Life Kit: Money

Design is all around us, but much of it could be better, bolder, more elegant. This episode, TED speakers on the essence of good design in buildings, brands, the digital realm and the natural world. Guests include designer Tony Fadell, architect Marc Kushner, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, design critic Alice Rawsthorn, and science writer Janine Benyus. (Original broadcast date: May 20, 2016).

Is life today better than ever before? Does the data bear that out? This hour, TED speakers explore the stories we tell with numbers — and whether those stories portray the full picture. Guests include psychologist Steven Pinker, economists Tyler Cowen and Michael Green, journalist Hanna Rosin, and environmental activist Paul Gilding.

The force behind scientific progress is the simple act of asking questions. This episode, TED speakers explore how a deeper and more humble style of inquiry may help achieve the next big breakthrough. Guests include educator Michael Stevens, professor and science historian Naomi Oreskes, surgeon Kevin Jones, former college president Liz Coleman, and author Eric Haseltine. (Original broadcast date: February 24, 2017.)

Moments of crisis can upend our lives, but can also help define them. This episode, TED speakers explore how a quick, compassionate or unexpected response can turn crisis into opportunity. (Original broadcast date: April 1, 2016.)

Should all speech, even the most offensive, be allowed on college campuses? And is hearing from those we deeply disagree with ... worth it? This hour, TED speakers explore the debate over free speech. Guests include recent college graduate Zachary Wood, political scientist Jeffrey Howard, novelist Elif Shafak, and journalist and author James Kirchick.

The five senses shape all our experience, but we still don't fully understand them. This episode, TED speakers explore how our brains make sense of sensation, and how our minds manufacture "reality." Guests include astronomer Wanda Diaz Merced, geneticist Nicole Garneau, author Isaac Lidsky, zoologist Tristram Wyatt and neuroscientist David Linden. (Original broadcast date: January 20, 2017.)

From bullying to hate crimes, cruelty is all around us. So what makes us hate? And is it learned or innate? This hour, TED speakers explore the causes and consequences of hate — and how we can fight it. Guests include reformed white nationalist Christian Picciolini, CNN commentator Sally Kohn, podcast host Dylan Marron, and writer Anand Giridharadas.

Networks surround and sustain us, in nature, in our bodies, in relationships, in the digital world. This hour, TED speakers explore how we rely on networks and how we have the power to shape them. Guests include ecologist Suzanne Simard, UPS executive Wanis Kabbaj, computer scientist Avi Rubin and anthropologist Robin Dunbar. (Original broadcast date: January 13, 2017)

Are grit and perseverance enough to succeed? Or does someone need to give you a chance? This hour, TED speakers explore why some are overlooked despite their talents, and how that can begin to change. Guests include recovering politician Jeff Smith, human resources expert Regina Hartley, sociologist Victor Rios, arts curator and activist Malika Whitley, and middle school principal Pearl Arredondo.

Some scientists say we're in a new geological age where humans are having an unprecedented impact on Earth. This hour, TED speakers ask what this means for the future of our planet, and our species. Guests include paleontologists Kenneth Lacovara and Peter Ward, environmental writer Emma Marris, and biodiversity archivist Cary Fowler. (Original broadcast date: September 30, 2016.)