Sunday Pick: The perils of following your career passion

As climate change leads to more and more natural disasters, a group of workers is showing up at one site after another to rebuild and repair. Labor organizer Saket Soni tells the stories of Resilience Force — the group of mostly immigrant workers restoring homes after hurricanes, floods and fires — and describes the unexpected bonds developing between the residents whose lives have been turned upside down and the laborers helping put things back together.

In the beginning of the universe, all was darkness — until the first organisms developed sight, which ushered in an explosion of life, learning and progress. AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li says a similar moment is about to happen for computers and robots. She shows how machines are gaining "spatial intelligence" — the ability to process visual data, make predictions and act upon those predictions — and shares how this could enable AI to interact with humans in the real world.

We're programmed to think every issue is binary: "us vs. them." But Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND Snacks, says the real enemy isn't a person but a mindset. He introduces a new initiative that aims to bring together "builders" from around the world to replace extremism with practical problem-solving — and shows how you can join the movement.

Bill Ackman has made billions of dollars — and a name for himself — as an activist investor, buying up stock to push for change at companies. In this wide-ranging conversation with author and business ethics professor Alison Taylor, Ackman discusses how he's bringing his activism into the social and political spheres — and shares his thoughts on free speech, his notoriously long posts on X, the conversation around Harvard and DEI and more.

Each Sunday, TED shares an episode of another podcast we think you'll love, handpicked for you… by us. Today: in celebration of Mother's Day , we're sharing an episode we think you'll enjoy from How to Be a Better Human.Activist, and MacArthur Genuis, Ai-jen Poo believes that caring for others is one of the fundamental acts that make us human. But from nannies to elder-care workers, house cleaners to living assistants, single parents and beyond, globally, caretakers do not earn fair wages or recognition for their essential, life-giving labor. The President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Ai-jen explains how society undervalues domestic work, and provides a framework on how we can start a conversation about the future of care for our loved ones – and ourselves. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts  

There's a reliable indicator of a woman's future likelihood of cardiovascular disease — but it rarely gets asked about, says obstetrician and researcher Meryam Sugulle. She delves into the role of the placenta in pregnancy, how it can predict health outcomes and the single question that should be worked into routine health screenings.

Here's a conundrum: the same aerosol pollutants that harm human health also help cool the climate, says atmospheric scientist Sarah J. Doherty. Is there a way to clean up the air without warming the planet? Exploring the unintended consequences of reducing air pollution, she makes the case for a better understanding of marine cloud brightening — or intentionally adding sea salt aerosols to clouds over the ocean, which could reflect sunlight back into space and potentially reduce global warming.

In an exploration of conflict and diplomacy, president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media Ian Bremmer joins TED's Helen Walters to unravel the ideological underpinnings, contrasting objectives and humanitarian crises defining the current situation in Gaza. Listen for the latest on Israel’s invasion of Rafah and what happened to the proposed ceasefire deal as well as a dissection of the elusive quest for peace in a region haunted by the specter of war.

In an exclusive preview of unreleased technology, designer and inventor Jason Rugolo unveils an entirely new kind of computer you can talk to like a friend. This "audio computer" — which can augment the sounds around you, translate conversations in real time, naturally respond to your voice and more — promises to shake up how we use our devices. It's shown publicly for the first time ever on the TED stage.

The political system in the United States needs a redesign, says political reformer Andrew Yang. Exposing the flaws of a system built on poor incentives, he proposes a cost-effective overhaul inspired by primary elections already working in places like Alaska and advocates for ranked-choice voting, where voters can choose candidates in order of preference regardless of party, stemming the influence of extreme ideologies.