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

Summary

In this special year-end episode, host Chris Duffy and members of the How to Be a Better Human production team look back at standout episodes from the past season. They award yearbook-style superlatives to various guests and conversations, sharing clips and explaining why each episode resonated with them personally.

The episode covers a wide range of topics through these curated highlights. Team members like Lainey Lott and poet Naisha Randhar discuss episodes that made them “rethink their place in the world,” featuring guests like Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber and writer Clint Smith, who explore faith, identity, and holding contradictory truths. Other segments focus on inspiring personal stories, such as Edith Zimmerman’s journey to sobriety and Sean Sherman’s work on Indigenous food sovereignty.

Further superlatives highlight practical advice and perspective shifts. The team shares clips on using humor to reclaim past embarrassments, a neuroscientist’s concept of “catching yourself in the act of subjective existence,” and critiques of personal branding. The episode also touches on the importance of physical strength, the necessity of rest and “wintering,” and the neuroscience of joy and color.

Throughout, the format allows listeners to sample the podcast’s breadth, from deeply philosophical discussions to actionable life tips. Each team member’s personal connection to the clip adds a layer of reflection on how these ideas impacted their own lives. The episode serves as both a celebration of the season’s work and an invitation for listeners to explore these conversations further.

Recommendations

Books

  • Humor Me — Host Chris Duffy’s book, coming out January 6th, is about how to laugh more. He mentions it at the end of the episode and provides his website for pre-orders.

Conferences

  • TED 2026 — The flagship TED conference in Vancouver from April 13-17, 2026, featuring perspective-shifting talks and immersive experiences. Listeners are directed to a website for more information.

Podcasts

  • How To with Mike Peska — Promoted in the ad at the beginning, described as an Ambie Award-nominated advice show where the host tackles listener questions with world-class experts.
  • Creation Myth from CBC’s Personally — Promoted in an ad break, a podcast about a woman in her 40s reconsidering her lifelong decision not to have children.

Topic Timeline

  • 00:01:17 — Host Chris Duffy introduces the yearbook superlatives format — Chris Duffy explains that the team is looking back at the past season before moving on. He introduces the concept of awarding yearbook-style superlatives to past episodes, with team members and a past guest sharing their picks. He notes his own seasonal head cold and steps aside for the team’s voices.
  • 00:02:37 — Lainey Lott on Nadia Bolz-Weber and rethinking spirituality — Audience marketing associate Lainey Lott awards “most likely to make you rethink your place in the world” to the episode with Lutheran pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. Lainey explains how the episode rooted spirituality in believing in other people and treating them with kindness, offering a refreshing and logical perspective. A clip from Bolz-Weber expands on redefining faith beyond literal medical facts to include personal experiences of resurrection.
  • 00:04:33 — Michelle Quint on Edith Zimmerman’s inspiring sobriety story — Story editor Michelle Quint presents “most inspiring story” to Edith Zimmerman’s episode on getting sober. Michelle finds the story quietly inspiring not just for the sobriety, but for the demonstration that big personal change is possible through honest self-examination. A clip from Zimmerman describes her past as a “medium problematic drinker” and the moment she felt equipped to stop.
  • 00:06:06 — Naisha Randhar on Clint Smith and holding contradictory identities — Poet and past guest Naisha Randhar also nominates an episode for “most likely to make you rethink your place in the world,” choosing writer Clint Smith. She discusses his exploration of the contradictory American identity, grappling with a brutal past and celebrating progress. A clip from Smith argues for accepting the “both and” of being human, holding our values alongside our daily shortcomings.
  • 00:10:30 — Mateus Salas on Sean Sherman and food sovereignty as healing — Fact-checker Mateus Salas awards “most inspiring story” to chef Sean Sherman’s episode. Mateus is moved by how Sherman reclaims Indigenous food traditions not just as recipes, but as a path to healing, community rebuilding, and pride. A clip from Sherman discusses food sovereignty as a means for tribes to control their future and how ancestral knowledge applies to the present.
  • 00:12:18 — Daniela Valareso on Hanif Abdurraqib and Sarah Kay evoking emotion — Executive producer Daniela Valareso nominates Hanif Abdurraqib and Sarah Kay for “most likely to make you feel your feels.” Having moved often, Daniela connected with their discussion on belonging and community. A clip from Sarah Kay describes Hanif’s deep, specific love for his hometown of Columbus, illustrating what it means to be in community through everyday acts and relationships.
  • 00:15:49 — Tansuka Sangmani Wong on Bonnie Tsui and the motivation to build muscle — Podcast specialist Tansuka Sangmani Wong picks Bonnie Tsui’s episode for “best motivator to get you to do X, Y, and Z.” The episode’s warning about losing muscle mass after 30, coupled with Tansuka’s higher risk for osteoporosis, motivated her to join a gym and lift weights. A clip from Tsui frames muscle as a philosophy, where qualities like strength and endurance are also qualities to strive for in personhood.
  • 00:19:02 — Lainey and Mateus debate episodes to improve your life tomorrow — Lainey Lott and Mateus Salas present competing picks for “most likely to improve your life tomorrow.” Lainey chooses Dave Nadelberg and Neil Katcher’s episode on reclaiming your life through humor about past cringe, which helped her reframe her own embarrassing moments. Mateus chooses neuroscientist Anil Seth’s episode on the concept of “catching yourself in the act of subjective existence,” a small shift that makes him feel more present and vivid in daily life.
  • 00:23:17 — Tansuka and Naisha on perspective-shifting episodes — Tansuka Sangmani Wong and Naisha Randhar share picks for “biggest perspective shifter.” Tansuka chooses Debbie Millman’s critique of personal branding, arguing that seeing ourselves as brands turns us into commodities. Naisha chooses Katherine May’s episode on “wintering,” which argues for the necessity of rest and recovery, and how resistance to pain causes more suffering than the pain itself.
  • 00:28:10 — Michelle Quint shares the most shared tidbit on joy and color — Michelle Quint returns to award “most shared tidbit” to Ingrid Lee’s episode on joy. Michelle has been telling everyone how minimalism has made us sad and how brains respond positively to bright colors, repeating patterns, and abundance. After listening, she bought a bright chair and wears more color. A clip from Lee breaks down the neuroscientific elements that create joy, like repetition and round shapes.

Episode Info

  • Podcast: How to Be a Better Human
  • Author: TED
  • Category: Education Self-Improvement
  • Published: 2025-12-08T05:00:00Z
  • Duration: 00:28:20

References

Podcast Info

Transcript

[00:00:00] This podcast is brought to you by WISE, the app for international people using money around the globe.

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[00:00:25] Download the WISE app today or visit wise.com.

[00:00:28] T’s and C’s apply.

[00:00:30] We all need advice, but it’s not always clear who to ask, even in 2026.

[00:00:34] Enter How To, the longstanding advice show and Ambie Award-nominated best personal growth podcast

[00:00:40] that’s back with new episodes and a new host.

[00:00:43] Who? Me, Mike Peska.

[00:00:44] Each week, I tackle a listener question ranging from travel to finance to relationships and beyond

[00:00:49] with help from a world-class expert, you know, someone who actually very much knows what they’re talking about.

[00:00:55] Think of it as eavesdropping on someone else’s therapy session.

[00:00:59] And without the copay or awkward silences, you’ve got questions.

[00:01:03] We’ll find the experts and the answers.

[00:01:05] So follow How To with Mike Peska wherever you get podcasts.

[00:01:14] You’re listening to How To Be A Better Human.

[00:01:16] I’m your host, Chris Duffy.

[00:01:17] We are coming to the end of the year, and it has been a really big season for our podcast.

[00:01:21] So before we graduate, before we move on to our next season, we want to take a little look back.

[00:01:26] And we’re going to do that in today’s episode, High School.

[00:01:29] Yearbook style.

[00:01:30] So people from across our podcast team are going to pick an episode and give it a superlative.

[00:01:35] You remember those, right?

[00:01:36] Things like most likely to succeed or biggest class clown.

[00:01:39] If I was going to get a superlative for this episode, it would probably be most likely to have a seasonal head cold

[00:01:43] and sound like his nose is stuffed up because it is.

[00:01:46] Okay, so this episode, this is that.

[00:01:49] This is the superlative episode.

[00:01:51] And these superlatives are going to be bestowed by folks who work on this show,

[00:01:54] who produce it, who fact check it and keep it going.

[00:01:56] We’ve even got a previous podcast guest.

[00:01:59] Poet Naisha Randhar, who’s going to share her own superlative pick.

[00:02:02] I’m going to get out of the way.

[00:02:03] So you’re going to hear the voices of members of our team.

[00:02:05] And then after they tell you which episode they picked for a superlative,

[00:02:08] you’ll hear an excerpt from that episode.

[00:02:11] I want to also note that some superlatives were so popular that multiple people wanted to share their episode pick for that same superlative.

[00:02:17] So you will have to listen to the whole episode to find out which superlative wins most popular superlative,

[00:02:22] which is itself, of course, a superlative.

