Dogs are more than just pets.
They're arguably the most important member of your family.
So, of course, you'd do anything to keep them happy and healthy.
Ollie delivers fresh, protein-packed meals made with real, human-grade ingredients.
Choose from five recipes with personalized plans tailored to your dog's needs.
Meals come in perfectly portioned, mess-free packaging with a scoop for easy serving and a storage container to keep food fresh.
Worried about transitioning your dog's food?
Ollie offers in-app health screenings where their team of experts will guide you every step of the way so you can feel good, knowing you're doing what's best for your best friend.
Visit ollie.com slash TED Talks and use code TED Talks for 60% off your first box.
We live in a culture obsessed with dieting, weight loss, and exercise.
And that can make eating disorder behaviors easy to miss.
But the reality is eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that take a major toll on your health and your life.
But recovery is possible.
Eating disorders are more common than you might think.
Chances are, you know someone who is struggling with one.
Or maybe you're struggling yourself.
If you're concerned about an eating disorder in yourself or a loved one.
I want to introduce you to Equip.
Equip is a fully virtual, evidence-based eating disorder treatment program that helps patients achieve lasting recovery at home.
Every Equip patient is matched with a multidisciplinary care team that includes a therapist dietician, medical provider and mentors.
Visit equip.health to learn more.
That's equip.health.
This show is brought to you by Dell.
Introducing your new Dell PC powered by the Intel Core Ultra processor.
It helps you handle a lot, even when your holiday to-do list gets to be a lot, because it's built with all-day battery plus powerful AI features that help you do it all with ease.
From editing images to drafting emails to summarizing large documents to multitasking.
So you can organize your holiday shopping and make custom holiday decor and search for great holiday deals and respond to holiday requests and customer questions and customers requesting custom things and plan the perfect holiday dinner for vegans vegetarians, pescatarians and Uncle Mike's carnivore diet.
Luckily, you can get a PC that helps you do it all faster so you can get it all done.
That's the power of a Dell PC with Intel inside.
Backed by Dell's price match guarantee.
Get yours today at dell.com slash holiday.
Terms and conditions apply.
See dell.com for details.
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day.
I'm your host, Elise Hu.
Today's talk is part of our new 2025 TED Fellows Films adapted for podcast, just for our TED Talks Daily listeners.
We'll be releasing these special episodes showcasing our amazing fellows on certain Fridays throughout the rest of 2025 and into the new year.
So definitely stay tuned.
The TED Fellows program supports a network of global innovators, and we're so excited to share their work with you.
Today, we'd like you to meet rainforest toxicologist and TED Fellow Claudia Vega.
What do penguins, the Amazonian rainforest, and the gold in your watch have in common?
It turns out, mercury.
Mercury.
Running a world-class lab in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, Claudia studies the effects of mercury pollution from illegal artisanal gold mining, highlighting an urgent environmental and public health problem with far-reaching impacts.
She shares what led her to the rainforest, what she's learned from the indigenous communities she's worked with and why it's imperative to understand that what happens in the Amazon matters to all of us everywhere.
After we hear from Claudia Vega, stick around for her conversation with TED Fellows Program Director, Lily James Olds.
It's coming up.
Since I was little, I always loved nature.
I always loved the feeling of being in a forest.
For me, the forest is more valuable than gold.
My name is Claudia Vega, and I work in the Peruvian Amazon.
I'm studying mercury contamination due to artisanal gold mining in Madre de Dios.
I think people are not aware that sometimes the gold that you buy maybe is poisoning the rainforest in the Amazon or other tropical areas.
About 20% of the gold producers in the world come from artisanal gold mining.
It's not that small.
And when you say artisanal, it's not because it's natural.
It's called artisanal because they don't use fancy equipment.
They have a very, like, rustic way.
People have been doing that since the gold rush in California.
They were using mercury.
So the technique hasn't advanced that much since then.
Mercury is used because it's an easy way to extract the gold.
So what the miners do is the gold is like a sandy in a sandy form, and it's usually in the sediment of the rivers.
They put mercury.
The mercury binds with gold.
