Share
TED Talks Daily
TED Talks Daily Book Club: Love Letter to a Garden | Debbie Millman
Debbie Millman, host of the Design Matters podcast, another podcast in the TED Audio Collective, doesn’t have a natural green thumb. But when the pandemic hit, she embraced the challenge and picked up gardening as a new hobby. As she learned to grow vegetables in her home garden, she realized the earth had much to teach her about growing as a human being, too.
Debbie documents this journey in her new book, “Love Letter to a Garden” — a visual story with bright illustrations and recipes from her partner, Roxane Gay. Joining host Elise Hu for this TED Talks Daily Book Club interview, Debbie shares the lessons she learned from her failures and successes in the garden. She also digs into reconnecting with the earth amid a climate crisis and getting inspired by the resilience of nature growing all around us.
The TED Talks Daily Book Club series features TED speakers discussing their latest books and exploring their ideas beyond the page. Stay tuned to our feed for more interviews like this one and for special live book club events open exclusively to TED members.
This interview was recorded live as part of the TED Membership program. TED Members are invited to attend our live recordings and participate in Q&As with authors. To join in on the fun, sign up at go.ted.com/membership
More episodes
View all episodes
The secret to mastering life's biggest transitions | Bruce Feiler
22:21|How do you navigate life's growing number of transitions with meaning, purpose and skill? Writer Bruce Feiler offers a powerful way to handle uncertain, painful and confusing times -- or "lifequakes", as he calls them. Learn how to equip yourself with the essential tools and mindset to ride out (and rewrite) the toughest chapters of your life story, and turn unease and upheaval into growth and renewal.
How tech will (and won't) replace your doctor | Zack Abbott and Dhruv Khullar
29:00|There's more health advice available than ever before — and no easy way to tell what’s worth your time. From biotech breakthroughs to smarter cancer screening, physician Dhruv Khullar and microbiologist Zack Abbott examine what happens when science can change who we are — including the potential of reengineering the human body — and what medicine might look like in 20 years. (This conversation is part of “TED Intersections,” a series featuring thought-provoking conversations between experts navigating the ideas shaping our world.)How to make AI companies pay your energy bill | Ari Matusiak
15:10|Climate expert Ari Matusiak spends his days working to rewire America's energy system, and he has an idea: instead of tech companies building new power plants for their AI data centers, they should invest in energy-efficient upgrades to your home. He lays out how this swap could lower your power bill, reduce the strain on the grid and help communities reclaim control over the thing tech companies need most — power.How to use tech to outsmart dictators | Leopoldo López
21:42|In seven years as a political prisoner in Venezuela, activist Leopoldo López kept asking one question: Who holds the keys to freedom? Now the leader of an alliance of dissidents and exiles from more than 60 countries, he makes the case that open-source, decentralized technology can put power into the hands of ordinary people.Campaigns spend millions to influence voters. This works better | Katie Paris
13:22|Katie Paris quit her career in Washington, DC, to figure out how to make politics feel less like strangers shouting at each other and more like friends looking out for each other. In this practical talk, she reveals why conversations between real people can have a bigger impact on elections than anything millions of campaign dollars can buy.The wiggly wonder of music | Jacob Collier
12:39|Grammy-winning musician Jacob Collier has a name for the feeling that moves through a great piece of music: the wiggle. Watch him break down the idea into its three parts — melody, rhythm and harmony — with nothing but his own voice, a grand piano and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” Turns out life, like music, was never made to run in straight lines.How AI unleashed (not replaced) my creativity | Kelly A. Boesch
08:50|After working for years in film, fashion and graphic design, visual artist Kelly A. Boesch found a new collaborator to work with: AI. She walks through how she uses the technology to create dreamlike images and music that remain hauntingly human, exploring the two questions everyone keeps asking her — how do you make it, and is it really art?
How to turn setbacks into success | Amy Shoenthal
20:02|Success rarely happens in a straight line, with setbacks all but guaranteed along the way. What's the best way to recover? Leadership coach Amy Shoenthal lays out the four phases of the "setback cycle" and explains how to transform difficult moments into opportunities for reinvention and progress.Why is it so hard for men to open up? A journalist and an entrepreneur answer | Joshua Johnson and Blake Mycoskie
30:06|Is conversation a lost art, or is it just evolving? Journalist Joshua Johnson and social entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie answer questions on everything from the male loneliness crisis to what it actually takes to connect with others — and reveal two deceptively simple tips for going deeper with the people around you. (This conversation is part of “TED Intersections,” a series featuring thought-provoking conversations between experts navigating the ideas shaping our world.)