Maria Sharapova is one of only 10 women to complete a Career Grand Slam in tennis, and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2025. After retiring in 2020, she has also become a mother, an investor, and podcast host. In this episode, Adam talks with Maria about resilience, motivation, and the evolution of her rivalry with Serena Williams. Maria reflects on the moments in her career that forced her to take a step back and rethink her mindset, from hard losses and wisdom from coaches to relationships with her peers and opponents. Adam offers insight on two different kinds of winning in psychology, and why sports aren’t really as zero-sum as they seem.

Featured guest

• Follow Maria Sharapova on Instagram, YouTube, and X
• Subscribe to Maria's Substack Pretty Tough
• Buy her book Unstoppable: My Life So Far

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Your beliefs about yourself and the world have a big impact on your mental health, relationships, and success. As a positive psychology evangelist, Shawn Achor has spent his career studying how to challenge and change the core beliefs that might be holding you back, and shares his insights in his new book, The Power of Beliefs. In this episode, Shawn and Adam dive into the surprising connections between happiness and success, and discuss the science of optimism and pessimism. Shawn also describes seven key important beliefs that underlie happiness, breaks down strategies for shifting beliefs, and asks Adam to weigh in on how to convince leaders to care about the well-being of their people.

Featured guest

• Follow Shawn Achor on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at https://www.shawnachor.com/
• Buy The Power of Beliefs

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Many people regularly plunge into ice-cold water to soothe soreness or boost energy—but for some, the plunge itself is a sport. As a sports journalist, Chris Ballard was reporting on cold water immersion when he got into ice swimming himself and ended up competing on the US team at world championships. In this episode, Adam dives into Chris’s book The Plunge, and the two discuss the psychology behind risk taking, endurance, and resilience in the face of discomfort. They explore why people seek out extreme challenges that push their minds and bodies to the limit, and separate myth from science about the health benefits of cold water immersion.

Featured guest

• Follow Chris Ballard on Instagram, LinkedIn, and chrisballardwritings.com/
• Buy The Plunge: Maverick Swimmers, an Unlikely Quest, and the Transformative Power of Cold Water

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

AI has become a part of all of our lives in recent years—even for kids. Dana Suskind is a pediatric cochlear implant surgeon and the author of the new book Human Raised, a science-backed guide to parenting in the age of AI. In this episode, Adam and Dana take a closer look at the impact AI can have on kids, and they break down the key components of healthy development that only human caregivers can provide. Dana also shares her HOPE framework for navigating our relationship with this new technology and she emphasizes the importance of friction in relationships when it comes to learning valuable soft skills.

Featured guest

• Follow Dana Suskind on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at https://humanraised.org/
• Buy Human Raised

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Corruption in organizations is one of the biggest problems of our time, and many people believe it may be unsolvable—but Eric Ries doesn’t think so. As entrepreneur and author, Eric has dedicated his career to helping businesses succeed and do the right thing. His new book, Incorruptible, focuses on how to help organizations stay aligned with their ideals. In this episode, Adam and Eric break down why it’s so easy for modern companies to go astray from their missions, the incentives that encourage organizations to deprioritize their principles, and what differentiates companies that have managed to avoid corruption over long periods of time. Eric recommends a series of practices that any workplace can adopt, and shares what he learned from establishing a stock exchange anchored on long-term value instead of short-term returns.

Featured guest

• Follow Eric Ries on LinkedIn
• Buy Incorruptible

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDPods
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Ann Patchett is an award-winning novelist—her most recent bestseller is Whistler—and she also owns an independent bookstore in Nashville. In this episode, Adam asks Ann about where she finds her ideas and how she shapes them into great stories. Along with the craft of writing, they discuss the mindsets and skillsets involved in seeing and bringing out the best in others. Ann also recounts the challenge she set herself to rethink her stance on social interaction.

Featured guest

• Follow Ann Patchett on at https://www.annpatchett.com/
• Follow Parnassus Books on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and at https://parnassusbooks.net/
• Buy Whistler

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Before Alexander Stubb became the president of Finland, he left his position as prime minister thinking he’d never return to politics. But after returning to academia and writing his book The Triangle of Power, public service eventually called him back. In this episode, Adam asks Alex about his path to leadership and the relevant lessons from his days as a political scientist and an athlete. Alex shares what he learned from golfing with Donald Trump and meeting Vladimir Putin, and makes the case for listening as an underrated skill in leadership.

Featured guest

• Follow President Alex Stubb on Instagram
• Buy President Stubb's book The Triangle of Power

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

If you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re in good company. Fredrik Backman is the author of 11 books, including his latest hit “My Friends” and his first novel “A Man Called Ove,” which hit the New York Times bestseller list and was made into a film starring Tom Hanks. But he still struggles with self-confidence. In this episode, Fredrik speaks candidly with Adam about his battles with anxiety and procrastination, and the two discuss the psychology of pursuing happiness, building self-esteem, and living with grief. It’s a conversation unlike any other we’ve had.

Featured guest

• Follow Fredrik Backman on Instagram and at https://www.fredrikbackman.com/
• Buy Fredrik's books here

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s Substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

What happens to the brain when men become fathers? Clinical psychologist and neuroscientist Darby Saxbe studies how investing in caregiving changes the brains and bodies of men.. Darby and Adam examine the surprising similarities between dad and mom brains and the different mechanisms that activate them. They also discuss the effects of having a daughter on men’s empathy and generosity, the hormonal mechanism behind “dad bods,” and the case for workplaces to grant parental leave to men as well as women.

Featured guest

• Follow Darby Saxbe on Instagram and https://www.darbysaxbe.com/
• Subscribe to her Substack, Natal Gazing
• Buy Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How it Shapes Men's Lives

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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

Many people report that their attention spans have diminished—but what if you can rebuild your concentration skills? Gloria Mark is a professor of informatics at UC Irvine who studies the impact of digital media on people’s lives. In this episode, Gloria joins Adam to dig into her research on multitasking, interruptions, and focus, sharing insights on why we’re so easily distracted and how to train your brain to improve concentration. Gloria also answers a question from historian Daniel Immerwahr, a past Re:Thinking guest, and makes the case for moderation as a more effective prescription than a full digital detox.

Featured guest

• Follow Gloria Mark on LinkedIn, and https://gloriamark.com/
• Buy Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity

Connect with the team

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s substack Granted
• Watch ReThinking videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.

For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts

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