Then they have the amalgam, which is a mix of gold and mercury, and then they burn the amalgam and then the mercury just evaporates to the air and they got the gold.
When they're doing the mixing with gold, some of the mercury goes into the river.
It's easy to evaporate.
You don't have to heat it.
It goes to the air, and it can be transported, like, long distance.
This happens mainly in the tropics and is the biggest anthropogenic source of mercury in the planet.
Around 1400 tons of mercury annually is released to the environment because of artisanal gold mining.
It's an international concern, and it's not because it harms just the place where it's used.
For example, there are even very high levels of mercury in the whales in the beluga whales in the Arctic.
In Madrid de Dios, about 130,000 hectares has been deforested because of artisanal gold mining.
It is big operation, like you can see like huge areas of rainforest just deforested.
It looked like a desert with mining ponds.
There are like artificial lakes and in the middle of a lot of desert.
There's no tree, there's no animals.
It looks like the moon, kind of, because it's just, there's no vegetation.
Mercury is an element.
We cannot destroy it.
It's a potent neurotoxin.
It can affect the neural system.
Also can give you headaches, can give you problem of memory.
It can give you insomnia.
It can harm children during pregnancy.
Who have a baby will have learning disabilities.
Depending how much is exposed, it can even have malformation.
Mercury is called the silent toxin because it takes a while to show effects.
Minamata Bay in Japan is a more iconic case of mercury poisoning.
In 1932, there was a company that was releasing mercury into the bay.
It took about 25 years to show the effects.
In people, about a thousand people die.
And until now, they have certified like 10,000 people that were affected.
So people didn't know they were being intoxicated and they didn't feel it.
But at the end, they had the symptoms and people died.
WHO says that mercury is one of the top 10 chemicals that are a major concern for public health.
Centro de Innovación Científica Amazónica, which is Amazonian Center for Scientific Innovation.
We implement the first mercury lab in the Peruvian Amazon.
And it's in the middle of the rainforest.
It's in the middle of the jungle.
We produce science.
It's also communicate the science to people that are not scientists in a way that they can have information to take better decision.
We work with miners and also explain to them the dangers of mercury.
And with indigenous people, also explain to them how they can avoid being exposed.
And also we work with politicians so they can base their decision in science.
Fish is the main source of protein for indigenous people in the Amazon.
They are exposed to very high levels of mercury through consuming contaminated fish.
They have like one of the highest levels reported right now.
So one thing that we do with them, we explain to them that they have to choose safer fish.
Sometimes it's very difficult because you don't have the right answer for them.
I mean, they're in their home and then a strange people come telling them that what they are eating is poison.
But I think information is power and having the right information make you do the right decision.
So we insist in that, giving the information and repeat the information.
Some of the miners tell us, like, I have been doing this for 30 years, so I'm good.
I ask them, like, do you sleep?
Do you have headaches?
Do you forget things more often?
And also mercury sometimes can increase the chance to have cardiovascular disease.
So maybe some of the people have high pressure and they don't know why.
It could be because of mercury.
And some of them, they're changing for a more responsible way of mining.
Some other miners, maybe they know, but they don't care because they need money.
And gold is money.
There are no incentives to produce mercury-free gold.
People just buy gold.
They don't care.
There's no good traceability system.
So I think as a consumer or as a mediator of gold trade, We have to care about where the gold is coming from.
Sometimes we use things and we don't even know how much impact it has in the world.
At the end, we have one health, one planet, and everything is connected.
When you're affecting the environment, you can affect the animal's health and then human health too.
So for me, my dream is like people can see the value of the forest.
It's actually doing something for us.
It's producing air.
It's producing water.
That's more valuable than gold.
I know gold is valuable, but you cannot eat it.
You cannot breathe it.
And you cannot drink it.
And now a special conversation between Claudia Vega and TED Fellows program director, Lily James Olds.
Coming up right after the break.
This episode is sponsored by Peloton.
When I work out, I want to feel motivated and challenged, but sometimes I get bogged down with details like choosing the right weights or correcting my form.
With the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, I don't have to worry about that.
