One of the two photographers who worked this year’s TEDGlobal, Duncan Davidson, shares his notes on TED photography. If you’re curious about some of the “people not seen” at TEDGlobal, the backroom elves who make things appear on the web by magic, read on: Let me tell you, I’ve seen my fair share of workflows […]
Following up on economist Eleni Gabre-Madhin’s 2007 TEDTalk on Ethiopian markets comes an episode from PBS’ award-winning documentary series Wide Angle titled “The Market Maker.” Anchor Aaron Brown traveled to Ethiopia and toured the country with Gabre-Madhin, where he witnessed the trials faced by her Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, and the effects of the system on […]
What is life? Can we create it? Customize it? Edge has just published over six hours of video from their new Master Class on the future of biology, which attempts to answer those and other provocative questions. Featuring geneticists George Church and Craig Venter, the set is a a surprising, challenging look at what science […]
Elaine Morgan is a tenacious proponent of the aquatic ape hypothesis: the idea that humans evolved from primate ancestors who dwelt in watery habitats. Hear her spirited defense of the idea — and her theory on why mainstream science doesn’t take it seriously. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 17:13) Twitter […]
Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools — robotics, new software, cognitive research — to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at the curious viewer. (Recorded at TED2009, February 2009 in Long Beach, CA. Duration: 15:33) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/24 […]
TED blogger Matthew Trost stopped by TEDxBoston on Tuesday. Here, he shares his notes on the proceedings. Today’s automobile weighs 20 times its driver, MIT’s Ryan Chin said. It takes up valuable urban real estate. It’s designed to go 100 MPH, while its driver often needs only a quarter of that speed. The supply chain […]
Fresh from last week’s TEDGlobal 2009: Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure? He makes an eloquent, witty case to move beyond snobbery to find true pleasure in our work. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2009, July 2009 in […]
Immediately after TEDGlobal 2009, a group of TEDsters took off for WOMAD at Charlton Park — the three-day world music festival founded by TED speaker Peter Gabriel (watch his talk from 2006). Sleeping in teepees, rocking all night … the pictures tell the story. Above, twilight bubbles, photographed by TED’s Lara Stein, director of the […]
However you experienced TEDGlobal 2009 — live, on the web feed, or via Twitter and the TED Blog updates — this week is about reviewing, reliving and moving forward. As Arturo Ania tweeted earlier today: First thought this morning: How can I inject my team with the inspiration and energy from #TED in Oxford? We’re […]
On his lively blog, TED’s music director, Thomas Dolby, collects his thoughts on the music of this past week. From the post: As TED’s music director I have the enviable task of selecting the musicians that appear here, and helping them tune their performances to fit the context. It’s an honour for me and for […]
Bruce Johnson sends us the waking and sleeping schedule he set up in order to watch the four days of the TEDGlobal 2009 Associates feed — resetting his body clock to catch the sessions that started at 8:30am BST, eight hours ahead of West Coast time in the United States. He lays out the plan: […]
Some 300 people watched the TEDGlobal 2009 Associates feed — including 100 of our founding volunteer translators, past TED Fellows and TEDx hosts. We loved seeing photos of people around the world watching the feed, and share a few below: Theodor K writes: “Here is Klara, Theodor, and Isak from Denmark watching the windmill built […]
Brother Paulus Terwitte takes the stage and immediately confronts the two questions he says everyone always asks. The first is, “Are you a real monk?” When he asked that, his usual reply is “Are you real?” The second is: “What do you do?” His answer to that one is, “Nothing.” He says that he does […]
A Capuchin friar and a household name in Germany, Brother Paulus Terwitte looks at the possibility of a simple, contemplative spiritual life — in a world laden with distractions and complications. Is posting a Twitter Snapshot slightly … ironic? Twitter users meditated on this, and other questions: Google is the new forbidden apple.. Brother Terwitte.. […]
Daniel Birnbaum is a curator and is especially known for curating the Venice Biennale. He begins by answering the question, “What does a curator do?” He says that a curator is someone who shows things, puts things on display. “What a strange career!” he exclaims. He explains that if the curator is very successful, the […]
Itay Talgam begins by inviting us to imagine that we are sharing his magical moments of conducting. You get on the stage, the orchestra is warming up and you get on the the podium. In front of all the noise, he says, you make a small gesture and suddenly you get order out of that […]