Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel

Rituals work. They help us make meaning, process transition, and connect with each other. That’s why we’ve been doing them for more than 300,000 years. So why, in this century, have we largely abandoned them? 

This week, bestselling author, repeat Hello Monday guest, and longtime friend Bruce Feiler joins us in the studio to talk about his new book, A Time to Gather: How Ritual Created the World and How It Can Save Us. Bruce traveled to 16 countries on six continents to explore why ritual matters and identify how we can bring it back into our everyday lives.

In this episode:

Why ritual is the original human algorithm and why we've abandoned it

The difference between self-care and group care, and why the latter matters so much

The rise of new rituals: cancer-versaries, sober-versaries, infertility ceremonies, and divorce parties

Why funerals are disappearing, and what we're losing when they do

A live ritual design class: Bruce walks Jessi through building one for her daughter's preschool graduation

The three things every ritual needs: a beginning, a middle, and an end

From "rites of passage" to "bites of passage": why small, frequent moments of connection matter as much as the big ones

Virtual vs. ritual: why 2026 feels like the year we're choosing to come back together in person

Follow Jessi Hempel and Bruce Feiler on LinkedIn. And let us know how you’re incorporating ritual into your own life.

You might think the biggest, most prestigious job is always the right career move. Patty Stonesifer — founding CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and an early Amazon board member — says that’s exactly the wrong way to decide what to do next. So what should guide your career? In this special episode from WorkLife with Molly Graham, Patty shares the nine-word personal mission statement she’s used for decades to filter opportunities, turn down what doesn’t fit, and speak up for what matters. Patty shares how you can write your own, and even coaches Molly through creating hers in real time.WorkLife is a podcast from TED where host and company builder Molly Graham and her expert guests talk through the messy feelings we all experience at work. Ambition and failure, joy and burnout, confidence and self-doubt — this show digs into it all to help you build a career without losing yourself.

Listen now: https://link.mgln.ai/7r9KAe

We talk a lot about what technology is doing to our minds. But what about everything below the neck? This week, Jessi is joined by Manoush Zomorodi, host of NPR's TED Radio Hour and author of Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age, and New Science to Reclaim Your Wellbeing. Unfortunately, a killer workout or a standing desk won’t save us from the long-term health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle. But five minutes of gentle movement every half hour could. In fact, Manoush helped run a clinical trial with 23,000 people to prove it.

Jessi and Manoush discuss:

Why sitting all day drains your energy even when you haven't done anything

The Columbia study that got 23,000 people moving, and what it proved

Why standing desks aren't actually the fix we thought they were

The "garden hose" model of what happens to your arteries when you sit or stand too long

How people can restructure their workdays (and their calendars) to make movement stick

What "information athletes" can learn from dancers, musicians, and pilots

The shift from screen-shaming to something kinder and more practical

This one might make you want to stand up and take a lap while listening. That's kind of the point.

Follow Manoush Zomorodi and Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn.

Work has always been demanding, but lately, it feels like the ground is constantly shifting. Business is moving faster, projects disappear overnight, expectations change without warning. Under pressure, teams see more tension and uncomfortable moments. So how do you stay steady through these times and even use workplace tensions to grow and improve?

This week on Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel talks with Aiko Bethea, leadership coach and author of Anchored, Aligned, Accountable: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives.

Aiko’s book comes with a forward from Brené Brown, and offers a road-tested framework for navigating modern work with more clarity and intention. Instead of looking outward for stability, she argues that the real work starts within: understanding your values, recognizing your impact, and reclaiming your sense of agency.

In this conversation, Jessi and Aiko discuss:

Why work feels more chaotic than ever

What it really means to be “anchored” in your values—and why most of us get this wrong

How to align your decisions and behavior with what actually matters to you

A more generous, effective way to think about accountability (hint: it’s not about blame)

The many forms of power operating inside organizations

Why curiosity is the key to better leadership and stronger relationships

How to stop waiting for external conditions to improve and start creating your own stability

This episode is for anyone looking for a way to regain clarity, ownership, and direction in the middle of constant change.

Follow Aiko Bethea and Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn.

Work can feel a little surreal. Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat makes that feeling literal.

In this episode of Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel sits down with Lee Eisenberg, writer and co-creator of the Jury Duty franchise, and Nick Hatton, executive producer, to talk about the hit series. The show’s premise is simple but radical: one real person dropped into a completely staged world, surrounded by actors. In Company Retreat, that world is the workplace. Specifically, a hot sauce company navigating a looming acquisition in the midst of their annual retreat. 

Beneath the comedy, the show lands because it feels real.

Lee has built his career capturing the nuances of human behavior at work, spending 5 years in the writer’s room for The Office before co-creating Jury Duty. Nick, too, has built a career in comedy, with past producing credits such as Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm and This Is America. 

In this conversation, they unpack how they recreate workplace dynamics so convincingly, why audiences connect so deeply with these stories, and what the show reveals about modern work culture.

Jessi, Lee, and Nick discuss:

The "David vs. Goliath" design behind Company Retreat and why Anthony was cast as the lowest rung on the corporate ladder

How the show argues that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary decency when given the right environment

The unexpected discovery that many of their casting candidates were gig workers, and what that says about the modern economy

The ethics and mechanics of "laying breadcrumbs" for their hero without compromising his free will

Their fears and cautious hopes about AI's impact on the entertainment industry and the future of meaningful work

Follow Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn