Yo-Yo & Friends

Yo-Yo Ma was in his late forties when he decided he was truly happy being a musician. It was then he realized that he could use the cello to explore the world, to ask what it means to be human and how we can navigate the future together. Now, he has invited six friends to join him in answering these questions, to explore how they came to understand who they are, how they learned to love what they do in life, and how they would like to live in the world.

Musician Jeremy Dutcher, a tenor, anthropologist, and Wolastoqiyik member of the Tobique First Nation in Canada, shares how he listens to the past and sings for the future, carrying cultural wisdom and identity across generations. Chef and author Samin Nosrat discusses finding joy and authenticity in everyday moments and building meaningful community. Designer Jony Ive reflects on how we can bridge the concrete and the abstract, technique and intuition, to create work rooted in care for humanity. Reader and writer Maria Popova talks about the search for meaning, the power of poetry, and the majesty of art and science. Physicist Fabiola Gianotti, the director of CERN, home to the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, discusses how to build trust and collaboration in pursuit of the unknown. Musician Jacob Collier explores how we can transcend technique to create remarkable human connection. Join Yo-Yo in intimate conversation with friends; revel in his boundless curiosity; explore essential questions about purpose, wisdom, and our future in a world full of wonder and trial, terrible destruction and extraordinary creativity. With intellectual depth and emotional resonance, this series offers a rare glimpse into the minds of seven unique thinkers, helping us to imagine better ways of living and working together.