TED Talks Daily

Dominique Kondo, a sports nutritionist and performance scientist focused on female athlete health, tackles how appearance pressures creep into elite sport. She discusses why looks can overshadow ability, how coach language and policies shape wellbeing, and practical shifts to protect performance and confidence.

Llion Jones, AI researcher and coauthor of the paper that introduced the transformer, talks about how open, pressure-free exploration produced major breakthroughs. He describes how competition and short-term incentives narrow research. He argues for more speculative, long-shot projects and shares examples of creative, curiosity-driven work that thrived when given freedom.

Sara Nasserzadeh, a relational and psychosexual therapist and social psychologist, presents an evidence-based model from a study of 450 couples. She outlines six key ingredients like renewable attraction, respect, trust through consistency, compassion over empathy, shared vision, and loving behaviors. Short, practical ideas for building and sustaining lasting love.

Mark Miodownik, a materials scientist crafting 'animate matter' that senses damage and self-heals. He explores roads that mend microcracks, bacteria-filled concrete that seals itself, and plastics that disassemble on cue. He outlines how nature-inspired, repairable materials could reshape maintenance, infrastructure, and city life.

Claire Egan, Olympic biathlete who balances high-speed skiing with calm precision shooting. Dr. Nicole Detling, sports psychologist who trains elite athletes in mental resilience. They explore what 'the zone' feels like, routines to switch from intensity to calm, neutral self-talk as mental hold music, and practical drills to build reliable performance under pressure.

As AI tools get better at making music, will there be a time when machines move people more than musicians? Putting that question to the test, legendary hitmaker Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd joins journalist Elise Hu to discuss how new tech is changing the music industry — followed by a live performance where he battles his digital twin to see who can write a catchier song. (Poo Bear is joined onstage by musician Sasha Sirota.)Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Bastawrous, an eye surgeon and founder of Peek Vision who builds smartphone tools to expand global eye care. He questions when speed and efficiency in health systems cost human connection. Conversations cover redesigning metrics to reward remembering patients, trials that prioritize compassion, task-shifting to free specialists, and simple practices that make care feel more humane.

Vinciane Beauchene, a leadership expert who helps firms align strategy, tech and talent, reframes the AI debate. She questions how intelligence is measured, explores autonomous AI agents in sales, and shows how companies can redesign roles so people focus on relationships, learning and unique human value.

Nanjira Sambuli, a tech policy researcher who brings African perspectives to global tech governance, explores how Ubuntu-inspired ethics can reshape AI. She discusses the savannah metaphor for power, treating data as lives not oil, lightweight dung-beetle–inspired language models, and collaborative African NLP work. The conversation centers on community-led, relational approaches to building AI.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, psychologist and happiness researcher who studies interventions that boost well-being, offers a simple path to feeling more connected. She discusses experiments linking gratitude and honest sharing to stronger relationships. Short, heartfelt sharing paired with curious listening, plus prioritizing voice and face-to-face contact over text, are highlighted as ways to deepen connection.