TED Talks Daily

Matt Damon is best known as the Hollywood icon from movies like Good Will Hunting and The Martian, but he has another passion offscreen: ensuring access to clean, safe water around the world. When he met social entrepreneur Gary White in 2008, they realized they could combine their efforts to reach more people and created water.org, which Gary leads as CEO. In this episode, Adam sits down with Matt and Gary at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about their innovative approach to problem-solving, handling rejection in high-stakes work environments, and Matt’s knack for forging strong partnerships. Adam also invites the two to office hours to tackle one of their ongoing challenges.

Host & Guest
Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)
Matt Damon (Website: https://water.org/about-us/founders-board-team/matt-damon/)
Gary White (Website: https://water.org/about-us/founders-board-team/gary-white/)
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What do you do when the world declares something impossible? When physician-scientist David Fajgenbaum was dying from a rare disease and social entrepreneur Kiah Williams was confronting the realities of economic hardship, they began asking a different question: What can I do today? In this conversation, they discuss how turning hope into action can drive meaningful change — one step at a time. (This conversation is hosted by The Audacious Project’s Alexandra Tillmann)
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What if the solution to feeding humanity has been hiding in the soil for millions of years? Bioengineer Karsten Temme discovered a remarkable answer to this question: for eons, crops relied on soil microbes to convert atmospheric nitrogen into food — until modern farming severed that ancient partnership. He shows how we can reawaken those dormant microbes using gene editing, creating “living fertilizer” that delivers nutrients to crops in real time and transforms farms around the world.
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Legendary music producer Jermaine Dupri pulls back the curtain on how hit songs really get made in TED’s rapid-fire Q&A format, “On the Spot.” Answering a stream of unexpected questions, he covers what makes a good hook, why he doesn’t chase “cool,” how he helped build Atlanta’s sound and more.
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The race to build smarter AI is crashing into a physical limitation: the power grid simply can't keep up with the energy demands of data centers. Computer scientist Ayșe Coskun shows how we could turn this problem on its head, transforming AI facilities into virtual batteries that help stabilize the grid and accelerate clean energy. Learn why the technology causing this crisis might be the only thing smart enough to fix it.
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