TED Radio Hour

As part of our latest episode, "Framing the Story", filmmaker Andrew Stanton talked with Guy Raz about what makes a good story, why some people tell bad ones, and how stories help us make meaning of our lives. There was a lot of good stuff we couldn't fit in the final cut of the show, so we've included it here.

Stories ignite our imagination, let us leap over cultural walls and cross the barriers of time. Stories affirm who we are, and allow us to experience the similarities between ourselves and others, real or imagined. Stories help us make meaning of our lives. In this hour, TED speakers talk with Guy Raz about the art of storytelling, and how good stories have the power to transform our perceptions of the world. Novelist Tracy Chevalier explains how she discovers a compelling story from inside a painting. Graphic designer Chip Kidd creates “visual haikus” — book covers that, in a single image, tell the story inside. Writer Chimamanda Adichie warns that if we hear only a single story about another person, we risk a critical misunderstanding. And filmmaker Andrew Stanton says good storytelling is starting at the end and working back to the beginning.

Here's a preview of our next episode, available Friday, June 7.

Memory is malleable, dynamic and elusive. When we tap into our memories, where is the line between fact and fiction? How does our memory play tricks on us, and how can we train it to be more accurate? In this hour, TED speakers discuss how a nimble memory can improve your life, and how a frail memory might ruin someone else's. Forensic psychologist Scott Fraser argues that in a criminal trial, even close-up eyewitnesses can create "memories" they may not have seen. Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman explains how our experiences and our memories perceive happiness differently. Writer Joshua Foer shows how anyone can achieve amazing feats of memory, including him.