How to love your complicated family (w/ Ashley C. Ford)
How to Be a Better Human
TED
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 August 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What parts of yourself did you lose as you grew up? This is one of the central questions asked in Ashley C. Ford’s memoir, Somebody’s Daughter. Ashley joins Chris to talk about growing up with an incarcerated father, grappling with a complicated relationship with her mother, and how writing can be a way of processing and understanding your life. They also discussed why adults become less kind to kids, how libraries can become safezones, and how to confront the messy parts of childhood.
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Host: Chris Duffy (Instagram: @chrisiduffy | chrisduffycomedy.com)
Guest: Ashley C. Ford (Instagram: @smashfizzle | Website: ashleycford.net/)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, it's Adam Grant from Worklife, a podcast from TED. |
| 0:05.3 | This episode is brought to you by FreshWorks. |
| 0:08.0 | FreshWorks believes the complexity is the enemy of efficiency. |
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| 0:42.3 | Hello, this is Jesse and Lenny from Tablemanors podcast and we are sponsored by Akado. So, Mom, do you know what's been a huge help to me lately? |
| 0:46.7 | What, darling? Well, Akado. Live can be very, very hectic and Akado just makes everything |
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| 1:22.0 | plus charges apply. Terms at Arcado.com. Life doesn't come with an instruction manual, |
| 1:28.9 | but the Life Kit podcast gets you pretty close. |
| 1:31.7 | We've got your back on all the things they forgot to teach you in school, |
| 1:34.9 | like how to tackle your debt, save money when you're broke, |
| 1:38.0 | and invest your money. |
... |
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