Exercising your generosity like a muscle with John M. Sweeney

The TED Interview

TED

Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

To get a free copy of the Infectious Generosity book, visit ted.com/generosity

When John M. Sweeney first read about the old Italian tradition of “café sospeso”, he didn’t know he’d create a viral movement. The simple and powerful idea originates in the working-class cafés of Naples, where generous Neapolitans who could afford to do so would buy two coffees — but consume only one, leaving the other for a less fortunate person to claim. Chris chats with John about why he took this concept from an exploratory Facebook page to the Suspended Coffees movement that now has more than 2,000 participating cafes worldwide. They talk about the profound power of random acts of kindness, the beauty of gifting economies and how the philosophy of generosity can change an entire community – and the world at large.

Transcripts for The TED Interview are available at: go.ted.com/TTIscripts

Transcript

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0:00.0	Ted Audio Collective.
0:02.0	Audio Collective.
0:04.0	Hello everyone.
0:06.0	Hello everyone.
0:10.0	As I think you know by now, this series is trying to find great
0:16.7	examples of how infectious generosity can work, how it can spark ripple effects,
0:21.8	and how it can begin with anyone.
0:24.8	I've come to believe that this is the most essential idea we're spreading.
0:29.3	So much so that I spent the last three years writing a book about it.
0:33.0	Books called Infectious Generosity.
0:35.6	And thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor,
0:38.1	I'm excited to be able to offer it
0:39.6	to listeners to the TED interview.
0:41.9	The book will deepen your engagement with this
0:43.9	podcast. You can get it either as e-book or audiobook by heading over to
0:49.4	TED.com slash generosity. Now then on to today's guest.
0:57.0	Someone whose life was profoundly impacted by the discovery of an ageold tradition rooted in generosity.
1:03.8	John Sweeney is the visionary behind the suspended coffees movement,
1:08.3	which has spread kindness among strangers around the world.
1:11.8	And remarkably, he felt moved to spread kindness despite or maybe even
1:17.2	partly because of experiencing cruelty in his youth. I can't wait to introduce you to him. Ever wish you could look around the corner to make sense of today's big business and social issues and prepare for what's coming tomorrow?
1:40.0	Dozens of podcasts promise to bring you the latest news and the latest trends. But where's the so what? Why does it matter? And what does it all mean for you?
	...

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