What is your true purpose—and how do you find it? This month, Anne and Frances are tackling one of life’s biggest questions in search of answers for Fixers of all ages, from fresh graduates charting their first career moves to seasoned executives craving something more. In this episode, Anne sits down with Molly Graham, a former executive at Facebook and the new host of TED’s WorkLife podcast, to explore what it means to pursue meaningful work and stay open to opportunities you never saw coming. They also answer a question from a new graduate about finding your purpose somewhere between work and life. 

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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If you make content online or use social media frequently for work, it may feel like what you post and how often you post it is dictated by the elusive “algorithm.” You can spend your time chasing trends and trying to keep up with the internet’s ever-changing demands, but at what point does that mean sacrificing the quality of your work? Mark Rober is one of the most successful creators on YouTube, with almost 75 million followers and over 16 billion views. For 15 years, he has only posted one carefully crafted video per month. In this episode, Molly sits down with Mark at the TED Conference to uncover how Mark built his channel to be sustainable over time by prioritizing quality over quantity and staying true to his principles. Mark also reveals his secret to making a viral video, and shares tips for avoiding burnout in a fast-paced industry.

Featured guest

• Follow Mark Rober on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and at CrunchLabs

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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Careers rarely move in a straight line, and for many people, the old roadmap no longer works. In this special feed drop from LinkedIn’s Hello Monday, host Jessi Hempel sits down with Caroline Wanga for a conversation about building a career with intention, authenticity, and room to evolve.

As president and CEO of Essence Ventures and co-founder of Wanga Woman, Caroline has spent years helping people rethink success on their own terms. Before leading Essence, she spent 15 years at Target, rising from intern to the C-suite — a journey that taught her the value of continuously revisiting, reshaping, and even reinventing your career map.

Jessi and Caroline discuss:

• Why your “next right move” may not look like anyone else’s
• Why playing with your career map, not perfecting it, leads to clarity
• How, and when, Caroline has created her own career maps
• The role of authenticity in leadership and life
• What it really takes to live and work with personal purpose
• Tools and mindsets for building a meaningful career in today’s world

Caroline also shares insights from her memoir, I’m Highly Percent Sure, and offers a refreshing perspective for anyone questioning what comes next.

Follow Jessi Hempel and Caroline Wanga on LinkedIn, and listen to more Hello Monday wherever you get your podcasts

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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Uncertainty is in the air in so many industries as AI disrupts and destabilizes even the jobs that felt most secure in the past. It can be difficult to see the path forward as the ground shifts beneath your feet. But for journalist and TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi, disruption and change are nothing new. In this episode, Manoush reflects on her career and the sudden shifts she has had to adjust to as new media technology emerges—from perfecting writing a seven-minute slot on broadcast radio to building a production company on the blockchain. She also shares what she’s learned about staying adaptable when the world around you keeps changing.

Featured guest

• Follow Manoush Zomorodi on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at https://www.manoushz.com/
• Subscribe to Manoush Minutes on Substack
• Buy her book Body Electric

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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If you’ve tried AI and felt underwhelmed — or if the constant pressure to “just play around with it” makes you want to throw your laptop across the room — you’re not alone. But according to Max Mullen, co-founder of Instacart and one of the most practical thinkers on this technology, you might be closer to becoming an AI expert than you realize. In this episode, Max makes the case that expertise with AI isn’t about taking a course or spending your weekend trying to learn how to use it. Max talks about how to use AI to solve real problems, why you want to try it more than once, and argues that building a relationship with the tool is the key to getting better and faster results. This is the episode for anyone who’s skeptical, behind, or just exhausted by the hype.

Featured guest

• Follow Max Mullen on LinkedIn and at maxmullen.com/
• Visit Instacart

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

When you think about risk, you probably think about big, dramatic moves: quitting your job, moving across the country, saying something controversial. But the people who are actually good at taking risks are the ones who practice small challenges every day. Julie Zhuo was one of the earliest product and design leaders at Facebook, and is now the co-founder of Sundial, a company that uses AI to help organizations make better decisions. In this episode, Molly and Julie dissect what it actually means to take a risk and how you can build your risk-taking skills through daily practice. Julie reflects on her own risk-taking journey, the ways she has honed her abilities to challenge fear, her thinking on when you shouldn’t take a leap, and the important distinction between courage and fearlessness.

Featured guest

• Follow Julie Zhuo on Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, and at juliezhuo.com/
• Learn more about Sundial.ai

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

You might think the biggest, most prestigious job is always the right career move. Patty Stonesifer — founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an early Amazon board member — says that’s exactly the wrong way to decide what to do next. So what should guide your career? In this episode, Patty joins Molly to share the nine-word personal mission statement she’s used for decades to filter opportunities, turn down what doesn’t fit, and speak up for what matters. Patty shares how you can write your own, and even coaches Molly through creating hers in real time.

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

Most of us assume data-driven people make data-driven decisions. Not quite. Adam Grant has built a career helping others think more clearly — but when it comes to his own career, the most important calls he’s made didn’t have clear data behind them. So how did he decide? In this first episode of WorkLife with Molly Graham, Adam joins Molly to talk about how he actually navigates uncertainty — the four questions he asks before committing to any big project, what he calls “deliberate then dive”, and how he measures success when the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Featured guest

• Follow Adam on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at adamgrant.net/
• Subscribe to Adam’s substack

Connect with the team

• Follow Molly on Instagram, LinkedIn, and at glueclub.com/
• Subscribe to Molly’s Substack Lesson
• Watch WorkLife videos on YouTube at TEDAudioCollective
• Follow TED on X, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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

What does it take to have a great career? And how do you know what job you should take, which you should quit, and which you should try to change? In this special episode from How to Be a Better Human with host and comedian Chris Duffy, learn about your new WorkLife host, Molly Graham. Chris and Molly discuss what she's learned working at incredibly successful companies, the benefits of taking a meandering path, and how to take more risks for a fulfilling life.

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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Coming April 28th, 2026: WorkLife with Molly Graham

The world of work is changing, fast. The full range of human emotion can happen on the job: ambition and failure, joy and burnout, confidence and self-doubt. Company builder and new host of WorkLife, Molly Graham, knows all about those messy feelings – and she believes they can actually be the roadmap to a meaningful career. On WorkLife, Molly will sit down with all kinds of people – founders and operators, entertainers and creatives – to explore how to build a career without losing yourself. Each week, she’ll uncover the messy stories behind the shiniest successes, and share the real lessons about work that no one ever posts on LinkedIn.

For the full text transcript, visit https://www.ted.com/podcasts/worklife-transcripts

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