TED Blog » Tom Rielly

Watch TEDTalks from speakers at the upcoming TEDGlobal 2009

Emily McManus — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +0000

From TEDGlobal’s speaker list of more than 90 — including 18-minute talks, demos and TED U courses — 13 of our scheduled speakers already have TEDTalks online from previous TEDs and partners. To find them, check out our new theme, Speaking at TEDGlobal 2009, and watch archive gems from these returning speakers. All of these speakers are bringing something new to TEDGlobal 2009, exploring the theme of the conference, “The Substance of Things Not Seen.”

Browse the new theme Speaking at TEDGlobal 2009 >>

See the full conference schedule for TEDGlobal 2009, July 21-24 in Oxford >>

Watch the TED Fellows video — and apply for a TEDIndia fellowship

tedstaff — Thu, 21 May 2009 09:50:42 +0000

The TED Fellows program helps world-changing innovators from around the globe become part of the TED community. This short video conveys the intense, potentially life-changing experience of becoming a TED Fellow, through interviews with some of the TED2009 Long Beach Fellows and with TED’s Community Director, Tom Rielly:

Inspired? Apply for a TEDIndia Fellowship! Applications are open until June 15, 2009, at noon EDT. Learn more about the TED Fellows program >>

Where's the gorilla?

Emily McManus — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:00:00 +0000

Several people wrote to TED this week asking about a clip that’s been making the rounds recently — starring a gorilla and a bunch of kids tossing a basketball. If you got this clip from a friend, and you’re wondering why you can’t find it on TED, here’s the story:

The gorilla/basketball clip was shown during Michael Shermer‘s onstage talk at TED in 2006, but we don’t have the rights to share this clip online. And Michael Shermer’s TEDTalk is wonderful even without the gorilla — full of mind-bending and eye-opening examples of how easily we fool ourselves, and why we believe such strange things.

You can buy a DVD containing the gorilla/basketball video and 19 more visual awareness demonstrations from Viscog Productions. Look for the DVD called Surprising Studies of Visual Awareness, Vol. 1. This year, Viscog released Surprising Studies, Vol. 2, with more “striking demonstrations that can induce failures of awareness.” (Educators, see if you qualify for the School Teacher License discount.)

Or you can watch Tom Rielly’s satire of the 2006 TED Conference, and see his version (it’s in the fourth chapter, “Where’s the Gorilla?”). It’s a less striking demonstration, perhaps, but there’s no doubt it’s a strange thing.

Tom Rielly on TED.com

tedstaff — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 12:16:33 +0000

Satirist Tom Rielly delivers a wicked parody of the 2006 TED conference, taking down the $100 laptop, the plight of the polar bear, and people who mention, one too many times, that they work at Harvard. Watch for a special moment between Tom and Al Gore.