Catherine Price believes that, far from being frivolous, fun is a critical component of a fulfilling, healthy life — and she has a plan for how we can have more of it.

Why you should listen

With a background in science journalism and an unshakeable curiosity about the world, Catherine Price helps people question their assumptions, make positive changes in their lives and see mundane things (phones, vitamins) in a different, more philosophical light.

Price's latest book, The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again, combines an exploration of what fun actually is — and why it's essential — with a plan designed to help bring more of it into your life. She is also the founder of Screen/Life Balance, an online platform and global community that helps people regain control over how they spend their attention and time and, as she puts it, scroll less and live more. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Slate, Popular Science, TIME and The Washington Post Magazine, among many others, and she is the author of How to Break Up with Your Phone, Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food, Mindfulness: A Journal, 101 Places Not to See Before You Die and The Big Sur Bakery Cookbook.

Price's work has been featured in media outlets around the world, including The New York Times, the BBC, NPR, The Guardian, Wired, The Today Show, Good Morning America and CBS This Morning, among others. She's spoken in front of a wide range of companies as well as hospitals, schools and community organizations, and has had the opportunity to share her thoughts about screen/life balance and fun with the Surgeon General of the United States and Oprah Winfrey, which was extremely surreal and, yes, fun.*

*Not at the same time.

Catherine Price’s TED talks

More news and ideas from Catherine Price

Live from TED2022

Play: Notes from Session 7 of TED2022

April 13, 2022

Session 7 of TED2022 focused on play, with talks on the science behind what it really means to “have fun”, finding your personal groove through dance, the next era of video games, foraging for food in your backyard and more. The event: Talks from Session 7 of TED Fellows Talks at TED2022, hosted by TED’s […]

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