ReThinking: Permission to play with Jacob Collier

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

Management, Worklife Podcast, Worklife With Adam Grant, Work Life Balance, Ted Talks, Podcast About Work Life, Ted Adam Grant, Adam Grant Podcasts, Ted Podcasts, Adam Grant, Organizational Psychologist, Business

4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 October 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jacob Collier is a Grammy-winning musician, an exceptional teacher and communicator, and a rousing innovator onstage. Jacob joins Adam in front of a live audience at TED to give an interactive performance and share his perspective on audience participation, his insights on communication, and his unconventional approach to making music that defies genre. They also discuss Jacob’s strategy for dealing with hecklers, his “harmonically irresponsible” covers of popular songs, and the innate human desire to wiggle.

Host & Guest

Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: https://adamgrant.net/)

Guest: Jacob Collier (Instagram: @jacobcollier | YouTube: @JacobCollier | Website: https://www.jacobcollier.com/)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, TED Podcast listeners. It's Elise Hugh here from TED Talks Daily. Thanks for making our
0:05.6	podcasts part of your routine. We really appreciate it and we want to make your favorite TED podcasts
0:10.8	even better. We put together a quick survey and we'd love to hear from you. It only takes a few
0:16.9	minutes but it helps us shape our shows and get to know you, our listeners, way better.
0:22.2	Head to the episode description to find the link. Thank you again for listening and for taking
0:27.1	the time to help our shows.
0:45.2	You're listening to The P is played by Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, and educator, Jacob Collier.
0:52.0	He's about to do something really special he does with live audiences, and in this case, for podcast audiences too.
0:56.2	You want to sing? You ready to sing? Yeah.
1:16.3	La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la i invited jacob to join me on stage for a live recording of rethinking at TED headquarters in New York.
1:21.1	In front of an intimate audience, he got to showcase his favorite way to engage the room.
1:27.2	With his call and response, he invited us all to experience the power of making music for ourselves too. Oh Oh Oh Oh
1:45.0	Oh
1:47.0	Oh Hey, everyone, it's Adam Grant.
2:09.0	Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast with TED on the science of what makes us tick.
2:13.4	I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating people
2:17.9	to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
2:21.6	So that crowd singing with Jacob at TED, maybe you could tell we're not exactly pros.
2:27.3	But in the moment, Jacob transformed the whole audience into a quiet.
2:31.2	I've been a fan of Jacob since I first came across his work. He's a true innovator on stage and in studio.
2:37.0	And these audience choirs he improvises during big concerts all around the world
2:42.0	might be my favorite thing he does, so I had to ask him about it. So I have so many questions. I have so many questions.
	...

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