Matthew McConaughey on writing, acting, and self-doubt | ReThinking with Adam Grant | TED

Matthew McConaughey is the Academy Award-winning star of Dallas Buyers Club, Dazed and Confused, and Interstellar. But he’s not just an actor—he’s also an entrepreneur, philanthropist, teacher, and prolific writer. His second book, Poems and Prayers, was built on decades of his journal entries, poems, and life lessons learned. In this episode, Matthew and Adam discuss the difference between cynicism and skepticism, reflect on Matthew’s experience in learning to laugh at his embarrassing moments, and consider effective and ineffective steps for practicing gratitude. Matthew also shares the story behind his iconic “Alright, alright, alright” catchphrase and why he’ll never get tired of hearing it. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Matthew McConaughey (Instagram: @officiallymcconaughey) Links Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.

Adam GranthostMatthew McConaugheyguest

Sep 26, 202533mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: September 26, 2025
Duration: 33m
Channel: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Matthew McConaughey is the Academy Award-winning star of Dallas Buyers Club, Dazed and Confused, and Interstellar. But he’s not just an actor—he’s also an entrepreneur, philanthropist, teacher, and prolific writer. His second book, Poems and Prayers, was built on decades of his journal entries, poems, and life lessons learned. In this episode, Matthew and Adam discuss the difference between cynicism and skepticism, reflect on Matthew’s experience in learning to laugh at his embarrassing moments, and consider effective and ineffective steps for practicing gratitude. Matthew also shares the story behind his iconic “Alright, alright, alright” catchphrase and why he’ll never get tired of hearing it. Follow Host: Adam Grant (Instagram: @adamgrant | LinkedIn: @adammgrant | Website: adamgrant.net/) Guest: Matthew McConaughey (Instagram: @officiallymcconaughey) Links Poems & Prayers by Matthew McConaughey Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey Subscribe to TED Instagram: @ted YouTube: @TED TikTok: @tedtoks LinkedIn: @ted-conferences Website: ted.com Podcasts: ted.com/podcasts The TED Audio Collective is a collection of podcasts for the curious. The TED Audio Collective videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy (https://www.ted.com/about/our-organiz...). For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com.

SPEAKERS

Adam Grant
host
Organizational psychologist and host of the ReThinking podcast.
Matthew McConaughey
guest
Actor and author known for films like Dallas Buyers Club and his memoir Greenlights.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Re:Thinking with Adam Grant, featuring Adam Grant and Matthew McConaughey, Matthew McConaughey on writing, acting, and self-doubt | ReThinking with Adam Grant | TED explores mcConaughey on belief, doubt, gratitude, and creating without cynicism McConaughey describes self-doubt as the gap between who he aspires to be and who he is, and frames “sin” as missing the mark in a practical, non-punitive sense.

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