[00:02:24] Okay, that is more than enough for me.

[00:02:26] Let’s get started with Lainey Lott,

[00:02:28] our audience marketing associate.

[00:02:30] And Lainey has an episode on which she would like to bestow this superlative,

[00:02:33] most likely to make you rethink your place in the world.

[00:02:36] Here’s Lainey.

[00:02:37] The episode with Lutheran pastor Nadia Bowles-Weber made me rethink my place in the world

[00:02:43] by rooting the concept of belief and spirituality back into just believing in other people

[00:02:50] and believing in the good in other people.

[00:02:54] It’s not that often that I see spirituality represented in,

[00:02:58] like, a lighthearted or, like, more logical way.

[00:03:01] So this conversation was refreshing to help me feel more hopeful about what it can mean

[00:03:07] to build a spiritual community and be a spiritual person,

[00:03:10] and that it’s really just about treating other people with sincere kindness.

[00:03:15] And it’s humbling and just brings me a lot of peace to think about my purpose as being

[00:03:20] to just be kind to others and help others.

[00:03:24] And it’s really just that simple.

[00:03:26] And also their conversation.

[00:03:28] It’s also very interesting because Nadia has had a fascinating life

[00:03:32] and has a lot of cool mini lessons that can help you just have a little more faith.

[00:03:37] A lot of people think they don’t have faith because they don’t think,

[00:03:41] oh, I don’t think Jesus was really alive after he was dead, right?

[00:03:46] Therefore, I don’t have faith.

[00:03:47] And I’m like, oh, my God, you definitely have faith in a million ways.

[00:03:52] And it doesn’t have to do with, do you think that this story is medically true?

[00:03:58] Medically factual.

[00:04:00] Is there resurrection in your life?

[00:04:02] Do you have stories of feeling like something was dead and now it’s alive?

[00:04:06] That’s a form of faith.

[00:04:07] And so to say to people, well, the only way to have faith is to say that medically,

[00:04:13] you know, Jesus was dead and then three days later he was alive.

[00:04:17] You know, it’s like a way to drain all of the meaning and mystery and power

[00:04:22] out of what faith really is, is to say that’s what it is.

[00:04:28] My name is Michelle Quint, and I am a story editor on How to Be a Better Human.

[00:04:33] And my pick for most inspiring story is Edith Zimmerman.

[00:04:39] I found Edith’s story really quietly, surprisingly inspiring.

[00:04:44] I think she’d probably be the first to tell you that her story is nothing super unique.

[00:04:51] Many people get sober, but the way she approached it, which was so open and honest,

[00:04:58] and vulnerable, it felt really brave and unique.

[00:05:03] And the root of what I found so inspiring was not the sobriety per se,

[00:05:07] but rather the idea that you can always make big personal changes

[00:05:12] if you are willing to look at yourself and your life clearly and honestly.

[00:05:19] I feel like maybe I come across as really honest, but I think there’s been times in my life where

[00:05:26] there’s just like entire situations.

[00:05:28] I can’t even look at and only later can I be like, OK, eventually I was able to be honest about them.

[00:05:34] But in the moment, they’re just like way too big and I don’t even know.

[00:05:39] Like maybe I’m going through one of them now and I can’t not to be like mysterious,

[00:05:42] but it’s like sometimes I can’t even look at it.

[00:05:44] But anyway, so I was like a very, I don’t know, like medium problematic drinker for like kind of a long time,

[00:05:50] like for probably like seven years.

[00:05:51] I knew I was like, this is not good, but like I can’t really handle this right now because I’m just like not equipped.

[00:05:55] And then like one day I was and then I stopped drinking.

[00:05:58] Hi, my name is Nisha Randar.

[00:06:06] I am the Dallas Youth Poet Laureate and my nomination for the category most likely to help you rethink

[00:06:13] your place in the world is Clint Smith.

[00:06:17] Clint in this episode discusses the intersectionality of identities and the inheritance of often

[00:06:27] brutal,

[00:06:28] past interlaid with tragedy and the guilt and complicity that comes with that.

[00:06:36] And the consequence of being American and having this contradictory identity,

[00:06:43] because while there is this past that is so heavy and awful,

[00:06:49] there’s also so much progress and resilience to celebrate as a people.

[00:06:56] He argues,

[00:06:58] that there are both,

[00:07:00] which I think lots of people are scared to accept because they want to see this golden standard of what it means to be American,

[00:07:08] which isn’t always true.

[00:07:11] And he talks about the extraordinary importance of dealing with the past truthfully and recognizing both the shame and the pride of what it means to be American and in any history.

