Sunday Pick: Tech Solutions (#3): How one of China's biggest tech companies is tackling carbon removal (with Xu Hao)
Host Sherelle Dorsey talks with Dr. Xu Hao, Vice President of Sustainable Social Value at Tencent, about how the company is investing in and accelerating carbon removal and decarbonization technologies, particularly in hard-to-abate sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals. They examine the cost and scaling challenges these technologies face, the role of digital tools such as AI, data, and virtual power plants in improving efficiency and cutting emissions, and Tencent's own path toward carbon neutrality and net zero. The conversation also covers Tencent's use of video games for climate education and the need to pursue multiple climate solutions in the face of uncertainty about which technologies will ultimately dominate.
Rice is Nice
The hosts explore rice as a global staple food, covering what rice actually is, its major species and varieties, and how it is grown in different environments. They discuss environmental impacts such as methane and nitrous oxide emissions from rice paddies, arsenic contamination and health considerations, and global patterns of rice production and consumption. The episode also highlights notable rice dishes and desserts from around the world and concludes with listener mail reflecting on the show itself.
How the fridge changed food | Nicola Twilley
Food researcher Nicola Twilley explains how the global cold chain underpins modern diets by keeping food fresh and enabling long-distance transport of meat and produce, while forming an enormous artificial cryosphere. Using examples such as Kenyan avocado exports and the absence of marula fruit in U.S. supermarkets, she shows how refrigeration creates both benefits and inequities, shifts where food waste occurs, and significantly contributes to global emissions. Twilley argues that as many countries are only now building their cold chains, this is a critical moment to rethink freshness, develop lower-emission refrigeration, and explore non-cold preservation methods and system-wide redesigns of how we store and move food.
4 hard truths about capitalism and climate | Steve Howard
Sustainability investor Steve Howard outlines four hard truths about capitalism and climate change, arguing that businesses, financial markets, and policies must be rewired to enable large-scale decarbonization. He explains how companies are structurally resistant to change, how short-term profit focus and unpriced environmental externalities distort markets, and why long, loud, legal climate policies are essential to drive investment into cleaner technologies. Drawing on examples from Temasek, IKEA, Singapore, and emerging climate-tech firms, he shows how better (cleaner, cheaper, higher-performing) solutions can scale quickly and calls on policymakers, asset owners, businesses, and individuals to actively redirect capital toward climate solutions.
The army of autonomous robots restoring nature | Tom Chi
Impact investor Tom Chi challenges the popular belief that economic growth must come at the expense of nature, arguing instead that the economy is physically a subset of the ecology because everything is ultimately mined or grown. He quantifies the scale of current extraction and describes how outdated industrial processes damage ecosystems, then presents three key shifts: closing material loops through advanced recycling, transforming agriculture with regenerative practices and AI-guided breeding, and using robotics for large-scale restoration on land and underwater. Through concrete examples-from battery recycling and adaptive crops to mangrove-planting drones and a low-cost coral and seagrass-planting robot-he illustrates how modern technology can actively repair ecosystems while supporting a resilient future economy.
How to see (and stop) deforestation from space | Tasso Azevedo
Land reformer Tasso Azevedo describes how the MapBiomas Network turns decades of satellite imagery into detailed, legally robust land-use maps to expose and curb deforestation in Brazil and other tropical regions. By integrating high-resolution imagery, property registries, and protected area data, the project has dramatically increased enforcement against illegal deforestation, redirected finance away from destructive operations, and supported a wide range of environmental and social applications. The talk also highlights successful action against illegal gold mining and outlines plans to expand this collaborative mapping approach to cover most of the world's tropical forests.
TED Talks Daily Book Club: Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet | Kate Marvel
Host Elise Hu interviews climate scientist Kate Marvel about her book "Human Nature, Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet," which explores climate change through nine emotions rather than just data or policy. Marvel discusses why scientists should acknowledge their feelings, how climate communication needs storytelling as well as charts, and how humans still have agency to shape a wide range of possible futures. They cover topics including grief for changing places, the limits of individual action, practical climate solutions, technological interventions, and how hope can be understood as something we do rather than something we simply have.
These AI devices protect nature in real time | Juan M. Lavista Ferres
Host Elise Hugh introduces a TED talk by Juan M. Lavista Ferres about how a new AI-enabled device network called Sparrow can transform conservation work. Lavista Ferres explains how conservationists currently rely on slow, labor-intensive data collection and shows how Sparrow uses solar power, edge computing, and satellite connectivity to process images and sounds in real time. He describes how this system can automatically identify individual animals, analyze acoustic biodiversity, detect wildfires early, and drastically shorten the time between data collection and action, potentially making the difference between species survival and extinction.
