ReThinking: Matt Damon on solving one of the planet’s biggest problems, in partnership with Gary White
Worklife with Molly Graham
TED
4.8 • 9.4K Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Matt Damon is best known as the Hollywood icon from movies like Good Will Hunting and The Martian, but he has another passion offscreen: ensuring access to clean, safe water around the world. When he met social entrepreneur Gary White in 2008, they realized they could combine their efforts to reach more people and created water.org, which Gary leads as CEO. In this episode, Adam sits down with Matt and Gary at the World Economic Forum in Davos to talk about their innovative approach to problem-solving, handling rejection in high-stakes work environments, and Matt’s knack for forging strong partnerships. Adam also invites the two to office hours to tackle one of their ongoing challenges.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the worst career advice you've ever gotten. |
| 0:02.5 | Well, I don't know if it's the worst, |
| 0:03.7 | but I do love telling the story |
| 0:04.9 | about my father reading the script of Goodwill Hunting and telling me that the line, How Do You Like Them Apples, would never work. He told me to take it out of the script. Your father told you to cut the most iconic line of the movie? He rests in peace. And after the movie came out, he said, Matthew, don't ever give me a script to read again. |
| 0:22.9 | That was a great rethinking moment for him. rest in peace. And after the movie came out, he said, Matthew, don't ever give me a script to read again. |
| 0:22.9 | That was a great rethinking moment for him. |
| 0:24.9 | Yeah. |
| 0:27.7 | Hey, everyone, it's Adam Graham. |
| 0:29.6 | Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with Ted on the Science of What Makes Us Tick. |
| 0:34.2 | I'm an organizational psychologist, |
| 0:36.1 | and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating |
| 0:38.0 | people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking. |
| 0:45.3 | Matt Damon is a Hollywood icon. From the born identity in Ocean's Eleven series, to the talented |
| 0:50.6 | Mr. Ripley, to the Martian and Interstellar, it's hard to pick a favorite performance, |
| 0:55.2 | though for me, nothing can top Goodwill hunting. |
| 0:58.1 | But off-screen, Matt has another passion, |
| 1:00.8 | to ensure access to clean, safe water around the world. |
| 1:04.3 | When he met social entrepreneur Gary White in 2008, |
| 1:07.3 | they realized they could combine their influence and expertise |
| 1:09.5 | to reach even more people. |
| 1:11.5 | Their joint efforts created water.org, which Gary leads as CEO, |
| 1:15.0 | and the pair have been working together on this issue ever since. |
... |
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