Powered by Peloton IQ, the Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus offers endless ways to move and Intelligent strength coaching that counts your reps, corrects your form and suggests weights so you get stronger, safer and smarter.
With its swivel screen, you can go from running to strength or Pilates in one smooth spin.
And it personalizes your journey.
With personalized plans, Peloton IQ builds a workout roadmap around your goals and energy so you stay motivated not just today but for the long run.
So let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push, and go.
Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus at onepeloton.com.
Dogs are more than just pets.
They're arguably the most important member of your family, so of course you'd do anything to keep them happy and healthy.
Ollie delivers fresh, protein-packed meals made with real, human-grade ingredients.
Choose from five recipes with personalized plans tailored to your dog's needs.
Meals come in perfectly portioned, mess-free packaging with a scoop for easy serving and a storage container to keep food fresh.
Worried about transitioning your dog's food?
Ollie offers in-app health screenings where their team of experts will guide you every step of the way so you can feel good, knowing you're doing what's best for your best friend.
Visit ollie.com slash TED Talks and use code TED Talks for 60% off your first box.
Hi, Claudia.
Welcome.
I'm really looking forward to talking to you today.
Hi, Lily.
Well, thank you for inviting me.
And it is really nice to see you after I don't know how many months.
I know.
It's so nice.
Okay.
So before we dive into all of the work you do, I'd love to just know a little bit more about how you first got into this work.
I know that you first trained as a vet, right?
And that then you worked in Guatemala and that later you moved to Brazil to study diseases in marine animals, I think which eventually led you to working with penguins.
So I would love if you could just share your amazing winding path that brought you from from researching penguins to researching mercury.
Yeah, I am a vet, a veterinary.
I study in Guatemala.
And when I started to study veterinary, I always wanted to work with wildlife animals.
For me, like dogs and cats, was not, like you know, I have to study them, but it was not the option that I wanted.
I did some training in some zoos in Mexico.
And then, When I finished veterinary, I was working in a wildlife conservation center that was treating animals from confiscating for trafficking.
And it was really frustrating because you're just receiving all these animals that are like in bad shape and like trying to cure them.
That's not changing anything.
The animals keep coming and coming.
And I was like, how can we make a change?
Like, how can I make people think, like, the environment where the animals live matters?
And I talked with another vet, wildlife vet, and he told me epidemiology is what I should be studying, like studying the, the causes of diseases or the causes of damage.
So I did my master in public health and environment.
And my supervisor was a marine biologist.
And he was telling me about these penguins because in Rio de Janeiro during the winter you have a lot of penguins at some beaches.
And he told me, like, we should study what is going on with these penguins.
And we decided to study heavy metals, cadmium, lead, and mercury.
And yeah, that's how...
I started studying Mercury.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
After I finished my PhD and having this study of Mercury in the Amazon, I was kind of getting to a point that I wanted to divorce science because I felt like writing papers or publishing papers.
It wasn't changing anything.
So I was kind of like question myself, like, what is science for?
And when I was at that moment, I met the executive director of the center I'm working on.
I met him in a Mercury conference.
And then he told me about the idea that they wanted to produce science information for decision makers to actually change things.
And they told me like they were starting the center and they needed a mercury program coordinator.
So that's how I moved to Rio Madre de Dios in the middle of the Peruvian Amazon.
I mean, I think what's really inspiring to me about that is that you're doing this work and then you're asking the question.
You know, wait a second.
How can I actually go one step further, back to where this problem started, and work to address it?
In some ways, it sounds like what led you to the mercury research program.
Well, I was supposed to study a disease in primates at the master, but then I just found mercury.
Just, I mean, like it just happened like spontaneously and like, you know, penguins at the beach.
Well, it was like, I don't know, more interesting, I will say.
Yeah.
Okay.
So I know that the world-class mercury testing lab that you helped establish in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon I mean, from what you've shown me, it looks amazing.
And I know that it's the first of its kind.
I would love for you to talk a little bit more about why you think it's important to do this scientific work locally in the Amazon instead of just taking the samples back to a lab in a major city because it's such a lift, obviously.
