How To Be A Better Human isn’t your average self improvement podcast. Each week join <a href="https://chrisduffycomedy.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Chris Duffy</a> in conversation with guests and past speakers as they uncover sharp insights and give clear takeaways on how YOU can be a better human. From your work to your home and your head to your heart, How To Be a Better Human looks in unexpected places for new ways to improve and show up for one another. Inspired by the popular series of the same name on TED’s Ideas blog, How to Be a Better Human will help you become a better person from the comfort of your own headphones. Follow Chris on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/chrisiduffy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@chrisiduffy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a> at @chrisiduffy. Buy his book Humor Me at <a href="https://t.ted.com/ZGuYfcL" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://t.ted.com/ZGuYfcL</a><hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

How to Be a Better Human

What is natural sound in an increasingly noisy world? asks sound recordist and audio engineer Matt Mikkelsen. Matt travels the world recording natural sounds in places where you can’t hear anything made by humans: no planes, no cars, no ringing phones. In this episode, Matt joins Chris to talk about the difference between quiet and silence. Matt shares his adventures  and work with Quiet Parks International and even shares a story about the time he was struck by lightning. They also talk about the importance of choosing our acoustic environment and why it’s important to unplug and sit still in nature.

Featured guest


Follow Matt Mikkelsen on Instagram and at https://hayloftaudio.com/


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

The last places without human sounds (w/ Matt Mikkelsen)

If you ask Christian Cooper, a science writer, editor, and the host of the show “Extraordinary Birder With Christian Cooper”, birding can teach us all kinds of lessons about life, self-acceptance, and joy. In this episode, Christian shares what he deems as the seven pleasures of birding, why inclusion is especially important in life-affirming pursuits, and how anyone (city-dwellers and countryside-residents alike) can commune with nature to unlock the awe and wonder of the world around us. 
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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Summer Fridays: Why you should try birding (w/ Christian Cooper)

The conversation around climate change is often bleak and terrifying, but it doesn’t have to be that way, says climate behavior scientist Jiaying Zhao, or JZ. In this episode, JZ and happiness researcher Elizabeth Dunn join Chris to discuss why we need to account for happiness in climate solutions. JZ and Elizabeth argue since happiness is contagious, making happiness-driven decisions go further in influencing behavioral change than fear-based tactics. They also talk about an anesthetic gas that releases more carbon than CO2 and why you should google if your bank is investing money in fossil fuels.

Featured guest


Follow JZ on X, LinkedIn, and at psych.ubc.ca/profile/jiaying-zhao/
Follow Elizabeth Dunn at https://dunn.psych.ubc.ca/
Learn more at https://happyclimate.org/
Buy Leave the Light On


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 increasing your happiness can help solve climate change (w/ Jiaying Zhao and Elizabeth Dunn)

Let’s face it: if chores were fun, they probably wouldn’t be called that. Because for most people, life can be overwhelming – and that means it doesn’t always look like a cleaning commercial where everyone is dancing their way to do laundry, take out trash, or smiling while washing the dishes. KC Davis is a therapist, author, podcaster, and TikToker who knows that caring for yourself can be a struggle. In this episode, she shares how radically rethinking “care” tasks –like not seeing a lack of cleanliness as shameful, or viewing messiness as a moral failure– can improve our quality of life. She also shares small strategies that could help us take better care of ourselves, because we deserve it.
For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

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Summer Fridays: How to clean your house without losing your mind (w/ KC Davis)

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

Fill out our survey at bit.ly/BHSurvey6

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

What trees can teach us about life (w/ Robert Moor)

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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Summer Fridays: Lessons from 102-year-old swimmer Maurine Kornfeld (re-release)

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.

Why should you care about animal sex? (w/ Perrin Ireland)

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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Summer Fridays: How to be more joyful (w/ Ingrid Fetell Lee) (re-release)

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.

How to understand your family history (w/ Keith Rushing)

Some people are born knowing exactly what they want to do with their life – and because of that, they’re able to get to the top of their field. But most of us have multiple passions and identities, making it difficult to visualize our own unique paths. So, how do we explore who we are and what we love to do in our careers and in our lives? This week, guest & TED Fellow Constance Hockaday helps us navigate and voice our deepest hopes and desires. She walks us through her perspective as an artist, what she’s learned from immersing herself into small and sometimes very isolated communities, and gives tips on how to find liberation by pursuing your passion. 

(This episode originally aired in 2024.)
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.