(Editor’s note, as of Nov. 1, 2019: Ameenah Gurib-Fakim stepped down as president of Mauritius in March 2018, following accusations that she misused a credit card given to her by a nonprofit. Read more here.) You’ve heard of a philosopher king. But what about a biologist president? Ameenah Gurib-Fakim — the biologist who gave the […]
On her first day as a principal in a North Philadelphia school, Linda Cliatt-Wayman was determined to lay down the law and set clear expectations. She called her students into the auditorium and told them how things would go at that school. But one voice interrupted her. “Miss,” called out a girl named Ashley, “why do […]
Momentum is great. But how do you sustain it? This session will examine what it takes to keep on keeping on, from speakers who are just starting out and those who’ve been at it for decades. Short recaps of the talks in this session… The number one abuse of human rights. Former president Jimmy Carter begins with […]
The TED community has been busy as usual this week. Below, some newsy highlights. On the ground in Baltimore. Last Monday night, Paul Lewis used Twitter’s live video app, Periscope, to document the demonstrations and riots that erupted after Freddie Gray’s funeral in Baltimore. In a series of videos, he interviewed residents of the city, including […]
The watch looks both futuristic and retro at the same time. A swirl of visible gears and carefully calibrated dials, it charts time in an unusual way — the hour jumps into place at the top, the minute is marked in a semicircle along the bottom, and the seconds swoop above. It’s a statement watch, the […]
About one-tenth of the world’s population is left-handed — and archaeological evidence suggests that it’s been this way for the last 500,000 years. But why do a small percentage of people carry this trait, and what does it mean about them that they do? These were the questions that inspired educator Danny Abrams and animator Lisa LaBracio […]
TED speaker Virginia Postrel swears by the app Anti-Social when she needs to focus on her writing. Jon Gosier considers his iPhone 5 “the Swiss Army knife of electronic gadgetry,” and relies on Waze for “directions and avoiding speeding tickets.” Meanwhile, Heather Barnett never reads a single book at a time — she usually has […]
Today, as the winners of the 2015 Webby Awards were announced, our jaws hit the floor. Between TED and TED-Ed, we won a total of 11 awards — which means we’re tied with Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign for the most Webby Awards of the year. TED.com won seven awards, for Websites: Events (both the judges’ award and the fan-voted […]
In 2015, 60 Minutes aired a story called “When TED talks, people listen,” to show what happens when TED Talks are shared across the world. The segment focuses on a few key speakers, including Bryan Stevenson, Maysoon Zayid, Amy Cuddy and Monica Lewinsky, and you can watch a playlist of highlighted TED Talks here. But many of you said: You want to watch all the talks […]
On tonight’s episode of 60 Minutes, a segment called “TED Talks” tells the story of three TED speakers whose talks rippled out into the world, transforming their own lives as well as the lives of many people who watched. Amy Cuddy shared a deeply personal story that sparked her research into “power posing”; Bryan Stevenson used his talk […]
“It is great to be back in Mississippi — yes it is,” said Kermit the Frog on the TEDxJackson stage in 2014. “I have deep roots here.” The Muppet was alluding to the fact that his creator, Jim Henson, was from the area. Kermit spoke about his humble southern upbringing in a swamp not too […]
Jane Andraka has raised two remarkable sons. Luke, age 20, is studying electrical engineering at Virginia Tech. “He was always tinkering and taking things apart — wondering how they worked, wondering how they could be made better. He had ideas coming out of his brain like a firehose,” she says. Meanwhile, Jack, age 18, is […]
Alexandre Farto spends his days creating towering works on the buildings of Lisbon and London — portraits of people that mirror urban decay, dissolving into scratches and splatters. Their stretched-out visages gaze over these cities with solemn, elegant omniscience. Meanwhile, Shai Dahan adorns walls, facades and barriers in Gothenburg and Borås with colorful odes to […]
“Who wins the Internet?” That’s the question that the Webby Awards posed on social media as they released the slate of 2015 nominees yesterday. So we are excited to see that TED and TED-Ed between us are up for seven awards. Update: We won a few! and couldn’t be more thrilled and grateful. We’re nominated in Websites: Events, as well as […]
In 1995, Kees Moeliker heard a loud bang coming from the Natural History Museum Rotterdam’s new wing. He knew exactly what it was. A curator at the museum, Moeliker had gotten used to the sound of birds hitting the glass exterior of the new wing, and had even taken to stuffing the dead birds for […]
Dave Isay was shocked to learn he was in the running for the 2015 TED Prize. And yet, his TED Prize wish — to grow StoryCorps’ digital archive of the collective wisdom of humanity — was granted, fueled by $1 million and the vigor of TED’s global community. Could your idea win the TED Prize? In a […]