How to Be a Better Human

What can we learn from trees? Robert Moor thinks that the path to a well-lived life lies in trying our best to live like a tree. Branch out, prune what doesn’t work, and make use of the spots where we’ve been injured or broken. Robert talks to Chris about his decade-long project to write a book about the wisdom of trees, which took him from a thousand year old bonsai in Tokyo to a tree-climbing teacher in England and living in the canopy of an old growth forest in Canada to try and prevent its logging. This is an adventurous, far-ranging episode about what it means to be a human and why the answer to that question might just lie in the top branches of the nearest tree.

Featured guest

Follow Robert Moor on Instagram, X, Bluesky and at robertmoor.com/
Buy In Trees: An Exploration

Connect with the team

Follow Chris on Instagram and at chrisduffycomedy.com
Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me
Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods
Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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Maurine “Mighty Mo'' Kornfeld will soon turn 102 years old, and most days, you can catch her doing laps in a Los Angeles public swimming pool. And that’s not just because she regularly competes in – and wins – world swimming championships! It’s because she loves being in the water, despite only picking up swimming as a hobby well into her sixties. In this special episode, Maurine shares what she’s learned from doing something she loves almost every day, why it’s never too late to start something new, and the three things anyone can do to improve their life, no matter their age. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

(This episode originally aired in 2023 when Mighty Mo was 102 years old. Mighty Mo is still swimming and will soon turn 106 years old in November!)

For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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Perrin Ireland is an artist and environmentalist who draws science comics. She’s also the author of Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex. In this episode, Perrin discusses why learning about the kinky sex lives of animals is a form of biodiversity! From topics such as animal caregiving to how language tends to ascribe sexual characteristics onto non-objects, Perrin shares why openly talking about animal sex isn’t scandalous, but allows for better understanding of animal and human social organization.

Factcheck Notes

1. Reported estimates of same-sex pairings and divorce rates in penguins vary across species and populations. Some studies have found values similar to those mentioned here, although these should not be treated as general estimates.

2. Rostrum-to-genital interactions in dolphins have been interpreted in multiple ways. In addition to possible sexual functions, studies suggest they may facilitate the inspection of chemical cues, allowing dolphins to gather information such as identity or reproductive status. Therefore, describing this behavior solely as a form of oral sex may oversimplify its potential functions.

3. Although it has been suggested that dolphins may obtain information by listening to the echoes produced by another dolphin’s echolocation, there is currently insufficient evidence that dolphins can intentionally transmit complex 3D images or engage in "holographic communication". This remains mostly a speculative hypothesis rather than an established scientific theory.

Featured guest

Follow Perrin Ireland on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at https://www.experrinment.com/
Buy Poking the Squid: What We Can Learn from Animal Sex

Connect with the team

Follow Chris on Instagram and at chrisduffycomedy.com
Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me
Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods
Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to find and create Joy in your life -- what is joy? And what is its purpose in our lives? We talk with Ingrid about how to cultivate more joy in our daily lives, especially when we don't feel particularly in the headspace for joy, and about how our design choices can have a huge impact on the way we perceive joy in our environment. We also talk with her about her book Joyful and her TED talk.

(This episode originally aired in 2025.)
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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Journalist Keith Rushing has spent years trying to report on his most difficult story - the history of his own family. Who do we come from? What do we inherit from the past? How can understanding our ancestors make us better humans today? To find out the answers, Chris invites Keith to talk about his book Descended: Searching for my Gullah-Geechee Roots. They cover how everything from the history of slavery to the cultural significance of African connections to the Gullah-Geechee people. This is a conversation about how you can spark your own curiosity to start researching your own family history.

Featured guest

Follow Keith Rushing on Instagram and LinkedIn
Buy Descended: Searching for my Gullah-Geechee Roots

Connect with the team

Follow Chris on Instagram and at chrisduffycomedy.com
Buy Chris’ book, Humor Me
Watch How to Be a Better Human videos on YouTube at TEDPods
Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.