WorkLife with Adam Grant

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.

Some exciting news from Adam Grant on a change coming to WorkLife! For the full text transcript, visit Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve probably experienced a “gut feeling” before—that sense of uneasiness in your stomach that tells you something is off, but your brain hasn’t quite worked out what it is yet. But can you really trust what your gut tells you?

In 1998, soccer star David Beckham made international news at his first World Cup when he lost his cool and got a critical red card. But he went on to lead his teams to numerous titles, become runner up for World Player of the Year, and even be knighted for his contributions to the game.

Welcome to The Curiosity Shop! In the inaugural episode, Brené and Adam discuss how a public disagreement about authenticity almost ended their relationship before it began.

Jessica Campbell is a hockey coach with the Seattle Kraken, and the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history to work behind the bench.

Leanne ten Brinke is a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia and an expert on narcissists, psychopaths, and liars.

Esther Perel is a psychotherapist known for her innovative approach to relationships. In this episode, Adam and Esther discuss the relational baggage we all carry through our lives and into our work, and how our differing personalities and relationship styles can affect collaboration and culture.

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.

Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist whose research focuses on exoplanets—planets outside our solar system orbiting other stars.

Hélène Landemore is a political scientist at Yale who studies democracy. She has a radical idea for fixing politics: what if we replaced career politicians with citizen assemblies, filled with people chosen by lottery?

Zarna Garg is a stand-up comic, screenwriter, bestselling author, and one of the busiest people in comedy right now.

What does it take to build a strong community? In his new book Flourish, journalist and bestselling author Dan Coyle unveils novel insights.

If you’ve ever wondered what “skibidi rizz” means or why kids are so obsessed with the number 67, Adam Aleksic wrote a book on it. Aleksic, better known at @etymologynerd online, is a 24-year-old linguist known for his enlightening and entertaining videos on the origin of words.

Ken Burns is a documentary filmmaker who has produced works about Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American Buffalo, the Civil War, and now, in his latest work, the American Revolution.

Ken Burns has won countless awards for his documentary films on Mark Twain, Jackie Robinson, the American buffalo, baseball, the Civil War—and his latest takes on the American Revolution.

Alain de Botton is a philosopher, bestselling author, and cofounder of The School of Life, known for his fearless engagement with the complexity of human existence. In this special episode, Adam co-hosts alongside former guest RaQuel Hopkins, a therapist, social media star, and fan of Alain’s work.

Shannon Hale is the author of more than 50 books for all ages, including the Princess Academy series and her graphic novel memoirs.

Margaret Atwood is best known as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, and she’s won a slew of awards for her novels, poetry collections, and children’s books. Now, at the age of 86, she’s written her first memoir, The Book of Lives.

Slowing the process of aging is something many people are interested in—and there’s a lot of pseudoscience out there about how to do it. Eric Topol is a cardiologist at Scripps and a prolific researcher on the genetics of longevity.

Oz Pearlman has been called the World’s Greatest Mentalist—he’s performed for some of the world’s top celebrities and made it to the finals on America’s Got Talent. In this episode, Oz joins Adam live at Authors@Wharton to show off his tricks and discuss the real skills behind his rise to success.

In our rapidly changing world, it might make you feel crazy to look around and see others going about life as usual. There’s actually a term for this phenomenon: hypernormalization.

The Ku Klux Klan is one of the tightest-knit White supremacist groups in America—once someone joins, they’re usually in for life. But since the 1980s, over 200 members have renounced their affiliation, and all give credit to the same man: a Black jazz musician named Daryl Davis.

Suleika Jaouad is the author of the memoir Between Two Kingdoms and the new Book of Alchemy—she’s also a lifelong journaler.

Malala Yousafzai is an activist for girls’ education and women’s empowerment, and the youngest Nobel Peace Laureate in history. In her new book, Finding My Way, is her effort to take control of her story after becoming a public figure at a young age.

Esther Perel and Adam Grant discuss how relationship patterns from our personal lives — attachment styles, conflict avoidance, people-pleasing — follow us into the workplace and shape professional dynamics.

Grant reframes impostor syndrome: rather than a pathology to be cured, moderate impostor feelings can be a signal of growth, humility, and high standards. The goal is not to eliminate impostor feelings but to use them productively.

David Beckham discusses the psychology of performing under extreme pressure — from penalty kicks to building business empires — and what his career taught him about mental preparation, recovery from failure, and leadership.

Grant presents the research on why most organizations fail at feedback: the giver fears damaging the relationship, the receiver fears hearing criticism, and the organizational culture does not support honest communication.

Grant presents research on the creative cliff illusion: people believe their best ideas come early in the brainstorming process and quality declines thereafter. In reality, the most original ideas typically emerge later, after the obvious ideas are exhausted.

Grant presents the research from his book Hidden Potential: why early talent is overrated, how character skills (proactivity, determination, discipline) matter more than raw ability, and how systems for developing potential matter more than identifying it.

Grant presents the research on meetings: the average knowledge worker spends 23 hours per week in meetings, most of which are unnecessary. He offers evidence-based strategies for reducing meeting load and improving meeting quality.

Grant explores languishing — the feeling of stagnation and emptiness that became widespread during the pandemic. Not depressed, not thriving, just... blah. He presents research on what moves people from languishing to flourishing.

Grant makes the case for intellectual humility: the willingness to change your mind when confronted with better evidence. He argues that being wrong is not a threat to identity — it is a sign of learning.

Grant reframes burnout as an organizational design problem, not an individual resilience problem. The research shows that burnout is caused by systemic factors — workload, control, reward, fairness — not by weak individuals.

Grant debunks the myth that procrastination is about laziness or poor time management. Research shows procrastination is an emotion regulation problem: we avoid tasks that trigger negative emotions like anxiety, boredom, or self-doubt.

Grant revisits his foundational research on reciprocity styles at work: givers (contribute without expecting return), takers (extract value), and matchers (trade evenly). The paradox: givers occupy both the bottom and the top of success metrics.