Rainn Wilson was a late bloomer: he landed the role of Dwight Schrute on The Office after over a decade of struggling as an actor. But success didn’t solve all of his problems -- and it even created some new ones. In this live conversation for the Authors@Wharton series, Adam asks Rainn about his unlikely journey to stardom and how it led him into exploring the insights that philosophy, psychology, and the world’s great spiritual traditions can offer on modern life’s existential questions. They also discuss Rainn’s favorite moments from The Office and do some improv when Dunder Mifflin invites a certain organizational psychologist to talk to Dwight. Transcripts for ReThinking are available at go.ted.com/RWAGscripts

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How does studying the end of time change your perspective of life on Earth? Cosmologist and TED Fellow Katie Mack joins designer and podcaster Debbie Millman to talk about the story of the cosmos — from the Big Bang's ancient light still glowing across the universe to the five ways it might all come to an end — plus what aerobatic flying taught her about staying present.

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Did progress on your next big project stall out? Transformation expert Mary Martin refers to this moment as the "messy middle" — the frustrating gap between starting and finishing a goal, when you might lose confidence or give up altogether. Offering three ways to find glimmers of progress when the going gets tough, she explores what to do when you feel stuck.

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As a self-proclaimed radical street librarian, Storybook Maze makes books appear where they're scarce. Through initiatives like free, public book vending machines and street corner story times, she eliminates book deserts — or areas with limited access to literature — by making books accessible for children in underserved communities. (And in case you're wondering, she shares how you can become a radical street librarian, too.)

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If you ate bread this week (or cooked with salt and oil), you probably benefited from something millions miss out on: food fortification. Social entrepreneur Felix Brooks-church is on a mission to solve "hidden hunger" — malnutrition caused by a lack of nutrients — by fortifying everyday foods for regions of the world hit hardest by food insecurity. Laying out a pragmatic vision to improve food systems globally, he reminds us that hunger doesn’t always look like an empty plate.

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Most of the technology powering life in Europe today — chatbots, the cloud, digital infrastructure — is owned by companies in the United States. Writer and curator Bruno Giussani makes the case that Europe's reliance on American technology has crossed the line from convenient to risky. His answer isn't to go it alone, but to build something the continent currently lacks: a real alternative, rooted in a different model. "Technology that does not spy on you — that should be Europe's digital difference,” he says.

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Netflix cofounder and Anthropic board member Reed Hastings joins TED's Sal Khan to give a look inside the race to build AI. Hear his take on how the technology could accelerate education — including the possibility of an AI tutor for every student — and reshape the economy faster than anyone expects.

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What do radio personality Ira Glass, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and your host Chris Duffy have in common? They all have practiced an unexpected skill that makes them more human—improv comedy. And they learned it from master improv teacher Rick Andrews. Rick joins Chris to discuss the life lessons they learn from giving up control and practicing how to “yes an” in conversations. They also modeled improv games such as “Alibi,” “7 Things,” “Fortunately and Unfortunately,” and more, so you can sprinkle some improvisational silliness to build better communication and trust in your work and personal life.

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Over the course of hundreds of scuba dives, marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson fell in love -- with a fish. In this ode to parrotfish, she shares five reasons why these creatures are simply amazing (from their ability to poop white sand to make colorful "wardrobe changes") and shows what's at stake -- for us and them -- as climate change threatens the future of coral reefs.

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Among the dinosaurs, giant sea dragons roamed the ancient ocean. Millions of years later, paleontologist Dean R. Lomax and his team freed the remains of one of these colossal creatures from the Earth. Settle in to learn about the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of the 10-meter-long Rutland ichthyosaur: the largest and most complete ichthyosaur ever unearthed in Britain and one of the greatest finds in the country's paleontological history.

(This episode originally aired in 2022.)

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What if we could hear nature's ultrasonic communication -- and talk back? From a bat's shrill speech to a peacock's infrasound mating call, conservation technology researcher Karen Bakker takes us through a sound bath of animal noises that are far outside humanity's range of hearing, demonstrating how artificial intelligence has translated the incredible complexity of nature's soundtrack. She asks us to consider the moral weight of such transformative technology and explores the futuristic opportunities presented for conservation, interspecies communication and more.

(This episode originally aired in 2024.)

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