From China’s underwater cities to Amsterdam’s neglected neighborhoods to Italy’s looted ruins, Jorge Mañes Rubio seeks out forsaken places and makes art that memorializes, reimagines and reengages them with the world. His project “Normal Pool Level” — which emerged from his exploration of the cities, towns and villages submerged by China’s Three Gorges Dam Project […]
Mike Cahill’s new film I Origins is technically science fiction. But the technology in it is firmly rooted in reality. A mind-twister of the highest order, I Origins tells the story of a molecular biologist, Ian (played by Michael Pitt), who studies the iris of the eye, a part that is unique for every individual. […]
Fargo, North Dakota, has a skewed reputation. This city, which happens to be my hometown, rocketed to infamy thanks to the 1996 dark comedy by the Coen Brothers about a down-on-his-luck car salesman (William H. Macy) who plans to have his wife kidnapped, and the sheriff (Frances McDormand) who investigates what happens when the plan […]
Aaron Weyenberg is the master of slide decks. Our UX Lead creates Keynote presentations that are both slick and charming—the kind that pull you in and keep you captivated, but in an understated way that helps you focus on what’s actually being said. He does this for his own presentations and for lots of other […]
This week, we’ve launched a new blog: TEDx Innovations. It’s a space for TEDx organizers to share their passion and ingenuity, to reveal the things they’re trying at their events and the ways they’re evolving this global platform before our eyes. Bookmark it and look for lots more to come. Mastering the physics behind sailing in the Boston […]
In her TED Talk “The Power of Introverts,” Susan Cain illuminates the many subtle ways our culture favors extroversion and gives some great ideas for how introverts can better shine at school, at work and in everyday life. This talk certainly struck a nerve — it’s been viewed more than 8 million times since it was posted […]
Zak Ebrahim is the son of a terrorist—his father helped plan the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993. In the forthcoming TED Book, The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice, Ebrahim tells the incredible story of how he chose a different direction, toward empathy and tolerance. Preview Zak’s riveting story in the trailer above. This title will be the first TED […]
By Olivia Cucinotta and Emily McManus Here, a look at just a few members of the TED community making headlines this week. Rob Knight’s American Gut project released its latest results this week, with data from the microbiomes (i.e., the microbial world inside each human body) of 3,238 participants so far. Some interesting facts they’ve called […]
In 2009, Simon Sinek gave the talk “How great leaders inspire action” to an audience of 50 people in a small room at TEDxPugetSound. It quickly became the second most-watched talk on TED.com. Sinek, of course, felt honored by the growing popularity of his talk—and by the opportunity to inspire people to think more deeply about […]
TED@NYC is not your usual TED event. Hosted in a New York City club, speakers here—many of whom responded to an open audition call—give rapid-fire, five-minute talks. Below, a recap of each speaker who took the stage last night during this inspiring evening. The internet can be a place of intelligent conversation, or a place of rumors and insults. Sally Kohn, […]
Luanda, the capital of Angola, is a city of stark contrasts. An oil-rich economy draws tons of wealthy expatriates to its center, while the very poor swarm around its outskirts. An antiquated government limps along as a young, educated and global-minded new guard begins to gain their foothold. Even the skyline is changing; everything’s growing […]
Odysseus…Gauguin…Robinson Crusoe…and me? Many people dream of the ultimate escape: throwing all the baggage of civilization away and taking off to live on a remote island. But few people—particularly professional couples with young kids—actually go through with it. And yet, that’s just what my family did: we left Boston, and my reliable job at a […]
TED.com volunteers translate talks into many languages, from commonly used (like Spanish and Mandarin Chinese) to a few less expected (like Klingon). And two new languages just joined our library: Latgalian and Tatar. Latgalian is officially the 104th language on TED.com. It’s spoken in Latgale, a region in the eastern part of Latvia, by […]
Hannah Brencher strolled onstage to give her TED Talk, “Love letters to strangers,” with a US Postal Service mail crate propped on her hip. And that mail crate full of letters turned out to be a metaphor for what happened next — a box of surprises and possibilities. Onstage at Joe’s Pub in June 2012, […]
Several members of the TED community had notable news this week. Below, some highlights: In 2010, Eben Bayer introduced a mushroom-based material that grows from agri-waste into any shape you want. It’s been used mainly as a packing material up to now, but this week, MoMA’s PS1 in Queens unveiled a soaring, sunny tower built […]
TEDx organizer Seema Raman has held three events in the past year, and traveled from her home in Bangalore to the snowy mountains of British Columbia to learn more about putting on great events. But the funny thing is: Raman never intended to organize anything at all. Raman, a 20-year-old engineering student at PES Institute […]