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To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity 

Sit down with Head of TED Chris Anderson as he interviews leading thinkers and creators from around the world. The TED Interview is a space for guests to further delve into their groundbreaking work, give us a peek into how they discover and explore fascinating ideas, and, in some cases, even defend their thinking. This season, we’re looking at Infectious Generosity.

Generosity is at the heart of being human. It's how we've co-operated, innovated and grown as a civilization. Following Chris’s book of the same name, this podcast will dive into the idea that through the power of the internet, small acts of thoughtfulness spread to change lives at a scale never experienced before. Welcome to your front-row seat to great conversations with the world’s brightest minds.

And in the spirit of the Infectious Generosity, listeners can receive a free copy of Chris’s book in e-book or audio format. Just visit ted.com/generosity and fill out the short form to receive yours.

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The TED Interview

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity

What if the world’s biggest problems could be solved with just some simple math? Natalie Cargill, the founder of strategic giving consultancy Longview Philanthropy, works on finding funding for the most impactful solutions to global issues. In an exciting chat, Natalie and Chris talk about the numbers on what it takes to solve extreme poverty, how to prevent the next pandemic and what kind of money it takes to mitigate other risks to our planet. 

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

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How to solve the world’s biggest problems with Natalie Cargill

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity 

How much happiness could be gained if more people had access to wealth? Does the relationship between spending money and happiness change when people are in different economic classes? And if chosen randomly, what would YOU do with $10,000? These are questions that Elizabeth Dunn, a social psychologist and professor, posed in a recent study. She researches how people can optimize time, money and technology to maximize their own happiness. In December 2020, TED teamped up with Elizabeth’s researchers to distribute $10,000 to each of 200 random recipients in seven countries to understand how the use of this cash would contribute to their happiness. The end result was fascinating — and at this live event at the TED2024 conference in Vancouver, Elizabeth and Chris dive into the findings.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much happiness can 2 million USD buy? with Elizabeth Dunn

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity 

When John M. Sweeney first read about the old Italian tradition of “café sospeso”, he didn’t know he’d create a viral movement. The simple and powerful idea originates in the working-class cafés of Naples, where generous Neapolitans who could afford to do so would buy two coffees — but consume only one, leaving the other for a less fortunate person to claim. Chris chats with John about why he took this concept from an exploratory Facebook page to the Suspended Coffees movement that now has more than 2,000 participating cafes worldwide. They talk about the profound power of random acts of kindness, the beauty of gifting economies and how the philosophy of generosity can change an entire community – and the world at large.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exercising your generosity like a muscle with John M. Sweeney

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity

Hamdi Ulukaya, the founder of Chobani (a company with expected valuation in the billions of USD) claims to be an “anti-CEO” of sorts. That’s because he cares about one thing more than profit — people. Chris asks Hamdi about how he uses his business to make the world better for both employees and customers, the difference between profit and true wealth, and what we can do, in and outside of business, to combat global inequality.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why true success goes beyond profit with Chobani founder Hamdi Ulukaya

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity 

William MacAskill is a moral philosopher and the cofounder of the Effective Altruism Movement, a school of thought that tries to answer the question: How can we do as much good as possible? Chris and Will talk about how to use evidence to figure out how to help solve the world’s most pressing problems efficiently. Then, they discuss why focusing our efforts on some issues over others is both a compelling philosophical question — and a complex project to scale up.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to use your time and money for good — as effectively as possible — with Will MacAskill

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity.

From Taiwan to Rwanda, artist Lily Yeh has traveled all over the world in pursuit of more than just aesthetic pleasure — and she’s activating local communities on this journey. Chris and Lily chat about Lily’s artistic evolution, discuss how art encourages growth and healing, and examine the positive effect that art can have on individuals long, even long after a work has been completed.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The healing power of art with Lily Yeh

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity.

Daryl Davis is a Black musician and actor who regularly enters white nationalist spaces. That’s because Daryl is determined to understand the source of bigotry – by actually talking to the humans he disagrees with. Chris interviews Daryl about his unique approach, from attending KKK rallies to joining all-white country bands. Then, Daryl shares why he chooses curiosity over fear and why he still believes, despite our current divisions, humanity is in a bright spot.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to fight hatred with curiosity with Daryl Davis

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity. 

It may feel like the world is running low on a seemingly crucial human trait: empathy. But Paul Bloom, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, thinks that empathy is not the best measure of goodness. Paul’s work focuses on exploring some of the most puzzling aspects of human nature, including pleasure, religion and morality. He argues that empathy can actually lead to inequality because it muddles our judgment and narrows our prejudices. Chris and Paul talk about the biological evolution that led to our modern human psyche, discuss the perils of acting emotionally and break down the relationship between empathy, generosity and what Paul calls "rational compassion."

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts.

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How empathy gets in the way of a better world with Paul Bloom

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when misinformation and fear was spreading rampantly, one optimistic community was forming... on Facebook. Catherine Barrett started "The Kindness Pandemic" Facebook group as a way to combat the negativity and aggression she was seeing online. Members participated in campaigns where they engaged in kind acts — and then they posted about it. The group went from dozens of members in its first day to more than 50,000 members joining every day. In this episode, Chris and Catherine chat about bringing humanity back into our digital worlds, discuss what it takes to make kindness go viral, and make a case for being loud about generosity.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at go.ted.com/TTIscripts

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How kindness went viral with Catherine Barrett

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is one of the top 10 richest people in the world. But since 2008, he has traded his day-to-day role with Microsoft to focus full-time on his foundation's work to expand opportunity around the world. Chris interviews Bill about his philanthropy philosophy and digs into the opportunities and challenges that face one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world. The two also discuss The Giving Pledge, the movement Bill co-founded with Warren Buffet, which encourages wealthy individuals to commit the majority of their wealth to charitable causes within their lifetimes. Chris and Bill examine the importance of solving the world’s most pressing problems efficiently, talk about why meaningful change requires scale and compare notes on how to best encourage collective excitement about giving back.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts.

 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Bill Gates spends $9 billion a year

How many soulmates do you think people have? What if you tried to funnel all the water from Niagara falls through a straw? Do you think it’s possible? if you sold the whole planet for scrap–what parts would be most valuable? You might think these absurd questions are unanswerable, or even pointless, but these are the kind of questions Randall Munroe can’t stop thinking about. Randall is the bestselling author of the books “What If” and “What If 2” which provide serious, scientific answers to absurd questions. He’s also the Hugo-award winning cartoonist behind the popular xkcd webcomics. In this episode, Randall talks through the most intriguing scenarios from his new volume, and shares why absurdist thought experiments actually help us understand the world–and each other–a bit better.

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Randall Munroe answers your wildest questions

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