TED Talks on workplace skills, paired with Modupe Akinola's practical mini-lessons.
TED Business connects money, leadership, climate, and work culture through accessible TED talks and related episodes. Its strongest episodes move from a personal story to a usable framework, then test that idea against real workplace pressure.
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TED Business is built around a two-part format: a TED Talk followed by host Modupe Akinola's mini-lesson on how to apply the idea at work. Akinola, a Columbia Business School professor, frames each talk around a concrete workplace problem — how to listen better in one-on-ones, how to introduce yourself in twenty words to get hired, how to keep a team unstuck. Recurring themes include workplace communication, career development, leadership and management, and practical frameworks presented as fill-in-the-blank tools listeners can reuse. Alongside these original segments, the feed regularly carries full interview episodes cross-posted from other shows in the TED Audio Collective, which broadens the subject matter well beyond core business topics. Those crossover episodes have covered a solar-irrigation entrepreneur pitching climate tech to investors in Nairobi, a Bloomberg finance writer explaining money and market abstractions, a palliative care physician and disability advocate discussing disability as a social construct, and a journalist-author profile built around a career built on curiosity. Guests are typically subject-matter professionals — consultants, entrepreneurs, physicians, and authors — rather than celebrities. The show suits listeners who want short, applied business and career lessons rather than long-form business news or deep company analysis. Production leans on TED's standard talk-plus-commentary structure for original episodes, with occasional longer, interview-style episodes when content is shared from partner shows. Episode length varies widely as a result, from about 12 minutes for a mini-lesson episode to over 80 minutes for a cross-posted long-form interview.
Made for: Professionals, managers, and job seekers who want short, applied lessons on workplace communication, career moves, and business ideas.
What sets it apart: Combines a curated TED Talk with a host-delivered practical mini-lesson, and regularly cross-posts full interviews from other TED Audio Collective shows on finance, climate tech, and health.
Whatever your business conundrum, there’s a TED Talk for that — whether you want to learn how to land that promotion, set smart goals, undo injustice at work, or unlock the next big innovation. Every Monday, host Modupe Akinola of Columbia Business School presents the most powerful and surprising ideas that illuminate the business world. After the talk, you'll get a mini-lesson from Modupe on how to apply the ideas in your own life — because business evolves every day, and our ideas about it should, too.Follow Modupe on Instagram at @mnakinola and on LinkedIn at @mnakinola Hosted on Acast. See ac...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
TED Business makes consequential ideas about money, leadership and enterprise easier to recognize inside everyday decisions.
TED Business takes large ideas about work, money and enterprise and presses them toward practical decisions. Modupe Akinola introduces talks, interviews and selected episodes from other programs, giving the show a format broad enough to move from workplace communication to…
Money becomes debt, listening becomes a toolkit, and your next meeting suddenly looks fixable.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical guide to matching workplace listening to the job: critique, retention, or getting work moving again.
Maegan Stephens and Nicole Lowenbraun turn workplace listening into a practical management skill, separating a vague virtue into modes teams can actually use.
Matt Levine makes ordinary dollars feel stranger, clearer, and more useful to think about.
Money gets treated here as a social technology, not just something people earn, spend, or save. Matt Levine gives the conversation a clear way into the strange mechanics underneath ordinary dollars: a bank balance as a debt claim, cash as a limited exception, and money as a…
A grounded look at reporting, access, and the sales work behind one unusual sports-adjacent business story.
Stephen J. Dubner's conversation on Design Matters turns a reporting story about Franco Harris into a compact study of access, usefulness, and the business realities around a public figure.
A grounded look at why affordable farming tech needs patient capital, clearer incentives, and a business case investors can understand.
Affordable farming technology becomes an investment story here, as the episode uses Sun Culture to show why smallholder agriculture is hard to fit into a single funding category.
Arvid Kahl walks through AI, data, and SaaS engineering decisions using his own product, PodScan.
Host Roddy Knowles argues marketing, research, and design are all product management.
Rob Marsh interviews copywriters on client acquisition, pricing, email, and persuasion tactics.