It's like this Herculean thing to build a world-class lab in the middle of the Amazon.
Why do you think that is so important?
Well first, before we implemented that lab, anything that you needed to analyze, you have to send it first to Lima or send it to another country.
It was that hard.
And just sending the sample outside Peru, that is not that easy.
And to take the samples, it already takes time.
And then you have to ship it to another place.
That complicates everything.
We thought, like, having the capacity in the site that we need to study, I mean, is better.
Like, you can have the answer faster.
And also like one of the things that usually happens, that researchers from other places just come to the place that has the problem they diagnose and then they go away right.
We need to have local capacity in the places where the problems are happening, because we need to to empower the people in the place because, at the end, they are the ones that are suffering the consequence.
So I think producing the information, know how to produce the information, that's also empower people in the local community and that makes change.
Yeah, absolutely.
And how has doing this work in that capacity and way changed the conversations with the communities that you work with, I guess also the policymakers?
What are the kind of learnings and what can you share with us that has shifted, as you've done this work in that different way, on the ground and really bringing the science to where you're doing the research, locally.
So I think it, It has changed the conversation a lot.
Like when I started, people kind of knew a little bit of Mercury, but right now we have more information and people are talking about it.
Like.
Just two months ago, we released the results of a study in the north part of the Peruvian Amazon.
And we have been in the news like for one and a half months.
I mean, like people want to know about it.
If people don't know what is happening, they cannot look for a solution.
So having the information is It's really important.
And there's a convention for reducing mercury in the world, the Minamata Convention.
Like our data is the first data that they have from places that have artisanal gold mines.
Because they usually don't have that data because it's hard to do the work in those places.
So we're showing results locally, national and international.
I think that can produce change.
What is something that's truly surprised you that you've discovered through doing your research?
Knowing that information and seeing that information can make changes.
Like, for example, when I go with the communities or the indigenous people, like when I explain to them, like Where the mercury is, how it concentrates, like how there are safer fishes and there are ones that are more risky to eat.
For example, a mother that she understood the youngest child that has three years old.
He was the one with higher levels of mercury.
And when we give the talk, she understood, because the fish that the kid loved to eat is the one that has more mercury.
And she understood that.
And I told her like, well, now...
Even though he cries, don't give that fish to him.
She understood the information and she was like, ah, now I understand.
If you're telling what to do to reduce this posture, I mean, you can be changing the person's life.
It's not that surprised me.
It's just like, it really made me keep going.
Like, I know it's hard, but...
I know we can do changes if we keep trying.
I think there's so much in what you just said also about communication and about trust right with the local communities that you're going into and where you're doing this research.
What are some of those conversations like?
How do you build trust in that capacity with these communities that you're working with?
Well, we go to them before starting a study.
We have to ask them if they want to do it.
We usually go one or two times to the place and explain what we want to do.
We send like a letter for the leader of the community and ask them if they want to do it.
We talked with them.
And then when I promised something, I really tried to do it in the time that I promised.
And I told them, we're going to come back this month to bring the results.
We went back.
We gave the result one by one.
We explained to the people.
We stayed there.
And we were there to answer questions.
And they told us, thank you.
They were really grateful because they told us like people usually come and they don't give back the results.
So I think, like having their relationship with the community, show up and, you know, deliver what you promised.
I think that's very important.
No, that makes a lot of sense.
You're following through on your commitment and sharing the information that you're gathering there.
What have you learned from the indigenous communities that you work with in the Amazon?
What are some of the things that they've taught you that you carry with you?
There are a lot of things that I think, like, it's a process that never ends.
I'm still learning a lot.
Like, for example, the last time that I went to the communities and told them that the results were not that good.
Like they were exposed to high risk of mercury.
One told me, like, so, doctor, what, now I died?
Like, I was like...
What should I do?
When you go there and see the situation that they have and you like giving them another problem to worry.
They have other problems to solve.
I'm still like thinking in a way, like how can we make a difference for them?
And I think that's one of the things that we're doing right now is try to empower more of the community.
Like, for example, the next step is training them to do it, for them to produce information.
And we're trying to create a system that they can show these results.
So they are aware.
And like also you're taking advantage of the indigenous knowledge, right?
Because sometimes as a researcher, usually we stay like 10 days, for example.
But you're not able to observe everything.
And they know much more than us.
Like we have to use their knowledge.
So we're trying to find how can science and indigenous people work together and we learn from each other.
You know, you were talking a minute ago about how you're making change both on a local and global level.
I had no idea before I met you that artisanal gold mining is not a small-scale operation, right?
The word artisanal makes you think it's some small organic thing and that it is not.
And that, in fact, it's responsible, as you say, for nearly 20% of the world's gold production.
Is there a way to mine gold without using mercury?
And if so, what does that look like?
And why don't more operations use this method?
If you do it in a non-adjustable way, it will be with cyanide, which is also a dangerous substance.
Yeah, I was going to say, that doesn't sound much better than mercury.
Yeah, yeah.
The thing is, it's usually big companies that use it, and there's a way to treat it.
The difference between mercury and cyanide, that mercury is an element, so you cannot destroy it.
But cyanide is like a compound, so you can break it down and reduce the toxicity, which is what the big companies do.
But to do that they need a lot of work.
They need like big processing plants and you know it takes more money and space to do that, i see.
So you can't do that on a small scale.
The mercury is really the only option if you're a smaller miner or company to do it.
So it's an option.
I will say it's an easy option because you don't need to be trained to do it like There are other techniques.
There's shaking tables and there are like different techniques, but you need to be trained.
And mercury is very simple.
You just put it, see the amalgama, and then you burn it.
It's easy to do.
I mean, it's the same methodology that was used in the Gold Rush in California a long time ago, right?
I mean, do you think that a solution would be to provide more training to these minors in alternative methods?
So there are minors that are trying.
And the thing is, like, there are technologies, but you have to change behaviors.
Minors think that that's the way that they know.
They think that's the way it should be.
And you have to first...
Like, convince them that it's a better method.
Because at the end, everything is money, right?
And they think mercury is efficient.
And you have to prove them because it is efficient, but it's not that efficient.
There are other methods that are more efficient, but you have to prove to them.
And then you have to change the behavior.
So that's the tricky thing.
And also, at least in Madre de Dios, the miners, they work separately.
There are other places, like in Colombia.
They do like little associations and like a group of miners work and they can have the shaking table like owned by several miners.
But here they work different.
So it's a slow process, but we found a group.
They're women and they are trying to do the right thing.
I mean like not using mercury changing technology and also try to implement restoration techniques after the mining process.
That's really interesting.
I was gonna ask what are some examples that you've seen of changes in behavior based on the conversations you've had and the work that you've done?
Do you have other examples?
We're trying to look for this champion.
We call it champion.
I think there are some people that are trying to do it.
But one of the things that they say a lot is sometimes it's easier and cheaper to be illegal than legal.
I mean, you don't have a government system that encourages to be legal, to be honest.
Because, I mean, if you're legal, you have to pay taxes.
You have to do a lot of things for the workers and everything.
And you sell the gold and it's the same price as the one that is produced in an illegal way.
So it's kind of difficult.
But there are people that are trying to do the right thing.
And one of the things that we try to do is like find these people and make them talk to each other.
Because sometimes you just come from outside.
I mean, I can talk, but I'm not the one that is in the mine.
If another miner come and talk to them. and share the experience, I think that can do more change.
And what role do you think governments, consumers, just period, consumers, what role do you think all of us have in this?
I'm just curious, you know, as you said, it's slow work, it's long-term work.
You're doing it one conversation and test at a time.
What else can be done to, I guess, speed up this process of change?
I think there are different parts of the chain that need to be addressed, like the producers, which are the miners, the ones that receive the gold.
That will be like the gold trade.
They should be certified that the gold is produced in a legal way, right?
There are some initiatives that are trying to have this certification, but it's still going slow.
And then we have the final consumer.
The gold is produced here in the Amazon, but it's not consumed here.
We know a lot of the gold goes through Switzerland to other places.
We should be asking where the gold was produced, how it was produced.
There's not enough awareness to care about where the gold is coming from.
I mean, there are places that they buy gold, they don't care about where it's coming from.
It has to be more awareness.
Right.
So right now that doesn't exist in the way that you know.
I know there's a different knowledge in terms of diamonds and where's the provenance.
That doesn't exist right now in terms of gold.
It Does, but it's hard to do the traceability.
Right now, there's not an effective way to trace gold.
That's one of the problems.
Because the thing is, if you have a gold producer with mercury and then you have another one that is producing in a clean way, then you just melt it and you have a mix of gold.
And there's no way to trace it.
Yeah, I mean...
I think that touches on so much, right?
Of like this idea of how do you get people, and again, this is climate crisis overall, right?
How do you get people to care about something that they might not think affects their life, right?
I mean, this is obviously zoomed out, much bigger question, but how do you think about that in terms of having these conversations with people who don't think this might necessarily touch their lives?
And yet clearly it does.
It affects all of us.
Yes.
Like when I give a talk or a presentation, I usually try to figure out how I make the problem their problem too.
And usually, for example, when I talk with women, I start with a famous picture of the Minamata disaster, which is the first case of mercury intoxication.
And you have a mother holding her children with malformation.
And that's how we start, for example.
Like I try to show that it's something that can affect them.
And one thing...
And I usually mention like, for example in the US, Red-necked wombs are advised not to consume tuna.
Right, right.
And the reason is because of mercury.
So it's, like you say, it's not just in the Arctic.
It's in all the oceans.
And all of us consume fish from the ocean.
Mercury doesn't stay just in the Amazon.
It can travel.
So if we keep emitting mercury, the levels will keep raising.
It could affect all of us.
Like, I think, like...
I tried to show that.
No, that's so fascinating.
So now we've talked about consumers, we've talked about miners.
I'm also curious to hear from you what role do you think or, I guess, responsibility within that do governments need to play?
And also do the mining companies need to play?
And what is that process of creating movement there, trying to have those individuals and organizations create change?
So it's a very complicated situation because yeah, first of all, right now in Peru, the government is kind of trying to encourage artisanal gold mining.
And there's a formalization process, which is you make a minor legal.
This process started in 2001 and it's still going right now.
I mean, like it's so unaffected.
That it's not doing what it should be doing, like really giving fiscalized process for responsible minors.
It's not doing what it should be doing.
I mean, it's not just doing laws.
It's applying to them to see if they're being followed or not.
And I don't know if in the US it's like that, but in Latin America they love to write laws, a lot of laws.
And the law is just written.
It's not applied.
And are there incentives that you've seen work?
In Peru, not really.
To be honest, not really in Peru.
Yeah, it's kind of difficult.
And about the illegal miners of the big company.
Right now, the illegal mining is just so out of control that even the legal miners of the big company are starting to be affected.
So they're also like trying to push the government to do something.
That's how the situation is in Peru right now.
It's kind of difficult.
I really love when you say, Claudia, that we can't eat, drink, or breathe gold.
I think that's such a powerful line connected to what we're talking about.
Given that many miners obviously depend on gold for their livelihood, what does a sustainable future look like?
One that would both protect the Amazon, stop this widespread mercury pollution and also support the people who rely on mining to survive.
I mean, first of all, we need mining.
That's a fact.
Not just gold mining, like every metal mining.
All of us use the different metals.
So there are ways to do it in a more responsible way, because for me, green mine or green gold doesn't exist.
It's like responsible mining.
We need to know like mining is a resort that will stop.
I know it's difficult, but we have to have conscious of like maybe you're mining now, but I don't know if your kid will be able to mine or the kid will be able to have the resources.
So we have to find other ways to take advantage of the forest.
Like, for example, study more plants and see if we can use the plant for something else.
So the way I see it is like there should be mining, but do it in a responsible way.
And you have to respect some place.
I know miners that they have this land and there are places that, even though they know there's gold, they won't mine there because they know they need the forest too.
So if they do it in that way, I think it could be done.
We have to figure out that there are places that you cannot do mining, even though there's a lot of gold, because there are other valuable things in the forest.