Sunday Pick: Tech Solutions (#1): The affordable tech that will revolutionize farming (with Samir Ibrahim and Josephine Waweru)
This episode of TED Tech, part of a special mini-series recorded at the TED Countdown Climate Summit in Nairobi, explores how affordable solar-powered water pumps are transforming smallholder farming. Host Cheryl Dorsey speaks with Sun Culture CEO Samir Ibrahim about building a farmer-centered business that has driven down the cost of solar irrigation through both engineering and business model innovation, while navigating investors and climate-related priorities. Coffee farmer Josephine Waweru then shares how installing a solar pump on her Kenyan farm solved her water challenges, enabled her to expand her crops and income, and inspired her to encourage other farmers and young people to see farming as a viable, growth-oriented business.
3 tips to make your world beautifully wild | Isabella Tree
Host Elise Hu introduces environmentalist and conservationist Isabella Tree, who shares how rewilding-allowing nature and animals to restore ecosystems-can be done not only on large estates but also in ordinary gardens and urban spaces. Tree describes the transformation of her family's debt-ridden, intensively farmed land into a thriving, biodiverse rewilding project through free-roaming animals and habitat change. She then offers three practical tips for rewilding any green space and concludes with examples of urban rewilding and the mindset shift required to embrace messier, less controlled landscapes.
Advice Line with Tariq Farid of Edible Arrangements
This advice-line episode features Edible Arrangements founder Tariq Farid joining host Guy Raz to answer real-time questions from three entrepreneurs. Tariq first shares an update on Edible Arrangements, including generational leadership transition, brand reinvention, and navigating the emerging "edibles" space. Callers then seek advice on educating consumers about Filipino banana ketchup, naming a highly sustainable polar expedition company, and scaling a service-focused screen printing business from $3M to $5M in revenue without losing its culture.
How AI can solve its own energy crisis | Varun Sivaram
Host Elise Hu introduces a talk by grid futurist Varun Sivaram about the looming clash between rapidly growing AI data center demand and an aging electricity grid. Sivaram explains how making AI data centers flexible in when and where they consume power can relieve grid stress, unlock existing unused capacity, and accelerate the integration of cheap renewable energy. He describes Emerald AI's "Emerald Conductor" software, real-world demonstrations, and industry collaborations aimed at turning AI from a grid threat into a key ally for a cleaner, more reliable energy system.
We're doing AI all wrong. Here's how to get it right | Sasha Luccioni
AI sustainability expert Sasha Luccioni argues that current AI development is being driven by a "bigger is better" mentality that concentrates power in a few large tech companies while causing significant environmental and social harms. She contrasts massive, energy-hungry large language models and data centers with smaller, task-specific and open AI systems that can run on modest hardware and support climate solutions. Luccioni calls for transparent energy metrics, supportive regulation, and user choices that prioritize sustainable, equitable AI that serves all of humanity and the planet.
How to measure the planet's heartbeat | Yadvinder Malhi
Ecosystem ecologist Yadvinder Mali explains how he and colleagues measure and map the flows of energy, carbon, and nutrients that sustain ecosystems, from forests and soils to coral reefs. He introduces the idea of "vibrancy"-the complexity and spread of energy through many species-as a key determinant of ecosystem health and resilience. Using examples from English woodlands, savannas, and tropical atolls, he argues that valuing nature only for carbon undermines this vibrancy, and that working with the wild energies of the biosphere gives both ecosystems and human communities their best chance to adapt to climate change.
How satellites are supporting farmers across Africa | Catherine Nakalembe
Satellite food security specialist Catherine Nakalembe explains how she uses satellite imagery and machine learning to map and monitor crops across African countries, and why many existing models fail when applied to smallholder farms. In a follow-up conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James-Olds, she describes the gap between powerful data systems and farmers' realities, the importance of ground-based data and local context, and her efforts to build practical, human-centered ways to turn drought and flood information into action. She also shares a grassroots project to establish soil moisture calibration stations in Africa and reflects on the institutional and financial barriers, as well as the sources of hope that keep her pursuing this work.
How to pull the emergency brake on global warming | Mohamed A. Sultan
Host Elise Hu introduces a TED Talk by sustainability strategist Mohamed A. Sultan about the urgency and opportunity of cutting methane emissions, especially across the African continent. Sultan explains how methane from landfills, fossil fuels, and agriculture significantly drives global warming, and highlights concrete African examples in waste management, energy, and rice cultivation that reduce methane while improving public health, jobs, and food security. He argues that better governance, finance, and development models can simultaneously build resilience, advance economic development, and lower methane emissions worldwide.
The hidden cost of buying gold | Claudia Vega
Rainforest toxicologist and TED Fellow Claudia Vega explains how artisanal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon releases large amounts of mercury, causing severe environmental damage and public health risks locally and globally. She describes the mining process, mercury's toxic effects, and the massive deforestation in Madre de Dios, as well as her work establishing the first mercury lab in the Peruvian Amazon to generate local data for communities, policymakers, and international agreements. In conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James Olds, she discusses working with indigenous communities, changing mining practices, the limits of "green" gold, the need for consumer awareness and traceability, and her fears about fake news and hope in small but real changes.
