Podcast Summary: How to Break Bad Habits (w/ Edith Zimmerman)
How to Be a Better Human — Hosted by Chris Duffy (TED)
Date: November 3, 2025
Episode Overview
In this episode, comedian and host Chris Duffy sits down with New Yorker cartoonist, writer, and artist Edith Zimmerman to explore the intersection of honesty, vulnerability, and creativity—especially as it relates to breaking bad habits, navigating sobriety, and the storytelling process. The conversation weaves through Edith’s journey of personal growth, the candid dismantling of old habits, and concrete reflections on living authentically. The episode is part of a larger TED video project and offers a behind-the-scenes, deeply relatable look at the challenges and triumphs of self-improvement.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Edith’s Artistic Evolution: From Careful Realism to Playful Honesty
- Drawing Style Shift: Edith describes moving from hyper-careful, realistic portraiture in college to a more relaxed, pen-based, “get it wrong right out of the bat” approach. Her now-signature stick-figure style evolved organically.
- “[My drawing’s] still, like, bad. I mean, you’ve seen. Sometimes they come out kind of charming. Sometimes they're just, like, absurdly bad. … It's like, you just sort of, like, commit to the bit.” — Edith Zimmerman (03:12)
- Creative Freedom: The shift allowed her to create a style distinct to herself, founded in acceptance of mistakes and imperfection.
2. Journaling, Honesty, and Publishing
- Honesty in Process: Edith journals every morning, transforming her diary entries into comics. She talks about the difficulty and necessity of deciding what to share publicly versus what remains private.
- “It feels very important that it be true... sometimes there’s stuff that’s honest but it’s, like, ugly, and I’m like, I’m not gonna share that.” — Edith Zimmerman (06:35)
- Struggle with Audience: The collision between making art for herself and for an audience caused creative friction and burnout, leading her to stop publishing for two years, pivot her business model, and create more distance between her life and her published work.
- “Are you being real or are you making stuff up to share with people? … Are you thinking about what people are gonna think when they see this?” — Edith Zimmerman (07:36)
3. Vulnerability and the Limits of Self-Honesty
- Facing Hard Truths: Breaking the habit of drinking was a process delayed by denial and the difficulty of confronting uncomfortable realities.
- “I drank really heavily for a really long time … It’s the only thing I like, so I’m not gonna, like, stop drinking. … Even though it’s clearly, like, ruining my life.” — Edith Zimmerman (12:15)
- Gradual Self-Recognition: Sometimes, honesty with oneself comes only in retrospect; there are “entire situations” Edith couldn’t face until much later.
4. Sobriety as a Creative Choice
- Decision Point: Edith’s turning point in sobriety wasn’t dramatic but borne out of exhaustion and openness to a new way of life.
- “I was just, like, willing to see what life is like without [drinking] … I get to be in the special place and all the people who are still drinking are in the timeout.” — Edith Zimmerman (15:54)
- Book Recommendation: “Stop Drinking Now” by Allen Carr offered a practical reframing of breaking addictions and habits.
- Creativity after Alcohol: Both Edith and Chris discuss how not drinking opened up new time and space, challenging the myth that alcohol fuels artistry.
- “There actually was quite a bit of creativity and art into what does my life look like without alcohol.” — Chris Duffy (17:40)
- Relearning Fun: Edith humorously describes Googling, “What do people do besides drink?” and rediscovering simple pleasures and childhood activities.
- “There’s no answers. Right? Like, there’s no answers. But actually, there was a very boring answer… rediscover activities you enjoyed as a child. I’m like, yeah, right, of course. It’s like, that’s, like, for real.” — Edith Zimmerman (18:04)
5. Mundane Life as Creative Fuel
- Art from the Everyday: Edith details her process of mining daily life for comic material and how most of it remains mundane even when committed to art.
- “I haven’t tapped into any, like, secret of the universe or anything...[but] relishing attention on unexpected destinations or things I think is, like, beautiful.” — Edith Zimmerman (26:05)
- On Attention: She references the idea that “the purpose of life is to spend attention at the times when you don’t have to.”
