Science & Technology

An Ethicist’s Guide to Living a Good Life | Ira Bedzow | TED

Published

1 year ago

April 8, 2025

It’s easy to say you have values — but how can you actually put them into action? Ethicist and rabbi Ira Bedzow helps people wrestle with this big question so they can navigate life with a sense of meaning and direction. He sits down with Shoshana Ungerleider, physician and host of the “TED Health” podcast, to discuss why you may have more than one singular purpose, how to define success on your own terms and the role of community in a fulfilling life. (Recorded at TEDNext 2024 on October 23, 2024)

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Related Topics:Culture emotions ethics featured Identity Personal Growth Relationships socity TED TED Talk TED Talks TEDTalk TEDTalks Work work-life balance

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20 Comments

@Emily-z8z4g

April 8, 2025 at 7:01 am

Your channel has become a source of inspiration for me. Thank you for interesting topics and quality execution.👆💥🚖

Reply
@Olivia-r5s4b

April 8, 2025 at 7:03 am

Thanks for the video. I really appreciate your work.
🧡 ( ♣️

Reply
@sooma-ai

April 8, 2025 at 7:11 am

Ethicist Ira Bedzow discusses strategies for living a purposeful life, redefining success, combating burnout, and the importance of community. He emphasizes intentional living, self-reflection, and actively seeking meaning rather than passively waiting for it.

Reply
@BatBrakesBones

April 8, 2025 at 7:41 am

Same thing I’m doing now but more of it need good promotion. Need good promotion

Reply
@fraac

April 8, 2025 at 7:56 am

Where does he stand on Israel?

Reply
- @SkyGravity137
  
  April 8, 2025 at 8:23 am
  
  I doubt his ethics would dare conflict with his complicity. He probably still eats meat too.
  
  Reply
- @Ninja9JKD
  
  April 8, 2025 at 8:56 am
  
  My question exactly. What does this Rabi Ira think of the genocide being conducted by Israel???
  
  Reply
- @henrietta9206
  
  April 8, 2025 at 11:20 am
  
  What do you think.
  
  Reply
- @jmsl_910
  
  April 8, 2025 at 11:24 am
  
  @@SkyGravity137jewish people can eat meat. some jewish people only eat kosher certified meat
  
  some jewish people choose not to eat shellfish bc it’s not kosher.
  
  Reply
- @ocramocram1
  
  April 8, 2025 at 1:39 pm
  
  Probably on the correct side.
  
  Reply
- @fraac
  
  April 8, 2025 at 2:52 pm
  
  @@henrietta9206lot of jews are against it. but i don’t know any without an opinion
  
  Reply
@DominionAnako-bb7ry

April 8, 2025 at 8:04 am

Beautiful message ❤️ 💖 💕

Reply
@harrypearle9781

April 8, 2025 at 10:17 am

SHA (LO) M = SHAM LO, His Name
I once pulled out the middle of SHALOM, as His and combining the rest as SHAM, name.
Era mentions SHARING CREDIT. Can we mention the names of others (& HaShem)
========= I think SHARING CREDIT might help us be more HUMBLE ===========

Reply
@VidSkipperAI

April 8, 2025 at 10:49 pm

*_TIMESTAMPS_* & Summary: An ethicist explains how to live a good life by defining purpose, redefining success, and addressing burnout through intentional living, emphasizing the importance of values, community, and active exploration of meaning.
0:04 🤔 Defining Ethics and Purpose
• Professor Ira Bedzow helps people navigate ethical challenges and turn values into action.
• He defines ethics as helping people make decisions based on who they want to be and what they care about, focusing on goals and strategic implementation.
• Bedzow emphasizes the importance of self-defined, long-term intentions that are meaningful and impactful, guiding decisions and providing a sense of direction.

1:49 ❓ Strategies for Clarity on Purpose
• Purpose is a self-defined, long-term intention that is meaningful and impactful.
• Bedzow suggests asking questions like “What do I want to do?” and “Do I want to want what I want?” to clarify purpose.
• He uses the cheesecake example to illustrate the importance of aligning actions with values and understanding oneself.

5:26 🏆 Redefining Success
• Success is defined as achieving goals through, not at the expense of, beliefs and values.
• Playing the game of life according to one’s skills and desires is key to a fulfilling life.
• Focus on activities and the pleasure of the pursuit, rather than possessions, to align success with continual engagement.

8:33 🤯 Addressing Burnout and Urgency Culture
• Burnout involves environmental and situational factors, not just individual responsibility.
• Distinguish between urgency and importance to manage time effectively.
• Overwork can stem from self-pressure, external pressures, or a lack of value in one’s work.

13:47 🙏 Tools for Intentional Living
• Intentional living involves using tools like questioning, prioritizing, and clarifying issues.
• The maxim “repent one day before you die” encourages daily reflection on one’s aspirational self.
• Repentance is about returning to the ideal self and giving life everything.

17:03 🤝 The Role of Community
• Community and relationships play a crucial role in a fulfilling life.
• Culture is made up of individual behaviors, so changing individual behaviors can change culture.
• Sharing successes and credit fosters a positive-sum game, making community more important.

19:44 🗣️ Experiential Activity: Reframing Introductions
• Introducing oneself through activities and values provides more insight than simply stating roles.
• This approach reminds individuals of their core values and what they care about.
• The activity encourages openness and deeper sharing among individuals.

23:40 🌟 Finding Meaning Actively
• Meaning is an active, exploratory, and creative endeavor, not a passive one.
• Trying new ideas and actions is like trying on clothes to see if they fit.
• This approach allows for better choices and the ability to squeeze meaning out of life.