[00:07:28] I think part of my project is to ask us to hold all of the both and in this of what it means to be human in the context of our personal lives.

[00:07:40] In the context of our identities,

[00:07:42] in the context of our history,

[00:07:44] because I think that is the most perhaps central element of being human is accepting that we are a bundle of contradictions like there.

[00:07:55] There are values that I have.

[00:07:57] there are things that I believe I hold firmly and I am cognizant of the way that I fall short of

[00:08:03] those values every single day. I don’t think that makes me a bad person. I think that makes me a

[00:08:08] person who’s reflecting on the fact that, okay, well, I say I care about this, or I say this

[00:08:14] matters to me, or I say I’m not the kind of person who does this. And today I fell short of those

[00:08:21] things. My hope is that every day we wake up and try to get a little bit closer to the version of

[00:08:28] ourselves that we want to be relative to the version of ourselves that we are. That’s like

[00:08:32] an ongoing practice. It’s not necessarily trying to cross a finish line, but a recognition that

[00:08:38] this is an ongoing part of what it means to be alive.

[00:08:47] We’re going to have a lot more superlatives, and we are going to have a lot more clips

[00:08:50] picked by members of our community. We’re going to have a lot more

[00:08:51] a lot more clips picked by members of our community. We’re going to have a lot more

[00:08:51] of our podcast team.

[00:08:52] But first, we got to pay those team members salaries.

[00:08:55] So we’re going to take a quick ad break

[00:08:56] and then we will be right back.

[00:09:08] This podcast is brought to you by WISE,

[00:09:11] the app for international people

[00:09:12] using money around the globe.

[00:09:14] With WISE, you can send, spend,

[00:09:16] and receive in over 40 currencies

[00:09:18] with no markups or hidden fees.

[00:09:20] Whether you’re sending pounds across the pond,

[00:09:22] spending reals in Rio,

[00:09:24] or getting paid in dollars for your side gig,

[00:09:26] you’ll get the mid-market exchange rates

[00:09:28] on every transaction.

[00:09:29] Join 15 million customers internationally.

[00:09:32] Be smart, get WISE.

[00:09:34] Download the WISE app today

[00:09:35] or visit WISE.com.

[00:09:37] T’s and C’s apply.

[00:09:39] For years, I’ve sounded like a broken record.

[00:09:41] I do not want kids.

[00:09:43] I do not ever want to have kids.

[00:09:44] I don’t want to have a kid.

[00:09:45] Don’t want to have a kid.

[00:09:46] Don’t want to have a kid.

[00:09:47] I’m in my 40s now.

[00:09:48] The door is almost closed.

[00:09:50] And suddenly, I’m not so sure.

[00:09:54] The story has always been no.

[00:09:56] I’m just wondering to what degree it’s just a story.

[00:10:00] Definitely just a story.

[00:10:02] From CBC’s Personally,

[00:10:04] this is Creation Myth.

[00:10:06] Available now wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:10:13] On today’s episode,

[00:10:14] we’re hearing from members of the

[00:10:16] How to Be a Better Human team

[00:10:17] about the episodes that they loved

[00:10:18] and what yearbooks,

[00:10:20] and what they didn’t like.

[00:10:20] and what superlative they would give them.

[00:10:21] So up next, we have Mateus Salas.

[00:10:23] And Mateus is going to be presenting

[00:10:25] the category of Most Inspiring Story.

[00:10:28] Hello, I’m Mateus Salas,

[00:10:30] fact checker for the Better Human podcast.

[00:10:33] And I think the story that really stayed with me this year

[00:10:37] was Sean Sherman’s episode.

[00:10:40] There’s just something so powerful

[00:10:42] about the way he’s reclaiming food traditions.

[00:10:46] Not just as recipes or ingredients,

[00:10:48] but as a…

[00:10:50] a very way of healing,

[00:10:51] rebuilding community,

[00:10:53] and I think restoring pride.

[00:10:56] And perhaps what struck me most

[00:10:58] is how his work turns food into something much deeper.

[00:11:02] While listening to him,

[00:11:03] I kept thinking,

[00:11:05] this is not just about cooking.

[00:11:07] It’s like about remembering who you are,

[00:11:11] where you come from,

[00:11:13] and finding hope in that connection.

[00:11:15] So listening to this was fantastic for me.