6. Practical Tools for Creativity amid Life’s Demands
- Making Time: For Edith, early mornings are essential. She notes that much creativity is spurred by compulsion rather than discipline.
- “Staying up late or waking up early. ... It’s essential to me to work early in the morning before anything enters my mind.” — Edith Zimmerman (30:30)
- Permission Not to Create: Not everyone has to be an artist; it must be driven by authentic compulsion.
7. Self-Discovery and Accepting Change
- Ongoing Process: Edith advocates for constantly testing assumptions about oneself and being open to change, as what you dislike now might become a future passion (e.g., running).
- “Just keep testing everything you think you know about yourself. This is probably not true.” — Edith Zimmerman (44:44)
8. Running and Reinventing Routines
- Later-in-Life Runner: Edith took up running years after quitting drinking, showing that surprising, beneficial habits can emerge with time and open-mindedness.
- “I was like, well, I’m sure that I’d be good at some kind of exercise, but it’s certainly not running... And then, yeah, it’s much lower stakes. I just started running.” — Edith Zimmerman (38:55)
- “If you want to find stuff that you might like to do, sometimes it’s useful to think about things that you know that you hate doing.” — Edith Zimmerman (43:21)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On creative honesty:
"It feels very important that it be true. Which is like, the honest, therefore, is, like, imperative."
— Edith Zimmerman (06:35) -
On reaching her breaking point with drinking:
"One day I was, and then I stopped drinking."
— Edith Zimmerman (13:12) -
On sobriety as gaining, not losing:
“You’re giving yourself a better gift. ... Now I can do that. But now it’s like, I get to be in the special place and all the people who are still drinking are in the timeout.”
— Edith Zimmerman (15:54) -
On searching for new joy post-drinking:
"I Googled, like, what do people do besides drink? Kind of as a joke to myself, like, what the fuck is happening? … But actually, there was a very boring answer that, for me, ended up being very real, which was like, there’s like, top 10 lists. Like, go to a cafe. Like, go to a museum… One was like, rediscover activities you enjoyed as a child. I’m like, yeah, right, of course. It’s like, that’s, like, for real."
— Edith Zimmerman (18:04) -
On art and the mundane:
“Pouring a lot of attention and detail into, like, a screenshot of a YouTube video or something. It’s like relishing attention on unexpected destinations or things I think is, like, beautiful.”
— Edith Zimmerman (26:05) -
On carving out creative time:
“It’s essential to me to work early in the morning before anything enters my mind.”
— Edith Zimmerman (30:30) -
On changing self-perceptions:
“Just keep testing everything you think you know about yourself. This is probably not true.”
— Edith Zimmerman (44:44)
Important Timestamps
- 03:12 — Edith on her artistic journey and finding her “bad but charming” style
- 07:36 — Conflict between authentic journaling and audience demands
- 12:15 — Edith recalls the difficulty of facing her drinking problem
- 15:54 — The mental shift that helped her embrace sobriety
- 18:04 — Searching for enjoyment after breaking the drinking habit
- 26:05 — The value of attention and art’s relationship to the everyday
- 30:30 — Making time for creativity: practical advice
- 38:55 — How Edith became a runner and discovering the unexpected joys it brought
- 44:44 — Wisdom on accepting personal change and the fluidity of self-knowledge
Key Takeaways
- True Growth is Humble & Ongoing: Edith’s candor about what’s “mundane,” her willingness to restart and pivot, and her rejection of grand conclusions invite listeners to accept that “figuring it out” is a lifelong process.
- Making life changes is rarely a straight path: Both creative breakthroughs and habit changes tend to be gradual realizations rather than epiphanies.
- Creative integrity demands boundaries: The friction between honesty for oneself and for an audience is real; giving yourself distance helps preserve what matters.
- Habits can be reinvented: What once seemed essential (like drinking or nocturnal schedules) can be replaced, and novelty can come from revisiting what’s been dismissed.
- There is value in ordinary experiences: Paying attention to the “dull” or everyday can be a source of art and personal contentment.
For more of Edith Zimmerman’s work and her “Drawing Links” newsletter, visit edithzimmerman.com. For more from host Chris Duffy, check out chrisduffycomedy.com.