Talks to watch as you buy tickets for “Star Trek Into Darkness”Last night, many boldly ventured where no man had gone before: to see Star Trek Into Darkness, which opened in some theaters at midnight. The film, which is a sequel to JJ Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the classic series, has been highly anticipated ever since its lyrical trailer materialized late last year. Writes critic Betsy […]
9 documentaries that you need to see this yearBy Marianna Torgovnick Some documentaries show us the strange, the exotic and the unfamiliar; others make us feel anew about something so everyday, we barely thought about it before. Some of my favorite TED Talks are built around great documentary films, like Deborah Scranton’s chilling “War Tapes” and Nathaniel Kahn’s moving search for “My Father, the Architect.” Last week, […]
Meet David Peterson, who developed Dothraki for Game of ThronesThere are seven different words in Dothraki for striking another person with a sword. Among them: “hlizifikh,” a wild but powerful strike; “hrakkarikh,”a quick and accurate strike; and “gezrikh,” a fake-out or decoy strike. But you won’t find these words in George R. R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire, which is where Dothraki originated as the language […]
George Takei’s TEDx Talk: On “Star Trek,” musicals and Japanese American internmentGeorge Takei, best known as Captain Sulu of Star Trek, says it’s been his “lifelong dream” to make it to Broadway. He came close in 1960 when he was invited to audition for a show. But he did not get the part. “It was a body blow,” says Takei. “Suddenly, New York turned into a […]
The live meshing of a real life and virtual chorusEric Whitacre has spent most of his career conducting traditional choirs. Then, in 2009, a fan video posted to YouTube sparked a crazy idea: could he take singers from across the globe, have them sing the same piece on video, and edit it together into a virtual choir? The results of this experiment quickly went […]
New documentary at SXSW traces William Kamkwamba’s journey from rural Malawi to the TED StageWilliam Kamkwamba built a windmill out of spare parts to provide electricity for his family in rural Malawi, after seeing a similar design in a library book. It’s an incredible story — one that set TEDGlobal 2007 ablaze. Now, Kamkwamba is the subject of a new documentary, William and the Windmill, which makes its world […]
A choir live and online: Eric Whitacre at TED2013In an extraordinary finale for TED2013, Eric Whitacre stages a type of performance that has never been seen before, with a choir assembled to sing his composition, “Cloudburst.” It’s not just any choir. He’s joined on stage by 100 live singers formed from choirs from California State University, Long Beach Campus, California State University, Fullerton […]
How movies can influence technologyLast night at TED2013, the Motion Picture Association of America hosted a nighttime discussion on the topic of how film has shaped some of modern day’s most cutting-edge technology. The prime example: John Underkoffler’s user interface inspired by his work on Minority Report. We were joined by Industrial Light & Magic, the visual effects division of […]
Pardon Me, but WTF?: TED Fellow Safwat Saleem calls out for stories of bsOn Monday on the TED Fellows stage, Safwat Saleem made the crowd roar and squirm with his art – satirical and profane posters and animated shorts skewering racism, the absurdity of politics, petty dishonesty and general stupidity. In a word, bullshit. Here at TED2013, he’s launching a new project, called “Pardon Me, but WTF?” – […]
Electric, eclectic dance: Rich + Tone Talauega at TED2013Brothers Rich + Tone Talauega are choreographers whose energy is so powerful one performance makes the whole room seem to vibrate. This morning at TED, with the help of music producer Keith Harris, they unleash an eclectic menagerie of dance forms that meld martial arts, hip-hop and classical dance. The intensity is palpable across the […]
Trust people to pay for music: Amanda Palmer at TED2013Amanda Fucking Palmer wants us to re-think how we think about paying for music. She is known for her music, first as half of the Dresden Dolls, now as a solo artist. But for 5 years after graduating, Palmer made her living as a living statue called the Eight Foot Bride. (“Everyone always wanted to […]
Any noise I can imagine: Beardyman at TED2013Beardyman, né Darren Foreman, is a London-based beatboxer and inventor who has always been frustrated by the limitations of the human voice and body. After all, Beardyman’s instrument is his voice — and he only has one. No one, for example, can sing two notes at the same time. So naturally, Beardyman built a machine […]
Fun, interesting science? 11 amazing online sourcesIn today’s TED Talk, Tyler DeWitt makes a fantastic case for a simple idea: make science fun. Educators and writers get caught up in the idea that science needs to be taken seriously, and forget that the best way to get kids interested is to… make it interesting. Too much emphasis on being accurate can […]
New playlists: What doctors worry about and Can you believe your eyes?TED playlists are collections of talks around a topic, built for you in a thoughtful sequence to illuminate ideas in context. This weekend, two new playlists are available: What doctors worry about and Can you believe your eyes? Can you believe your eyes? 7 talks filled with magic tricks, optical illusions, death-defying feats and digital […]
In Shanghai, China, where it’s always night, directly across the street from a pirated DVD shop called Movie Star is another pirated DVD shop called Better Than Movie Star … and that’s where TED’s founding video director, Jason Wishnow, discovered this pirated DVD (which: sigh! but it’s too good not to share). It’s a bootleg […]