[00:11:20] I just feel like food is something really powerful,

[00:11:22] and food sovereignty is what we really push towards,

[00:11:24] because if we can get tribes to really consider

[00:11:26] that there is a path to control their own food,

[00:11:29] to be able to grow their own food,

[00:11:30] to harvest their own food,

[00:11:31] to preserve their own food,

[00:11:33] to make more than enough food for their entire community

[00:11:35] with the spaces that they have,

[00:11:37] and even in all the different environments

[00:11:38] all over the United States,

[00:11:40] there’s plenty of ways to work towards that.

[00:11:42] And I think that if we can control our food,

[00:11:44] we can really control the power that we have

[00:11:46] for our future, you know?

[00:11:48] And so I just really hope people can, you know,

[00:11:49] can see that we can learn so much from our ancestors,

[00:11:53] because we’re not trying to create food

[00:11:54] that’s a museum piece

[00:11:55] and trying to go backwards to 1491

[00:11:58] of what were we eating long before European settlers showed up.

[00:12:01] We’re looking at the future of like,

[00:12:02] how can we adopt a lot of the knowledge base

[00:12:05] from our ancestors,

[00:12:06] apply that to what we know today,

[00:12:08] and how do we think about the future?

[00:12:10] Because we have every single day we’re alive,

[00:12:13] we can think about changing the future.

[00:12:16] Hi, I’m Daniela Valareso.

[00:12:18] I’m an executive producer

[00:12:19] at TED.

[00:12:21] And I’m nominating Hanif Abdurraqib and Sarah Kay

[00:12:25] for most likely to make you feel your feels.

[00:12:29] And yes, as an executive producer,

[00:12:31] I did come up with that superlative category

[00:12:34] and I do feel too millennial about it.

[00:12:36] I’m so sorry to everybody.

[00:12:39] But I’m nominating Hanif and Sarah

[00:12:41] because we had them on the show together

[00:12:45] for a very special video series on YouTube.

[00:12:48] And I knew that I would get

[00:12:49] a little teary eyed,

[00:12:51] but I was really surprised as to how deeply

[00:12:55] I felt their words in my heart.

[00:12:57] The way that I’ve grown up,

[00:12:58] I’ve moved around a lot.

[00:13:00] And so I feel like I belong to a lot of places.

[00:13:03] I was born in La Paz in Mexico,

[00:13:05] but I was raised in El Paso, Texas.

[00:13:07] And I’ve been living in Brooklyn, New York

[00:13:09] for almost nine years.

[00:13:11] So I have always struggled to define what home is.

[00:13:18] And so Hanif and Sarah really helped me

[00:13:19] see and celebrate what belonging

[00:13:23] and community could look and feel like.

[00:13:25] Just learning how to forge community

[00:13:27] and thinking deeply about the people that you claim

[00:13:31] and that claim you feels so important right now.

[00:13:34] I think this is the time where we need solidarity.

[00:13:38] We need neighborliness.

[00:13:39] We need to feel belonging.

[00:13:41] So that’s why I felt my feels with them

[00:13:44] as millennial as it sounds.

[00:13:46] And I will never say that phrase again, I think.

[00:13:49] But loving brings me more joy

[00:13:53] than sitting in the passenger seat

[00:13:55] while Hanif drives around the city of Columbus,

[00:13:59] picking up his dry cleaning,

[00:14:01] going to the bakery,

[00:14:03] dropping off some package to a friend

[00:14:07] that got delivered to his house

[00:14:09] because the friend was out of town.

[00:14:10] And while we’re driving,

[00:14:12] Hanif is pointing out personal landmarks around the city.

[00:14:19] basketball court I used to play on when I was a kid. And then over there is the smaller basketball

[00:14:25] court where the younger siblings were relegated when the older kids wanted to play on the big

[00:14:31] court. And over there is where I had a really bad date one time. And then over there is where

[00:14:38] the best milkshake is. And I have this great awe and this great respect for the way Hanif loves his

[00:14:50] hometown and how it’s not abstract to him. He loves people there. He loves the elders that

[00:15:01] live on his block. He loves the high school students that he mentors and who mentor him.

[00:15:08] He loves the guys who work at the record store and remember what he bought last time so that when

[00:15:17] he comes in next time, they have something to recommend him. And the way that he moves through

[00:15:25] that place looks like what I imagine you are looking for when you are looking for an example

[00:15:35] of how to be in community.

[00:15:38] Hi, my name is Tansuka Sangmani Wong and I am the podcast publishing and programming specialist at

[00:15:49] TED. My pick for the best motivator to get you to do X, Y, and Z is Bonnie Tsui, how to use your

[00:15:55] muscles or risk losing them. I remember when she said in your 30s, you start losing bone and muscle

[00:16:01] mass. So you need to ask yourself, who do you want to be and what do you want to be capable of doing

[00:16:07] in your future? And I think that’s a really good question. I think it’s a really good question.

