Why we should design cities like Disney | Zach DeBoer

All children develop at different paces — so why do schools expect every student to learn the same way? Early education researcher Anna Rainio introduces "playworlds," a learning activity where adults and kids create imaginary stories together. She shows how pretend play helps students find their place — and the power of a teacher or parent starting with a simple question: Why not?Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tami Pyfer has five kids who belong to five different political parties, and sometimes family conversations get heated. Drawing on her work as a former policy advisor to the governor of Utah, she wanted to find a healthier way for people to talk about politics without contempt. The result is the Dignity Index: an eight-point scale that measures the language we use to disagree, aiming to ease political divisions. What score do you think your last conversation would get?Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With humor and hard science, obstetrician and gynecologist Jaime Seeman reveals why building muscle is one of the best ways to combat women’s top health risks. Learn the truth behind three weightlifting myths that prevent women from getting serious about strength training — and why your future self will thank you for picking up those dumbbells.(This episode originally aired in 2025.)Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Social psychologist Eli J. Finkel has spent decades studying what makes partnerships successful. In a practical talk drawing on lessons from pop culture, he explores why so many of us struggle to be true to ourselves in our relationships — and what the happiest couples do differently.Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From group chats to video calls, technology should make social connection easier than ever. So, why is everyone so lonely? In this special featured episode from the new TED podcast, Corner Piece, host Sabrina sets out to investigate the "loneliness epidemic" that is sweeping the globe and impacting her friends and cohosts. She interviews Professor Fay Bound-Alberti, author of "A Biography of Loneliness: The History of an Emotion" to understand what loneliness is, where it comes from, and whether there is a "cure". In the process, co-hosts Taha and Melissa challenge Sabrina to tackle her own loneliness through a sidequest that reveals just how hard connection can be in modern life. Hear more episodes of Corner Piece on your favorite podcast app or here: https://link.mgln.ai/G4KvuV Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a whole world of food growing right outside our doors — in our backyards, on sidewalks, in the parks we walk through every day — and most of us pass by it without a second glance. Alexis Nikole Nelson wants to change that. A self-described “ethnobotany nerd,” she’s spent years teaching people how to forage the wild food hiding in plain sight. She explores how paying closer attention to what’s already around us can reconnect us to the land, our communities and each other. (This conversation, hosted by TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Where you live shapes your relationships, your emotions and even how long you live, says community designer Zach DeBoer. After studying what a century of building cities around cars has done to downtowns in the US, he turned to lessons from some of the most walkable, carefully designed streets in the country: the ones inside Disney theme parks. With ideas ranging from narrower roads to buildings that pull you around the next corner, he offers a practical guide to turning ordinary downtowns into magical places people want to explore.Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Relationship expert Amy Chan believes we're in a relationship recession, fueled by modern daters constantly looking for what could go wrong. But what if your dealbreakers are the very thing keeping you from finding love? In this relatable talk, she reveals how to discover true connection — and why the right person for you might not be who you expect.Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

AI companions may soon cure loneliness, says psychologist Paul Bloom: a gift for the isolated and the elderly, but a danger for the young, who need to experience the hard work of real relationships. So what happens to a generation raised on chatbots that never need an apology or get bored of a story? Bloom pitches a stranger, more hopeful solution, one that lets us lean on AI without ever losing our humanity.(Following his talk, Bloom joins Elise Hu to talk more about what role an empathetic AI could play in human life. They dig into how difficult conversations help us grow and why it might be easier to hear corrective feedback from a chatbot.)Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What can't Candace Parker do? A two-time NCAA champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time WNBA champion, Parker knows what it takes to fight for your dreams. In this inspiring talk, she shares what she's learned during a career spent not accepting limits -- and how her daughter taught her the best lesson of all. "Barrier breaking is about not staying in your lane and not being something that the world expects you to be," she says. "It's about not accepting limitations."(This episode originally aired in 2024.)Vote for our show in the Signal Awards for Most Inspirational podcast! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.