daily life by recognizing the brain actively constructs experience from within.
Critique of Personal Branding
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(00:24:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Viewing oneself as a brand leads to commodification, whereas focusing on building character, reputation, and body of work better communicates one’s true persona.
  • Summary: Tansuka Sangmaniwong selects Debbie Millman’s episode for ‘Biggest Perspective Shifter,’ noting that brands are manufactured entities, unlike messy, evolving humans. Millman suggests that seeing oneself as a brand results in becoming a commodity. Instead, individuals should focus on developing character, reputation, and work output to communicate their intentions.
The Necessity of Wintering
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(00:26:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Resistance to pain causes the most suffering; taking time to ‘winter’ (rest and recover) is an obvious, integral human need for healing and becoming better.
  • Summary: Naisha Randhar nominates Catherine May’s episode on ‘wintering’ for ‘Biggest Perspective Shifter,’ noting the profound belief that failing to winter is a failure. This rest period is key to recovering from inevitable life pains like loss or sickness. Accepting the need to winter allows one to be alive to pain while also being open to beauty and happiness.
Joy in Color and Pattern
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(00:29:54)
  • Key Takeaway: The minimalism movement can induce sadness because the brain responds positively to sensorial qualities like bright color, round shapes, and repeating patterns.
  • Summary: Michelle Quint shares Ingrid Lee’s episode as the ‘Most Shared Tidbit,’ advocating for bringing more color into life based on neuroscientific findings. Joyful elements share repeatable sensorial qualities across cultures, such as bright color and repetition. The joy comes from the abstraction—the repetition of the shape—not just the literal object.
Host Wrap-up and Credits
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(00:31:42)
  • Key Takeaway: The host, Chris Duffy, promotes his upcoming book, ‘Humor Me,’ which focuses on how to laugh more.
  • Summary: Chris Duffy thanks the team members, listing several by name and their roles, including fact-checkers and producers from both TED and PRX sides. He encourages listeners to share the episode with someone they would want to sign their yearbook. The host concludes the season by wishing listeners to stay warm and announcing his book release.