Celeste Headlee Media LLC

Celeste Headlee is an award-winning journalist and radio host, professional speaker and author of Heard Mentality and We Need To Talk: How To Have Conversations That Matter. Celeste is an expert in human nature, reclaiming common humanity and finding well-being. She provides insight and commentary on what is good for all humans, focusing on the best research in neuro- and social science to increase understanding of how we relate with one another and can work best together in our workplaces, neighborhoods, communities and homes. In her 20-year career in public radio, Celeste has been the Executive Producer of On Second Thought at Georgia Public Radio and anchored programs including Tell Me More, Talk of the Nation, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition. She also served as co-host of the national morning news show, The Takeaway, from PRI and WNYC, and anchored presidential coverage in 2012 for PBS World Channel. Celeste’s TEDx Talk, 10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation, has been viewed over 20 million times. Close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000 events since the TED program launched in 2009. Celeste’s talk is one of the 10 most-watched talks posted on TED’s homepage. In a time when conversations are often minimized to a few words in a text message and lack of meaningful communication and dialogue abounds, she sheds a much-needed light on the lost and essential art of conversation. As a mixed-race journalist of black and Jewish descent, Celeste also speaks candidly about how to converse on race and other difficult subjects. Celeste serves as an advisory board member for Procon.org as well as the Listen First Project / National Conversation Project. As a Changemaker Award recipient, She can be heard co-hosting season three of Duke University’s Scene on Radio podcast – MEN and this fall will co-host the PBS weekly series Retro Report, a show examining how today’s top stories connect with the past.