** Generated using ✨ *_VidSkipper AI_* Chrome Extension

Reply
@Ram5g1

April 9, 2025 at 12:52 am

bahut badhiya🎉🎉🎉🎉

Reply
@gofeeder2326

April 10, 2025 at 7:03 am

I love ted videos.

Reply
@erin88888

April 10, 2025 at 11:49 am

we need a leena and material grrrlz collab please!!

Reply
@koubbiali8588

April 10, 2025 at 4:08 pm

I’m 2025🎉 0:13

Reply
@miguelsuarez-solis5027

April 11, 2025 at 10:59 am

So he’s not an ethicist… nothing he’s talking about has anything to do with ethics

Reply
@Anonymouslyyourstruly

April 11, 2025 at 5:36 pm

Get the latest episode hereon

Reply

Science & Technology

The VC Backing the American Dream with Manan Mehta, Unshackled Ventures

Immigrant founders have built some of the world’s most valuable companies, but many still face barriers that make it harder to get a startup off the ground. Visa restrictions, limited access to friends-and-family capital, shallow networks, and a venture industry built around pattern matching can keep promising founders from getting funded before they have a…

Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

In this episode of Build Mode () , host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Manan Mehta, co-founder and managing partner of Unshackled Ventures, () to talk about why he believes immigrant founders represent one of venture capital’s biggest overlooked opportunities. Manan breaks down how Unshackled built an investment model designed to help founders navigate immigration barriers, why traditional VC pattern matching causes investors to miss potential outliers, and how his team evaluates founders at day zero—often before they have a product, customers, or traction. He also explains why the structural gaps that make some founders harder to fund may be exactly where investors should be looking for outsized returns.

They get into:

•

The four structural barriers immigrant founders face when starting companies in the U.S.

•

How Unshackled Ventures helps founders navigate visas while building their startups

•

Why VC’s reliance on pattern matching can cause investors to miss outlier founders

•

How Manan evaluates founders before they have a product, customers, or traction

•

The IQ, AQ, EQ, and SQ framework Unshackled uses to evaluate founder potential

•

Why resilience, lived experience, and a founder’s relationship to the problem can matter more than a polished pitch

•

Why structural gaps can create some of the biggest opportunities for investors

•

How founders without traditional networks can find alternative paths to early capital

•

Why founders should understand their personal “why” instead of trying to fit the traditional VC mold

Subscribe to Build Mode on Apple Podcasts () , Spotify () , or wherever you like to listen () . And watch the full videos on YouTube () . New episodes of Build Mode () drop every Thursday.

Chapters:

00:00 – Why VCs Miss Outlier Founders

01:45 – Why Manan Mehta Founded Unshackled Ventures

04:15 – The Problem With VC Pattern Matching

06:15 – The Friends-and-Family Gap for Immigrant Founders

08:18 – How Unshackled Helps Founders Navigate Visas

10:40 – Building a Startup in Today’s Immigration Environment

12:19 – Solving One of Unshackled’s Hardest Immigration Cases

14:39 – What the U.S. Stands to Lose16:59 – Raising Unshackled’s First Venture Funds

19:40 – Can You Start a Company on an H-1B Visa?

22:13 – How to Evaluate a Founder at Day Zero

28:30 – Measuring IQ, AQ, EQ, and SQ

30:26 – How Fear Drives VC Pattern Matching

33:01 – Why Structural Gaps Create Outlier Opportunities

35:14 – Finding Startup Capital Outside Traditional VC

38:09 – Why Founders Need to Understand Their “Why”

Hosted by Isabelle Johannesen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

Science & Technology

The High Risk, High Reward Model of Backing Immigrant Founders l Build Mode

Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

In this episode of Build Mode, host Isabelle Johannesen sits down with Manan Mehta, co-founder and managing partner of Unshackled Ventures, to talk about why he believes immigrant founders represent one of venture capital’s biggest overlooked opportunities. Manan breaks down how Unshackled built an investment model designed to help founders navigate immigration barriers, why traditional VC pattern matching causes investors to miss potential outliers, and how his team evaluates founders at day zero—often before they have a product, customers, or traction. He also explains why the structural gaps that make some founders harder to fund may be exactly where investors should be looking for outsized returns.

Subscribe to Build Mode:
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Wherever you like to listen
New episodes of Build Mode drop every Thursday.

Chapters:
00:00 – Why VCs Miss Outlier Founders
01:45 – Why Manan Mehta Founded Unshackled Ventures
04:15 – The Problem With VC Pattern Matching
06:15 – The Friends-and-Family Gap for Immigrant Founders
08:18 – How Unshackled Helps Founders Navigate Visas
10:40 – Building a Startup in Today’s Immigration Environment
12:19 – Solving One of Unshackled’s Hardest Immigration Cases
14:39 – What the U.S. Stands to Lose
16:59 – Raising Unshackled’s First Venture Funds
19:40 – Can You Start a Company on an H-1B Visa?
22:13 – How to Evaluate a Founder at Day Zero
28:30 – Measuring IQ, AQ, EQ, and SQ
30:26 – How Fear Drives VC Pattern Matching
33:01 – Why Structural Gaps Create Outlier Opportunities
35:14 – Finding Startup Capital Outside Traditional VC
38:09 – Why Founders Need to Understand Their “Why”

Hosted by Isabelle Johannesen. Produced and edited by Maggie Nye. Audience development led by Morgan Little. Special thanks to the Foundry and Cheddar video teams.

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Hands-on With Google’s New Pixel 11 Devices

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Published

1 day ago

August 13, 2026

CYBER TECH TV

Get a hands-on look at Google’s new Pixel 11 lineup, from the more durable Pro Fold, an updated new camera bar, and of course, a push for Gemini AI features.