A workplace talk gets awkward fast when the speaker admits AI wrote it.
Communication consultant Rebecca Okamoto shares five frameworks for introducing yourself in 20 words or less, drawn from her own experience being rejected in a five-minute interview and then hired on the spot six months later with fewer qualifications.
Money seems simple.
The host discusses personal concerns about AI's rapid advancement and its potential impact on workplaces, while acknowledging they're not an AI expert but rather an observer like the listener.
This episode explores why homes are being demolished during a global housing crisis, featuring architect Olaf Gravert's TED talk on real estate speculation and the benefits of preserving existing buildings.
Sustainability investor Steve Howard discusses the complex relationship between capitalism and climate change, offering hard truths about moving beyond short-term fixes to implement long-term systemic solutions.
The transcript provided does not match the titled TED Business episode “The question that saved my company from bankruptcy | Sharon Price John”; it contains promotional copy for Skills Canada Ontario, TED Talks Daily’s microplastics interview with Patricia Aima Maldonado, and a separate personal story about a childhood stuffed animal named Panda.
A scientist discusses innovative scientific and technological solutions to combat microplastic pollution.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a psychologist's talk on how basic miscommunication can disrupt conversations, with a personal anecdote about a misunderstanding between her mother and a friend.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a talk by Rafilwe Ladwaba on how thoughtful mentorship helped her become South Africa's first Black woman helicopter pilot, and discusses applying mentorship in the workplace.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a TED Talk by Kate Johnson on how algorithms perpetuate gender bias in sports media, with a mini-lesson on applying the ideas to business.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a talk by climate risk advisor Amy Barnes on how extreme weather is making home insurance unaffordable and the need for climate resilience.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a TED Talk about microplastics and then transitions to a discussion about winning the lottery and happiness.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a handpicked TED Talk episode aimed at applying business ideas to listeners' lives.
This special TED Business episode features host Elise Hu and other TED show hosts reflecting on the biggest news and ideas of 2025 and looking ahead to predictions for 2026.
A TED handoff sets the table first.
Host Modupe Akinola shares a personal story about throwing a retirement party for her mentor and reflects on the importance of affirmation in the workplace.
The episode explores how Argentina successfully transitioned from almost no renewable energy to generating a significant portion from renewables, offering a practical case study for business and policy.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a TED Talk on workplace diversity and inclusion, preceded by sponsor ads for Amazon and TurboTax.
An interview with scientist Patricia Aima Maldonado about innovative scientific and technological solutions to combat microplastic pollution.
Early investors had to be talked into the whole idea.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a TED Talk about economic disempowerment and reinvesting in local communities, with a sponsor message about TurboTax Business.
This episode features Brené Brown discussing courageous leadership with Adam Grant, exploring themes of vulnerability and emotional intelligence in professional settings.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a podcast episode featuring ads for Wealthify, ShipStation, and Lego Duplo, then teases a TED Talk about business.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a funny TED Talk and discusses how comedy can make business lessons more digestible.
This episode features a TED conversation between M-PESA CEO Sitoyo Lopokoiyit and Acumen CEO Jacqueline Novogratz discussing how moral imagination guided the creation and success of Africa's largest fintech platform.
A podcast episode where hosts Anne Morris and Francis Fry answer three caller questions about growing a business, returning to work with a fresh mindset, and crafting a job you love.
An interview with Pinky Cole about her non-linear journey to becoming a successful vegan restaurateur.
This episode features an interview with Dawn Burrell on strategies for changing careers and reinventing oneself, focusing on personal growth and professional transitions.
Host Modupe Akinola presents a TED Talk and provides a mini-lesson on applying business ideas to real life.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces the Leadership Now Project, a nonpartisan organization uniting business leaders to protect democracy, and shares her personal involvement.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a talk on embracing change and discusses how to apply it in business and life.
Host Modupe Akinola introduces a TED Talk by leadership coach Amy Schoenthal on using setbacks as opportunities for reinvention, with a mini-lesson to follow.