Based on TEDTalks from the world’s most remarkable minds, the TED Radio Hour is a podcast co-produced by NPR and TED that take listeners on a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, and new ways to think and create. Based on TEDTalks from the world’s most remarkable minds, the TED Radio Hour is a podcast co-produced by NPR and TED that take listeners on a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, and new ways to think and create.

In this episode, Press Play, TED speakers describe how forms of amusement — from tossing a ball to video games — can make us smarter, saner and more collaborative. It was originally broadcast on March 27, 2015. Guests include:

• Neuroscientist Jeff Mogil who reveals how playing a game can make you more empathetic.
• Comedian Charlie Todd who explains how his group, Improv Everywhere, creates moments of urban whimsy to bring people together.
• Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play in California, who says humor, games, roughhousing, and fantasy are more than just fun.
• Primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo who explains how bonobos learn by constantly playing, and how that play can offer insights into human laughter, creativity and our capacity for wonder and exploration.
• Researcher Jane McGonigal, a researcher of games and Director of Games Research & Development at the Institute for the Future, who says virtual games can improve our real lives.

 

You can stream the episode below: