You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day.

I'm your host, Elise Hugh. Those who know author Pico Iyer may know he doesn't have a cell phone, a rare feat for anyone in today's

day and age. I sat down with Pico after he gave his moving talk at TED 2025 to learn more about

why not being able to connect with people quickly actually helps him connect with the world more

deeply. We discuss his journey, how Ted has transformed the way he

looks at ideas, the lessons he's learned from slowing down in a world that's intent on speeding

up, and what home, silence, beauty, and ping pong all have in common. Pico, congrats on your fifth TED Talk.

Thank you.

So you have explored many ideas over the years.

Home, stillness, finding beauty in the unknown, even ping pong, I believe.

And this year, of course, silence.

Would you say there is a through line besides you being the

author and the speaker behind the talks? Such an interesting question. Of course, nobody's ever

asked me that before. I don't. I think for me, the excitement of TED is to try and take

myself in constantly different directions. And I you know, I'm always a little

embarrassed when I'm at TED because there's so many specialists who are sitting on remarkable

knowledge and they've devoted 40 years to studying one thing. And I'm the opposite, as maybe

you are as a journalist. Yes. For me, the fun of it is to go in different directions every time.

Of course, talking about silence overlaps quite a bit with talking about

stillness. And that made me think, oh, I don't want to repeat myself. But something like ping pong

was a happy diversion. From your first talk that you gave, I believe, in 2013, how would you say

things have grown and how have you grown since? Ted has changed my life in all kinds of ways and opened so many doors and made me think

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