logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2025
19m 40s

(#10) Elise’s Top Ten: What almost dying...

TED
About this episode

"The hardest part of my cancer experience began once the cancer was gone," says author Suleika Jaouad. In this fierce, funny, wisdom-packed talk, she challenges us to think beyond the divide between "sick" and "well," asking: How do you begin again and find meaning after life is interrupted?



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
How to use tech to outsmart dictators | Leopoldo López
In seven years as a political prisoner in Venezuela, activist Leopoldo López kept asking one question: Who holds the keys to freedom? Now the leader of an alliance of dissidents and exiles from more than 60 countries, he makes the case that open-source, decentralized technology c ... Show More
21m 42s
Sep 16
Campaigns spend millions to influence voters. This works better | Katie Paris
Katie Paris quit her career in Washington, DC, to figure out how to make politics feel less like strangers shouting at each other and more like friends looking out for each other. In this practical talk, she reveals why conversations between real people can have a bigger impact o ... Show More
13m 22s
Sep 15
The wiggly wonder of music | Jacob Collier
Grammy-winning musician Jacob Collier has a name for the feeling that moves through a great piece of music: the wiggle. Watch him break down the idea into its three parts — melody, rhythm and harmony — with nothing but his own voice, a grand piano and Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wo ... Show More
12m 39s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2025
(#10) Elise’s Top Ten: What almost dying taught me about living | Suleika Jaouad
"The hardest part of my cancer experience began once the cancer was gone," says author Suleika Jaouad. In this fierce, funny, wisdom-packed talk, she challenges us to think beyond the divide between "sick" and "well," asking: How do you begin again and find meaning after life is ... Show More
19m 40s
Apr 2025
Living Through Grief, Finding Wonder, and Becoming Whole Again | Suleika Jaouad
tail spinning
59m 34s
Jun 2023
How to Embrace Uncertainty with Suleika Jaoaud
When Suleika Jaouad received a devastating leukemia diagnosis at the age of 22, her life took a very unexpected turn into adulthood. Viewing her long hospital stay from the lens of a journalist, Suleika began a daily diary, ultimately fashioning her own reflective world. Through ... Show More
1h 8m
Mar 2024
Suleika Jaouad
New York Times bestselling author and journalist Suleika Jaouad began writing her Emmy Award-winning column, “Life, Interrupted,” from her hospital room, chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer. She joins to discuss her remarkable life, career, and bestselling me ... Show More
1h 23m
May 2024
132. Suleika Jaouad’s Survival Mechanisms
<p>Suleika Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer at 22. She made her illness the subject of a <i>New York Times</i> column and a memoir, <i>Between Two Kingdoms.</i> She and Steve talk about what it means to live with a potentially fatal illness, how to talk to people who've gone thro ... Show More
1h 4m
Aug 2024
Best of Design Matters: Suleika Jaouad
New York Times bestselling author and journalist Suleika Jaouad began writing her Emmy Award-winning column, “Life, Interrupted,” from her hospital room, chronicling her experiences as a young adult with cancer. She joins to discuss her remarkable life, career, and bestselling me ... Show More
1h 23m
Nov 2021
Suleika Jaouad On Working Through Isolation And Life's Interruptions
Writer Suleika Jaouad has made a career out of covering folks living in the 'in between' spaces — starting with herself. Diagnosed with leukemia at 22, she embraced writing as a way to regain narrative control of her life. She shares lessons on making peace with uncertainty and t ... Show More
20m 6s
Apr 2025
437 - How to Heal When Everything Falls Apart
What do you do when life falls apart? In this powerful conversation, Suleika Jaouad shares how journaling, creativity, and community helped her survive cancer, heartbreak, and uncertainty - and build a life of purpose and beauty. You'll learn how to transform pain into power, rew ... Show More
1h 25m
Jan 2024
Survival Is A Creative Act: Suleika Jaouad’s American Symphony of Contrast—Cancer, Art, Music, & Life
What do you do when the power goes out? You improvise and turn it into a creative act. At the age of 22, confronted with a leukemia diagnosis amid the tumult beyond her control, Suleika Jaouad made a profound decision to embrace the art of journaling. Deliberately opting to disti ... Show More
1h 55m