The shocking power of tiny things
Episode of TED Radio Hour · October 9, 2026 · 50 min
Manoush Zomorodi and TED speakers Anne Madden, Lera Boroditsky, YeYoon Kim and Bart Weetjens explore how tiny things—microbes, words, moments, rats—wield outsized power.
Summary
This TED Radio Hour episode, hosted by Manoush Zomorodi and themed "Small But Mighty," examined minuscule or fleeting forces with large effects. Microbiologist Anne Madden described the microbial ecosystem living on human bodies and in homes, her discovery of a wasp-nest fungus, her search for novel antibiotics, and a wasp-derived yeast that made sour beer brewing faster. She argued that microbes could help solve problems from disease to plastic waste, and voiced concern about microbial extinction from habitat loss.
Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky discussed how language shapes thought, citing Aboriginal Australian communities who use cardinal directions instead of left and right, differences in how English and Spanish speakers remember accidents, color perception, and gendered pronouns. She rejected linguist John McWhorter's characterization of such effects as minor.
Former kindergarten teacher YeYoon Kim recounted a fiercely independent student, Sam, who finally asked her for help, and then her own experience as a high-functioning alcoholic who accepted help from friends and sought therapy. Finally, a 2010 TED talk by Bart Weetjens explained how his organization APOPO trains African giant pouched rats to detect landmines more cheaply than dogs.
Chapters
- 0:17
Introduction: small but mighty
Zomorodi introduces the theme of minuscule but potent forces.
- 1:00
The microbial jungle
Anne Madden describes microbes on our bodies and how a Costa Rica internship led her to microbiology.
- 6:22
Hunting for antibiotics
Madden explains how she searches for microbes that produce novel antibiotics, including gladiator tests.
- 9:02
Wasp yeast and plastic-eating microbes
Madden recounts discovering a wasp yeast that brews sour beer and discusses microbes that degrade or produce plastics.
- 14:42
Microbes after COVID and microbial extinction
Madden discusses changed attitudes toward microbes and worries about lost species, describing biobanking.
- 18:46
Language and orientation
Lera Boroditsky uses a pointing exercise and Aboriginal languages to show how language shapes cognition.
- 24:06
The debate over linguistic relativity
Boroditsky responds to critics, citing color perception, event descriptions and gendered pronouns.
- 34:04
Sam and the power of asking for help
YeYoon Kim recounts a self-reliant kindergartner who finally sought her comfort.
- 38:08
Kim's own struggle with alcohol
Kim describes burnout, high-functioning alcoholism and accepting help from friends and a therapist.
- 44:58
Rats that detect landmines
Bart Weetjens explains how APOPO trains rats to find landmines in Africa.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Anne Madden
Madden estimates scientists know only a small fraction of microbial species.
“Maybe we know 1 to 10% of what these species are”
- Anne Madden
Madden argues that the diversity of microbes in homes represents a vast source of solutions to human problems.
“It is 100,000 new sources of solutions to human problems”
- Anne Madden
Madden recounts that her pharmaceutical team found slow-growing soil microbes producing novel antibiotics, though not yet commercialized.
“these bizarre, slow-growing, tenacious little critters were creating novel antibiotics. And though they haven't been commercialized yet, we were successful in finding them”
- Anne Madden
Madden says nearly all commercial beer comes from just three microorganism species.
“all commercially produced beer you've ever had likely came from one of only three microorganism species”
- Anne Madden
Madden says the wasp-derived yeast makes sour beer in weeks and its use is now commonplace.
“make a sour beer in record time, just a few weeks”
- Anne Madden
Madden predicts microbes will solve more human problems over the next century.
“the next 100 years will feature these microscopic creatures solving more of our problems”
- Anne Madden
Madden says scientists have already found microbes adept at breaking down even long-lasting plastics, and AI is being used to enhance their enzymes.
“scientists have already found microbes that are incredibly adept at breaking down plastics, even the plastics that seem to last forever”
- Anne Madden
Madden worries about microbes lost to extinction through habitat destruction such as clear-cutting forests.
“what keeps me up at night sometimes is thinking about all the microbes that have gone extinct”
- Lera Boroditsky
Boroditsky argues it would be surprising if constantly speaking a language had no influence on the brain.
“it would be, in fact, the most surprising thing that the thing that you do all day, every day, this practice of speaking language would have no influence on your brain”
- Lera Boroditsky
Boroditsky attributes renewed interest in linguistic relativity to the adoption of experimental methods.
“we've started using experimental methods, like real scientific experimental methods, rather than just arguing back and forth about our intuitions”
- Lera Boroditsky
Boroditsky argues that language effects on early color perception imply influence on downstream cognition, rebutting McWhorter.
“if it can influence something very early, that means it's influencing all of the other things downstream”
- Lera Boroditsky
Boroditsky says English and Spanish speakers remember different aspects of accidents, with implications for eyewitness testimony.
“two people watch the same event, witness the same crime, but end up remembering different things about that event”
- Lera Boroditsky
Boroditsky reports that Finnish-learning children take about an extra year to classify themselves by gender compared with Hebrew learners.
“Finnish kids take about a year, an extra year before they can reliably classify themselves with boys or girls”
- YeYoon Kim
Kim describes herself in retrospect as a high-functioning alcoholic whose blackouts should have signaled a need for help.
“Now I know that I was a very high-functioning alcoholic. a sign that should have told me you should seek help was that I would often have blackouts”
- YeYoon Kim
Kim says sharing her story publicly led many people to ask her for advice on therapy, noting therapy remains taboo in Asian contexts.
“especially from the Asian context where going to therapy is still very taboo”
- YeYoon Kim
Kim argues that asking for help is an act of giving power to the helper.
“It's really just a four-letter word, help. But when you say it, it's powerful”
Linked moment · 46:58Skip to 46:58 using a listen link in the info box.
Bart WeetjensWeetjens says APOPO can train rats at a fifth of the cost of a demining dog.
“We can train rats at a fifth of the price of a trained demining dog”
- Bart Weetjens
Weetjens says rats are exceptionally suited to detection because of their olfactory genetics.
“Rats have more genetic material allocated to olfaction than any other mammal species”
People
In the conversation
- Manoush ZomorodiHost of NPR's TED Radio Hour
- Anne MaddenMicrobiologist and founder and chief scientist of the Microbe Institute
- Lera BoroditskyCognitive scientist and professor at the University of California, San Diego
- YeYoon KimFormer kindergarten teacher and nonprofit volunteer manager
- Bart WeetjensIndustrial engineer, Zen Buddhist monk and founder of APOPO
Discussed
- John McWhorterAmerican linguist and critic of strong linguistic relativity claims
- Diana, Princess of WalesCharles III's first wife
Topics
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From the publisher
You don't need to be big and boisterous to pack a punch. This hour, TED speakers explore the surprising strength of all things minuscule and fleeting. Guests include microbiologist Anne Madden, cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky, former educator YeYoon Kim and former industrial engineer and Zen Buddhist monk Bart Weetjens. Original broadcast date: February 24, 2023. Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on November 8, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.