The best thing that could happen to the energy industry | Matt Tilleard
Host Elise Hu introduces a talk by renewable entrepreneur Matt Tilleard, who argues that the current clean energy shift is fundamentally different from past energy transitions because it is driven by technology instead of fuel. He explains how renewable technologies are less existential, more recyclable, more substitutable, and based on abundant materials, making control of resources and cartels far less powerful than in the fossil-fuel era. Using examples from his work in Africa and a case study in Madagascar, he outlines why the future of energy is likely to be more distributed, shared, and shaped by innovation and manufacturing rather than by those who control fuel deposits.
Sunday Pick: How Texas became America's biggest producer of wind energy | Speed & Scale
Hosts Ryan Pinchasarum and Anjali Grover tell the story of how Texas, long associated with oil and gas, became the largest producer of wind energy in the United States. Through an interview with former Texas Public Utility Commission chair Pat Wood, they trace how public input, bipartisan policymaking, and major transmission investments enabled large-scale wind deployment and cut power-sector emissions by over a quarter, despite growing political polarization around renewables.
What separates us from chimpanzees? | Jane Goodall
Host Elise Hugh introduces a 2003 TED Talk by primatologist Jane Goodall, presented as a tribute after news of her death, highlighting her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees and its impact on how we understand humans and other animals. In the talk, Goodall describes chimpanzee cognition and culture, the environmental and social forces threatening great apes and human communities, and her youth program Roots and Shoots. She closes by arguing that hope lies in our individual and collective choices to live more lightly on the planet and act with compassion toward all life.
How refrigeration took over the world
The episode explores how refrigeration and the modern cold chain emerged, from Gustavus Swift's centralized meatpacking and refrigerated railcars to the scientific work of chemist M.E. "Polly" Pennington, who standardized safe temperatures and built public trust in chilled foods. Hosts and guest Nicola Twilley trace how continuous refrigeration reshaped agriculture, consumer expectations of freshness, women's household labor, and even geopolitical events like war logistics and Irish independence. They also examine the downsides of a cold-dependent food system, including diminished flavor, shifted food waste, and significant climate-warming emissions, along with potential efficiency improvements.
Inside India's astonishing solar revolution | Kanika Chawla
Energy expert Kanika Chawla explains how India transformed an audacious 2014 commitment to install 100 gigawatts of solar power into reality, reaching the goal by February 2025 and unlocking $90 billion in investment and 300,000 new solar jobs. She argues that India's success was driven less by ideology and more by economic logic, backed by innovations in business models, market design, and planning. Drawing on examples from India, Ghana, sub-Saharan Africa, and Kenya, she outlines how planning, innovation, and localization can help developing countries lead an irreversible global energy transition.
The emerging science of finding critical metals | Mfikeyi Makayi
Host Elise Hu introduces a TED Talk by mining innovator Mfakeyi Makai about how the world's transition to electrification and a circular economy requires a massive increase in critical metals like copper, lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Makai explains that while ore deposits are abundant, the mining industry has underinvested in exploration and still relies on outdated methods, so her team at Kobold is using AI and machine learning to model subsurface geology, quantify uncertainty, and design more efficient, safer, and environmentally sustainable mines. She illustrates how their approach guides where to explore, when to stop drilling, and how to plan operations, highlighting the Mingamba project in Zambia as a prototype for the mine of the future.
(#5) Elise's Top Ten: The new political story that could change everything | George Monbiot
Host Elise Hu introduces a 2019 TED Summit talk by journalist George Monbiot, part of her 'Top 10' playlist, about the political stories that shape our societies. Monbiot argues that neoliberalism persists not because it works, but because it has not yet been replaced by a more compelling 'restoration story', and he explains how narrative structures drive political change. He proposes a new politics of belonging centered on human altruism, cooperation, the commons, and participatory democracy to counter atomization and authoritarian tendencies.
(#7) Elise's Top Ten: The ghastly tragedy of the suburbs | James Howard Kunstler
Host Elise Hu introduces a 2004 TED talk by social critic James Howard Kunstler, in which he argues that the immersive ugliness of American suburban sprawl represents a massive misallocation of resources and erodes civic life. Kunstler explains how abandoning traditional civic design has produced places that are "not worth caring about," examines the psychological and social consequences of this built environment, and links these issues to an impending end to the era of cheap oil. He calls for rebuilding towns and cities at a human scale, living more locally, and reclaiming our role as citizens rather than consumers so that America becomes a place worth defending.
How do you rethink how the world works? An entrepreneur and an engineer answer | Yancey Strickler and Jenny Du
Host Elise Hu introduces a conversation between writer and former Kickstarter CEO Yancey Strickler and engineer-chemist Jenny Du about how feeling like an outsider can shape unconventional careers and systems-level innovations. Strickler reflects on lifelong feelings of not belonging, how that pushed him to question institutions, and how his thinking about punk labels and the Royal Society led to his artist corporation idea. Du describes how a shocking statistic about global food waste set her on a mission to extend the life of healthy foods, and together they discuss resilience, working within entrenched systems, and staying optimistic and truth-focused in a world that often feels "doomy."