[00:16:08] 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond. It was scary to hear, but it resonated. As an Asian American,

[00:16:15] I am at a higher risk to get osteoporosis. So Bonnie’s episode motivated me to join a gym,

[00:16:22] lift weights, build strength, and regain some functional mobility.

[00:16:26] I couldn’t help but over the course of writing this book, start to think of muscle as a philosophy

[00:16:32] where there are all these characteristics of muscle, the tangible stuff, right?

[00:16:38] Strength and form and action that it is the stuff that actually moves us and flexibility and

[00:16:45] endurance. And these are not just qualities of muscle, but they are qualities that we strive

[00:16:50] for in personhood. And I think that’s very moving. That’s very profound. And so to kind of like

[00:16:58] think about the body as not just this vehicle we occupy for a certain period of time on earth,

[00:17:04] but it is something that if we think about it in a certain way,

[00:17:07] it elevates like who we want to be in the world. So muscle is something that

[00:17:13] you can only get stronger. You can only strengthen a muscle by stressing it, by pushing it, by

[00:17:20] challenging it. And that’s something that I think we all understand. We can look at life as something

[00:17:27] that always is stressing us, is always throwing these challenges at us. I know it’s just a really

[00:17:32] good life lesson.

[00:17:37] This podcast is brought to you by WISE, the app for international people using money around the

[00:18:02] globe. With WISE, you can send, spend, and receive in over 40 currencies with no markups

[00:18:07] or hidden fees. Whether you’re sending pounds across the pond, spending reals in Rio, or getting

[00:18:12] paid in dollars for your side gig, you’ll get the mid-market exchange rates on every transaction.

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[00:18:31] Today, we are awarding some of our guests of this past year with the very prestigious awards we all

[00:18:36] know and love.

[00:18:37] Book superlatives. Laney Lott and Mateus Salas are two members of the Better Human team, who you heard

[00:18:42] from earlier, but they’re also both overachievers, so they nominated multiple episodes. They are going

[00:18:47] head-to-head in this next superlative because they both made a pick for the category of

[00:18:51] Most Likely to Improve Your Life Tomorrow. So let’s hear from them both, and then you can decide

[00:18:56] which episode you think should take the crown. Who deserves the superlative? Here’s Laney.

[00:19:02] So when I listened to the episode with Dave Nadelberg and Neil Cather,

[00:19:06] How to Reclaim Your Life, I was like, oh, that’s a good one. And I was like, oh, that’s a good one.

[00:19:07] I really felt a lot better about the many cringey things I’ve done in my life. I’m a theater kid,

[00:19:13] so there’s many. But hearing everyone make a huge joke out of their cringey stories helped me

[00:19:18] kind of spin the narrative on my own cringey moments and look at them with kinder eyes and

[00:19:25] see them to be a little funnier and more endearing. Plus, this episode really made

[00:19:29] me want to journal more just to try and make myself laugh. So it was a quick perspective

[00:19:34] shift to keep me from laying awake thinking about something I did.

[00:19:37] 10 years ago, that was embarrassing.

[00:19:40] I think one of the things that is really fun in Mortified is that

[00:19:44] the things that a kid wants isn’t necessarily any different than what an adult wants.

[00:19:50] The big difference is that the kid has less information. And so we are often, I often call

[00:20:00] teenagehood the sort of the first day on the job of being an adult. And the training’s been really

[00:20:06] bad. There’s been really, really bad training. And I think that’s a really, really bad training.

[00:20:07] There’s been really poor training at the office. And so a lot of the things that we laugh at and

[00:20:15] enjoy, but also relate to so much is just someone operating without a manual. And in a weird way,

[00:20:23] that’s why they’re keeping their journal. And it’s also why we root for them.

[00:20:28] Hello, I’m Matteo Salles, fact checker for the Better Human podcast. And my pick for this one,

[00:20:34] the easiest change to improve your…

[00:20:37] life tomorrow is a new Seth’s episode, mostly because of something he said that I just can

[00:20:45] forget, like catching yourself in the act of subjective existence. That idea really hit me.

[00:20:54] And since listening to it, I’ve actually tried it, like just stopping for a second in the middle of

[00:21:01] the day, perhaps while making coffee or walking outside.

[00:21:07] And noticing the feeling of the air or a tiny emotion passing by. And in that moment,

[00:21:14] you realize that all of this, everything you see and feel, it’s like your brain making sense

[00:21:21] of the world. It’s such a small shift, but it makes the day feel completely different.

