Overcoming status anxiety with Alain de Botton and RaQuel Hopkins
ReThinking
TED
4.7 • 626 Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Alain de Botton is a philosopher, bestselling author, and cofounder of The School of Life, known for his fearless engagement with the complexity of human existence. In this special episode, Adam co-hosts alongside former guest RaQuel Hopkins, a therapist, social media star, and fan of Alain’s work. They discuss the roots of and remedies for status anxiety. They also discuss the loneliness and dissatisfaction that many people experience in the quest for happiness and examine how we’ve lost the plot on therapy.
Host & Guest
Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)
Alain de Botton (Website: https://www.alaindebotton.com/)
RaQuel Hopkins (Instagram: @raquel_the_capacity_expert)
Link
Follow The School of Life (Instagram: @theschooloflifelondon | Youtube: @theschooloflifetv | Website: https://www.theschooloflife.com/)
Follow TED!
X: https://www.twitter.com/TEDTalks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ted
Facebook: https://facebook.com/TED
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ted-conferences
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tedtoks
Podcasts: https://www.ted.com/podcasts
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.
For the full text transcript, visit ted.com/podcasts/rethinking-with-adam-grant-transcripts
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Want to make a real difference this giving season? |
| 0:05.0 | We've got you covered. |
| 0:06.5 | We're joining Pods Fight Poverty, |
| 0:08.7 | teaming up with dozens of podcasts to do something big, |
| 0:11.8 | live three entire villages in Rwanda out of extreme poverty. |
| 0:15.8 | Podcasts bring us together, and now we're turning that connection into action. |
| 0:19.8 | You listen, you give, and together |
| 0:22.0 | we create impact bigger than anyone's show could on its own. Your donation will be delivered by |
| 0:27.3 | give directly as cash straight into the hands of families in need, no strings attached, no middlemen. |
| 0:33.4 | And with the giving multiplier boosting gifts from new donors with matching funds, our collective effort goes even further. |
| 0:39.7 | This holiday season, let's make a difference for those who need it most. |
| 0:43.5 | We're shooting for a million dollars raised before the end of the year, |
| 0:46.6 | which will lift over 700 families out of poverty. |
| 0:49.8 | Visit givedirectly.org slash rethinking to join Pods Fight Poverty. |
| 0:54.0 | That's givedirectly.org slash rethinking to join Pods Fight Poverty. That's give directly.org slash rethinking. |
| 1:01.8 | If you're going to be an elitist, please could you be an elitist about the really |
| 1:05.8 | important things, you know, which is, is someone kind? |
| 1:09.1 | Is someone nice? |
| 1:10.4 | Is their soul open? |
| 1:12.0 | Are they thoughtful? |
| 1:13.1 | And maybe we can afford to pass judgment, as it were, on where people are according |
| 1:19.4 | to this scale of values. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

