By Clayton Cameron As a 5-year-old kid, I barely knew what the word rhythm meant. At least no one told me what banging on inanimate objects and creating my own little beats might be called. It was like rhythm chose me and I really had no say in the matter. My favorite elementary school pastime was tabletop […]
The image you see above is Amanda Palmer just before stepping onto the TED2013 stage to give her talk, “The art of asking.” She asked one of the crew members to snap this photo of her with daisy in hand. As our lineup of TED2014 speakers finish writing their talks and start the long process […]
Meklit Hadero’s voice is earthy and soulful, sinuous and untethered, and she’s about to unleash a new album on the world. She has just launched a crowdfunding campaign for her second solo recording, We Are Alive, and is currently touring the East Coast of the United States.We caught up with her between shows to ask about her musical vision and […]
Diana Nyad swam 110 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, a journey that took her just under 53 hours last September. In today’s talk, Nyad gives a vivid account of what it was like to be out in the water, making her fifth attempt at this swim — one she first tried […]
Beyoncé must love surprises. Because late last night, she unexpectedly dropped her fifth studio album, Beyoncé, on iTunes. It’s what she’s calling a “visual album,” and it features 14 songs and 17 music videos — including a song about her daughter, Blue Ivy, and guest appearances from husband Jay-Z, pals Justin Timberlake and Frank Ocean […]
Above: Reggie Watts demonstrates the littleBits SynthKit For the last week, the internet has been grooving to the video above of Reggie Watts making some funky noise with the newly launched SynthKit — the latest offering from littleBits electronic building block company, and the product of a three-way partnership between littleBits, Watts and world-renowned synthmasters KORG. The […]
Percussionist and composer Susie Ibarra is creating virtual sanctuaries for real cities. Working in collaboration with local artists, historians, architects, city planners and musicians, Ibarra and her partner Roberto Rodriguez — who together form Electric Kulintang — have created a musical pilgrimage that takes the public on a sound walk through 12 sites in Lower […]
Inspired by the theme of TEDWomen 2013, “Invented Here,” we’ve created a killer playlist with songs about women who’ve innovated, made a difference, taken a stand and changed history in the process. Our mixtape of tunes include: a Swedish dance-pop tribute to Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity, Jane Birkin’s ode to the work and ideals […]
As this amazing week of TEDGlobal 2013 winds to a close with Session 8: Altogether Now, the audience is still reeling from a shocking talk on the mighty roots of corruption by Charmian Gooch, founder of Global Witness. What better to help soothe the soul than the rich and sultry voice of Irish-born pop singer-songwriter […]
“I started writing songs to be heard, to get attention. In life, being understood is really important to me,” says Lissie in a near-whisper into the microphone. “I write songs to process my emotions, and when we tour it’s cool to see other people process their emotions with my songs.” And with that, she and […]
Got a case of the Mondays? We’re hoping that this performance from TEDxFIU might be enough to snap you out it. In this video, Peruvian and Japanese musician Tony Succar gives an big band tribute to his favorite musician, Michael Jackson, imagining what his classic songs would sound like with Latin flair. Get ready to […]
Music comes in all shapes and sizes, as these talks illustrate. From an electric drum suit called “thunderwear” to an ancient stringed wheel to an arresting rare organ, the instruments featured in these talks reshape our soundscape and offer inspiration in the cacophonous world around us. [ted id=413 width=560 height=315]David Holt plays mountain music In […]
What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational Jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don’t react to them appropriately. (Recorded at TEDSalon NY 2011, November 2011, in New York, New York. Duration: 13:11) [ted id=1298] Watch Stefon Harris’s talk on TED.com, […]
The TED team is eagerly watching our content partner conference, TEDMED, happening now in California. (Look for TEDMED video fresh from stage in the coming weeks!) TED’s own Nafissa, is reporting from the conference; this morning, she caught a few minutes with TEDTalks favorite Charles Limb, who studies what creativity looks like in the brains […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEqJeua-_1M] TED’s musical director, Thomas Dolby, will be touring the United States in October, talking about his online game, The Floating City, and playing songs from his new album live. Here’s where you can catch him: Washington, DC, The Loft: Oct. 3. New York City, Tribeca: Oct. 5. Chicago, Martyr’s: Oct. 7. Seattle, The Triple […]
Can opera be ever-so-slightly sexy? The glorious soprano Danielle de Niese shows how, singing the flirty “Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss.” Which, translated, means, as you might guess: “I kiss so hot.” From Giuditta by Frans Lehár; accompanist: Ingrid Surgenor. (Recorded at TEDGlobal 2011, July 2011, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Duration: 5:55.) [ted id=1235] Watch […]