After four days of intense discussion on aid versus trade at TEDGlobal 2007, it was up to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Finance Minister of Nigeria, to sum it up. She asks for the discussion to continue, and to grow more sophisticated, more nuanced. And she brilliantly refocuses the concept of foreign aid: As she points […]
Here’s one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Starting with the deceptively simple story of an ant, Dan Dennett unleashes a dazzling sequence of ideas, making a powerful case for the existence of “memes” — a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and […]
William Kamkwamba, the 19-year-old self-taught engineer who built a windmill power system for his family’s home in Malawi, was a star of TEDGlobal 2007. As reported by Ethan Zuckerman, several TEDsters have pledged to help him further his education. Now you can follow William’s journey on his blog. Read about the windmill he built, his […]
TED’s Content Producer, Kelly Stoetzel, helps choose the speakers for every TED conference. She shares her thoughts after TEDGlobal 2007 — on the conference buzz, the connections and the small moments between the sessions: I observed so many connections and conversations at the conference that felt like they were changing lives. Like William Kamkwamba, the […]
TEDGlobal 2007 was studded with announcements of new initiatives and major gifts to the cause of Africa’s next chapter. Here’s a sampling, as reported by the blogs: As Ethan Zuckerman reports from the final session: Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete took the stage with Dr. Larry Brilliant of Google.org and Bruce McNeighbor of Technoserve. Dr. […]
TEDGlobal’s attending bloggers offer great roundups of the two morning sessions, called “Tales of Invention” and “Health and Heroism.” Africa abounds in creative energy and innovation, a point made yesterday by Kwabena Boahen and elaborated today by two panels of inventors and health workers. As always, Ethan Zuckerman has the speaker-by-speaker accounts. Mweshi writes about […]
Before the official start of TEDGlobal 2007, some attendees joined us for preconference tours, to get a visceral experience of the new Africa. Hosted by businesses and NGOs working on the ground in Tanzania, TEDsters visited schools, farms, businesses and other projects. A few reports: ClassV took a tour led by DATA and shot some […]
Today’s New York Times carries an article by E-Commerce reporter Bob Tedeschi about the new TED.com: Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times June Cohen, director of TED Media, said putting conference presentations on the Internet helped increase exposure. By BOB TEDESCHIPublished: April 16, 2007THOSE who don’t have $6,000 or enough prominent connections to get […]
The Worldchanging book, “A user’s guide to the 21st century,” is published today. Our friends at Worldchanging.com in Seattle have been for a few years now publishing an insightful and inspiring collective blog disseminating information about sustainability and social change and describing pragmatically what’s possible, what new technologies are coming along, what solutions to the world’s global and local […]
Ashraf Ghani is the former Finance Minister of Afghanistan, and a candidate to succeed Kofi Annan as Secretary General of the United Nations. He’s an expert on the economics of developing nations and post-conflict reconstruction. This passionate presentation includes a 10-minute talk, emphasizing the necessity of both economic investment and design ingenuity to rebuild broken […]
Helen Fisher is an anthropologist with Rutgers University, specializing in gender differences and the evolution of human emotions. Her most recent book is Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. In this wide-ranging talk, she outlines the bio-chemical foundations of love (and lust), and discusses the natural talents of women, and their […]
Richard Baraniuk is a Rice University professor with a giant vision: to create a free, global online education system. In this presentation, he introduces Connexions, the open-access publishing system that’s changing the landscape of education by providing free coursework and educational materials to everyone in the world. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 19:18) […]
Nicholas Negroponte is former Director of the MIT Media Lab, and founder of the non-profit, One Laptop Per Child, dedicated to making the famed “$100 laptop” a reality. In this talk, he outlines some of the challenges of getting the laptop produced, and explains why he stepped down as Media Lab director to focus on […]
Sir Ken Robinson is author of Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, and a leading expert on innovation and human resources. In this talk, he makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 20:02) Get […]
Alan Bennett’s fabulous new play The History Boys opened on Broadway last week at the Broadhurst to uniformly wonderful reviews after sold-out runs in London and Sydney. Set in Thatcher-era England, History Boys takes place in a state school where sixth form boys are preparing to take exams that will admit them to their fantasy […]
Every year, we leave Monterey buzzing about our “TED moments”: those magical instances of creativity and connectivity that can happen only at TED. Some are collective experiences: a moment of profound inspiration on stage ripples through the audience, and you can almost see the lightbulbs illuminating over 500 heads. Others are deeply personal … the […]