npr TED Radio Hour

THIS WEEK ON TED.COM APRIL 23, 2016

TALK OF THE WEEK Juan Enriquez: We can reprogram life. How to do it wisely  14:49 minutes · Filmed Nov 2015 · Posted Apr 2016 · TED Talks Live For four billion years, what lived and died on Earth depended on two principles: natural selection and random mutation. Then humans came along and changed everything — hybridizing plants, breeding animals, altering the environment and even purposefully evolving ourselves. Juan Enriquez provides five guidelines for a future where this ability to program life rapidly accelerates. "This is the single most exciting adventure human beings have been on," Enriquez says. "This is the single greatest superpower humans have ever had." Watch now »

PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK Talks to make you feel good about getting older Along with the extra candles on the birthday cake, you might notice a little extra wisdom. Remind yourself of the benefits that come with age. Watch Â» 6 TED Talks • Total run time 1:07:47

MORE FROM THIS WEEK'S TED TALKS As different as we humans are from one another, we all age along the same great sequence, and the shared patterns of our lives pass into the pages of the books we love. In this moving talk, journalist Joshua Prager explores the stages of life through quotations from Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, William Trevor and other great writers, set to visualizations by graphic designer Milton Glaser. "Books tell us who we've been, who we are, who we will be, too," Prager says. Watch Â» What would you do if your job was to save the planet? When Christiana Figueres was tapped by the UN to lead the Paris climate conference (COP 21) in December 2015, she reacted the way many people would: she thought it would be impossible to bring the leaders of 195 countries into agreement on how to slow climate change. Find out how she turned her skepticism into optimism -- and helped the world achieve the most important climate agreement in history. Watch Â» It's true: talking about menstruation makes many people uncomfortable. And that taboo has consequences: in India, three out of every 10 girls don't even know what menstruation is at the time of their first period, and restrictive customs related to periods inflict psychological damage on young girls. Growing up with this taboo herself, Aditi Gupta knew she wanted to help girls, parents and teachers talk about periods comfortably and without shame. She shares how she did it. Watch Â» What happens when you discover a dinosaur? Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara details his unearthing of Dreadnoughtus -- a 77-million-year-old sauropod that was as tall as a two-story house and as heavy as a jumbo jet -- and considers how amazingly improbable it is that a tiny mammal living in the cracks of the dinosaur world could evolve into a sentient being capable of understanding these magnificent creatures. Join him in a celebration of the Earth's geological history and contemplate our place in deep time. Watch Â»

READ MORE ON IDEAS.TED.COM Design: Why a great logo sometimes makes you think twice Â» Wisdom from graphic designer Milton Glaser  Biology: A newly drawn Tree of Life has a whole new branch » Explore this dramatic reshaping of life on Earth  Secrets: Do you have a great story you can't tell anyone? » Be part of a pilot for TED's new audio podcast: "Sincerely, X"    A VERY SPECIAL TED TALK FROM OUR OWN CHRIS ANDERSON TED's secret to great public speaking There's no single formula for a great talk, but there is a secret ingredient that all the best ones have in common. TED Curator Chris Anderson shares this secret — along with four ways to make it work for you. Do you have what it takes to share an idea worth spreading? Watch Â»

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “ We've been doing this for thousands of years: breeding, changing, mixing, matching all kinds of life-forms. This is not something new. The humble mustard weed has been modified so that if you change it in one way, you get broccoli. And if you change it in a second way, you get kale. And if you change it in a third way, you get cauliflower. So when you go to these all-natural, organic markets, you're really going to a place where people have been changing the lifecode of plants for a long time." Juan Enriquez We can reprogram life. How to do it wisely

BEYOND TOLERANCE Most of us were raised to believe that tolerance is a good thing, but is it enough? TED speakers Arthur Brooks, Vernā Myers, Aspen Baker and Aziz Abu Sara talk about how to move beyond tolerance to a place of deeper understanding, on the newest TED Radio Hour Â»