And we have to give value to other things.
Because for me, the goal is not the more valuable thing of the forest.
I mean, like, that has to count for something.
I love that.
Okay, last question.
I'd love to hear what is something you're really scared of right now?
And also, what is something that is giving you hope?
Wow.
No big deal.
Yeah.
Well, actually, I'm really scared of fake news because that's what slowed the change.
Because people take information that is not real and they take decision based on that.
Because everybody can be a victim of that.
Yeah.
When we were thinking in strategy, I always said like we should learn how to disseminate information the way that fake news do that.
Because if we learn that, maybe we can compete.
And what gives me hope?
I mean, I know the problems are complex, but if we don't do anything, it will continue.
Even though it's a small change, but it's worth it.
Because not doing nothing is worst.
I'd rather be part of the solution than part of the problem.
So yeah, that's what gave me hope.
I love that.
Well, thank you so much for this conversation, Kadia.
I'm always, I think, really obviously inspired by your work, but I think just the way that you...
So articulately connect the dots on how everything really is connected, how we all are connected.
And these are not just problems happening somewhere else, that they are all of our problems.
As you said, it's been really illuminating.
Thank you.
And also thank you for all the work that you guys are doing, because you guys are trying to show these stories.
And thank you for that.
It's a pleasure.
Can't wait for the next conversation, Claudia.
That was Claudia Vega, a 2025 TED Fellow.
To learn more about the TED Fellows program and watch all the TED Fellows films, go to fellowstedcom.
And that's it for today.
This episode was produced by Lucy Little, edited by Alejandra Salazar and fact-checked by Eva Dasher.
The audio you heard at the top comes from the short film made by Divya Gidangi and Owen McLean.
Story edited by Corey Hajim and produced by Ian Lowe.
Video production manager is Searing Dolma.
Additional support from Lily James Olds, Leonie Horster, and Allegra Pearl.
TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective.
Our team includes Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little and Tansika Sangmarnivong.
Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balarezo.
I'm Elise Hu.
I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.
Thanks for listening.
Fall is here and Nordstrom has the latest styles and hottest trends, thousands of options for under 200.
I'm talking about plaid outerwear, oversized sweaters that are cozy, Western-inspired pieces, prairie dresses, and you know I love a skirt.
Nordstrom has free shipping and returns, which is why I love them, and they have fast options like buy online, pick up in store.
Shopping at Nordstrom is always easy.
I love that Nordstrom is always high quality and kind of guides me in what's trendiest for the season.
And they have the top brands like Veronica Beard, Favorite Daughter, All Saints, Coach, Rag & Bone, Tory Burch.
So shop now in stores or at nordstrom.com or download the Nordstrom app.
In a world of seismic change, will your business shape the future or be shaped by it?
How will we capture the imagination of tomorrow's consumers, overcome operational constraints to focus on future growth and unlock economic and social prosperity through environmental responsibility?
With ey's full spectrum of services across sectors, we're all in to shape the future with confidence.
Start your transformation journey at eycom slash transformation.
You know we love recommending new movies for you guys to watch and I'm obsessed with Regretting You.
It's based on the bestselling book Regretting You, introducing audiences to Morgan Grant, played by Alison Williams.
We love her and girls.
And her daughter Clara, who's played by McKenna Grace, as they explore what's left behind after a devastating accident, reveals a shocking betrayal and forces them to confront family secrets, redefine love and rediscover each other.
Regretting You is a story of growth, resilience, and self-discovery in the aftermath of tragedy.
It also stars Dave Franco and Mason Thames, with Scott Eastwood and Willa Fitzgerald, and it's in theaters this October.
It has an all-star cast based on the book written by number one New York Times bestselling author, Colleen Hoover, and director Josh Boone is no stranger to bringing these books to life.
He's the guy behind The Fault in Our Stars.
It's the perfect film to share with your best friend, your mom, your grandma, your high school niece.
It's filled with love, tears and laughter, balancing comedy with romance and drama, which you know what sounds right up our alley.
It'll be available in the U.S.
October 24th, 2025 to watch on the big screen.
See it at a theater near you.
