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These young women might just save the planet

These young women might just save the planet

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One of anthropologist Margaret Mead’s most famous quotes instructs us: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” We might amend Mead’s observation to honor a group of thoughtful, committed teenagers across the world who are standing up for their lives []

Playlist: 10 TEDWomen talks for Earth Day

Playlist: 10 TEDWomen talks for Earth Day

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Earlier this week, I had the privilege and honor to plant trees with the daughter and granddaughter of environmentalist Wangari Maathai. In recognition of her life’s work promoting “sustainable development, democracy and peace,” Maathai received the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. She was a lifelong activist who founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977. At that []

A TED Talk from a war zone

A TED Talk from a war zone

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At TEDSummit in June, we featured a talk by a young Syrian architect, Marwa Al-Sabouni. In it, she shares an important and original insight about how the roots of conflict can be traced, among other better-studied reasons, to misdirected and divisive urbanism. She offers the example of her own country, where violent conflict has been []

In the Skype Studio: How social media transforms ideas and movements

In the Skype Studio: How social media transforms ideas and movements

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-J9TLBembw&w=983&h=553] Last week, Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Crimea, giving a controversial speech that posited Russia’s annexation of the peninsula as part of historical tradition. In March, when Crimea first voted to become a part of Russia, TED Fellow Ed Ou was there. He shared what he saw on the ground—Russian flags being []

How data constellations tell a story: MAPPing the TED Fellows network and the conflict in Syria

How data constellations tell a story: MAPPing the TED Fellows network and the conflict in Syria

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What’s this galaxy-like cluster of dots and lines? It’s the TED Fellows Collaboration Network MAPP, a rich and interactive web that shows the patterns of cross-disciplinary collaboration among TED Fellows over the past four years. This rainbow visualization was created using MAPPR, a cloud-based network mapping tool that Eric Berlow demoed during TED2014. It allows anyone to make shareable, interactive network []

The TED Prize wish: What you can do to end anonymous companies

The TED Prize wish: What you can do to end anonymous companies

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By Natasha Scripture Anti-corruption activist Charmian Gooch stood up on stage at TED2014 tonight and revealed her TED Prize wish: to get rid of anonymous companies once and for all by making who owns and controls them public knowledge. As head of Global Witness, a UK-based non-profit that has been campaigning for transparency for the []

Video: Smile if you’d like to end anonymous companies

Video: Smile if you’d like to end anonymous companies

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1O97HZev7A&w=586&h=330] Transparency isn’t just a nice-to-do for businesses. It’s essential, says Charmian Gooch, the anti-corruption crusader who accepted the TED Prize tonight. On the TED2014 stage, Gooch revealed her wish for the world. “My wish is for us to know who owns and controls companies, so that they can no longer be used anonymously against []

What are anonymous companies? An infographic

What are anonymous companies? An infographic

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At TED2014, Charmian Gooch made the TED Prize wish to launch a new era of openness in business and end the phenomenon of anonymous companies. “Anonymous companies are making it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find the actual human beings responsible for really bad crimes,” she said. So how do anonymous companies work? This infographic explains the []

Last night in the TED office: War Stories

Last night in the TED office: War Stories

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War isn’t easy to talk about. TED’s Juliet Blake knows this first-hand — she is the daughter of German Jews who never spoke about the war that wiped out so many members of their family. And yet, that devastation is exactly why it is so important to have conversations about the worst of human experiences. []

A giant step backward: Fellows Friday with Nitin Rao, who speaks out on India’s recriminalizing of homosexuality

A giant step backward: Fellows Friday with Nitin Rao, who speaks out on India’s recriminalizing of homosexuality

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In a major setback last week for the LGBT community, an Indian Supreme Court ruling upheld Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code — a 153-year-old law criminalizing gay sex. This act overturned a 2009 Delhi High Court ruling that this should not apply to consensual acts and, essentially, recriminalized homosexuality. While the Indian government []