[00:21:28] Things become a little more vivid. You become a little more present. You’re in your own life.

[00:21:36] And it’s beautiful.

[00:21:37] And honestly, it’s changed how I move through my days.

[00:21:42] The brain makes this best guess about what’s happening in the world by continually

[00:21:46] making predictions about the sensory signals that it’s getting. And then instead of just

[00:21:52] reading out the sensory signals to sort of form this inner picture of the world,

[00:21:57] the brain is continually updating the predictions. So they explain away the sensory signals that are

[00:22:04] coming in. And the key…

[00:22:07] The idea here is that what we experience in this story is the content of these

[00:22:12] inside-out predictions. We don’t read out the world from the outside in. We always actively

[00:22:19] construct it, actively generate it from the inside out. Now, it turns out, if you do all

[00:22:26] the maths and all this stuff, that if you have a brain which is continually updating its top-down,

[00:22:32] inside-out predictions to minimize the sensory signals,

[00:22:37] that are coming in to try and explain them, predict them before they happen,

[00:22:41] that mathematically is a very, very good way for the brain to approximate exactly what caused the

[00:22:49] sensory signals out there in the world. It’s a very good way to make a best guess. And that’s

[00:22:53] the claim. That’s what we experience. And that’s why I call it a controlled hallucination, which

[00:22:58] is a term I call good analogies. I like the idea because it emphasizes that our experiences come

[00:23:07] largely from within. So that’s the hallucination part.

[00:23:11] Hi, this is Tansuka Sangmani Wong, Podcast Publishing and Programming Specialist at TED.

[00:23:17] My pick for the biggest perspective shifter is Debbie Millman and her take on personal branding.

[00:23:22] It seems like every time I open up a social media app, there are tons of influencers and

[00:23:28] content creators and people monetizing their hobbies everywhere. Everyone wants to be a brand.

[00:23:33] Yet Debbie argues that maybe we shouldn’t.

[00:23:36] Because brands are manufactured. And once we see ourselves as brands,

[00:23:41] we become a commodity and lose the essence that makes us human.

[00:23:45] I loved hearing Debbie’s thoughts and how it’s a reminder that not everything has to be a brand.

[00:23:50] When people ask me about personal branding, because I do so much work in branding,

[00:23:55] that’s inevitably a question. And I’ve thought about it long and hard. And brands are manufactured.

[00:24:03] It’s meaning manufactured.

[00:24:06] Brands are living, breathing entities. We’re a species. And we’re messy. And we change and evolve,

[00:24:12] or at least one would hope that we do. We grow. And brands are not self-directed. They’re only

[00:24:20] directed by humans. Some humans are better than others in that direction and in their intention.

[00:24:27] But what I suggest that humans work on is building their character and building their reputation

[00:24:34] and building their body of work.

[00:24:36] And doing those three things will help create or communicate, really,

[00:24:42] your persona and your intentions and who you are. But the minute we begin to see ourselves

[00:24:50] as brands, we become a commodity. And I find that really unfortunate and a little bit sad.

[00:24:57] Hi, my name is Naisha. I am the Dallas Youth Poet Laureate. And my nomination for the category

[00:25:04] Biggest Perspective is…

[00:25:05] Biggest Perspective Shifter is Catherine May and her episode on wintering. I love this episode

[00:25:13] so much because what she’s saying seems to be so obvious, yet I don’t think most of the people

[00:25:24] that I know, and especially not me, fully comprehended this concept, which is to say that

[00:25:31] no one actually rests enough and takes…

[00:25:35] the time that they need to recover and gives themselves grace. Like, for example, she says,

[00:25:42] there is a really profound belief that we fail if we winter, whereas actually, if you think about it

[00:25:49] for just a few moments, it’s entirely obvious that it’s normal. And she’s right. It’s so obvious that

[00:25:57] this need for rest is integral to being human. And the wintering or the hibernation, the peace,

[00:26:05] that’s key to recovering and healing and becoming better. My favorite part is when she talks about

[00:26:14] how resistance to pain causes us the most suffering. And if we were to just take the time

[00:26:23] to winter, we would actually be able to be alive to the pain, but also heal from that and be more

[00:26:32] alive to other things like beauty.

[00:26:35] And happiness and good things in our lives. That was a really profound episode for me and

[00:26:44] completely blew my mind.

