Margaret Atwood on what AI can’t replace
ReThinking
TED
4.7 • 626 Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Margaret Atwood is best known as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale, and she’s won a slew of awards for her novels, poetry collections, and children’s books. Now, at the age of 86, she’s written her first memoir, The Book of Lives. In this episode, Adam and Margaret break down her perspective on what creative jobs AI will and won’t threaten and discuss the evidence on the benefits of reading banned books. They also muse about why heroes need monsters and what it means to be delightfully disagreeable.
Host & Guest
Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)
Margaret Atwood (Instagram: @therealmargaretatwood | Website: https://margaretatwood.ca/)
Links
https://margaretatwood.substack.com/
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ReThinking is produced by Cosmic Standard. Our Senior Producer is Jessica Glazer, our Engineer is Aja Simpson, our Technical Director is Jacob Winik, and our Executive Producer is Eliza Smith.
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Transcript
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| 0:54.0 | That's givedirectly.org slash rethinking to join pods fight poverty. That's give directly.org |
| 0:55.4 | slash rethinking. How do you feel about having enemies? I think it's a part of life. And anyway, |
| 1:07.7 | if you didn't have any, what sort of boring person are you? |
| 1:12.9 | Hey everyone, it's Adam Grant. |
| 1:14.7 | Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with Ted on the Science of What Makes Us Tick. |
| 1:19.3 | I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people |
| 1:23.7 | to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. |
| 1:31.0 | Margaret Ackon. people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. Margaret Atwood is the author best known for The Handmaid's Tale. |
... |
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