[00:26:48] There’s a really profound belief that we fail if we winter, whereas actually, if you think about it

[00:26:58] for just a few moments, it’s entirely obvious that it’s normal. You know, we can’t live a whole life

[00:27:05] without having someone dear to us die. We can’t live a whole life without getting sick. We rarely

[00:27:12] get to live a whole life without losing a job, for example. I mean, there are so many different

[00:27:16] things that can happen. And yet, quite often when we see them happen to other people, we do this

[00:27:24] little trick of the mind that says, okay, so why is that their fault? Like, what would I have done

[00:27:30] differently? And I still catch myself doing it. And that, you know, it’s protective, isn’t it?

[00:27:35] Like, we just don’t want to do it. We just don’t want to do it. We just don’t want to do it. We just don’t

[00:27:35] want to think that that kind of horror is possible. But then, of course, when it visits us,

[00:27:43] we are left with no toolkit to process what’s happening. And of course, guilt is inevitably

[00:27:50] the thing that comes up, first of all, because we do seem to be like a very guilt-laden species

[00:27:54] in the first place. And we don’t allow ourselves any other exit route, really.

[00:27:59] And finally, to close out this episode, Michelle Quint is back, and she’s sharing her winner for

[00:28:10] the superlative most shared tidbit. And I have to agree, this is a tidbit that I have shared a lot

[00:28:15] as well. Here is Michelle. My pick for the most shared tidbit I learned from the show this year

[00:28:21] goes to Ingrid Lee, because I’ve been telling absolutely anyone who will listen how the

[00:28:27] minimalism movement has made us all feel sad and how our brains respond really positively to bright

[00:28:36] colors, repeating patterns, and just how generally we should be trying to bring more color into

[00:28:42] our lives. And after listening to this episode, I went out and bought a very bright multicolored

[00:28:50] chair and have been trying to wear more colors and patterns in my day-to-day life and have been

[00:28:56] trying to spread the gospel far and wide. So thanks, Ingrid.

[00:29:01] What I was trying to understand was what makes these things specifically joyful. And it’s

[00:29:07] understanding that there are sensorial qualities to those joyful things that are repeatable that

[00:29:14] we can find throughout cultures all over the planet. So things like bright color, round shapes,

[00:29:21] a sense of abundance and multiplicity, a feeling of lightness or elevation,

[00:29:26] repeating patterns. And it’s that level of abstraction of being able to understand what

[00:29:32] is the essence that’s actually making this joyful from a neuroscientific perspective

[00:29:36] that allows us to then say, okay, well, what’s really doing the work of creating the joy

[00:29:41] is the repetition, not necessarily the polka dots. It’s the repetition of the circular shape.

[00:29:47] And those two things together are what’s creating that feeling of joy. And so we can

[00:29:51] apply that idea somewhere else. And it doesn’t necessarily have to feel so,

[00:29:56] literal. That is it for this episode of How to Be a Better Human. Thank you so much to all of

[00:30:04] the guests we had on this season. I am your host, Chris Duffy, and you can find out more from me,

[00:30:09] including information about my book, Humor Me, which comes out on January 6th and is all about

[00:30:14] how to laugh more. You could pre-order that now and find info at chrisduffycomedy.com.

[00:30:18] How to Be a Better Human is put together by a team who are all superlatively superlative to

[00:30:22] work with. On the TED side, we’ve got the extremely likely to succeed,

[00:30:26] Daniela.

[00:30:26] This episode was fact-checked by the most likely to correct an error duo of Julia Dickerson and

[00:30:39] Mateus Salas. On the PRX side, we’ve got audio prom kings and audio prom queens,

[00:30:44] Morgan Flannery, Norgil, Patrick Grant, and Jocelyn Gonzalez. Thanks again to you for

[00:30:48] listening. The best listener superlative goes to you. Please share this episode with a person who

[00:30:53] you would want to have sign your yearbook. And that is it for this episode of How to Be a Better

[00:30:56] Human. I would say have a great summer, but it is the middle of winter. So instead, I will say,

[00:31:02] stay warm, and we’ll catch you next year. Thanks for listening. I’m going to go blow my nose.

[00:31:15] TED’s flagship conference is where ideas move from the stage into the world.

[00:31:19] Coming up this April 13th through 17th in Vancouver, TED 2026 will bring together global

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[00:31:26] and innovators for five days of perspective-shifting talks, immersive experiences,

[00:31:31] and meaningful connection. As an ongoing attendee myself, I can attest to this conference being more

[00:31:37] transformational than many others, not just for what you hear on stage, but for the conversations

[00:31:42] and relationships that happen beyond it. Attending TED goes far beyond watching talks. It’s about

[00:31:48] access, community, and being part of a global network committed to shaping the future.

[00:31:52] If you are interested in learning more about attending TED 2020,

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