The MIT Media Lab’s John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art — a place that can get very complicated. Here, he talks about paring down to basics, and how he creates clean, elegant art, websites and web tools. In his book Laws of Simplicity, he offers 10 rules and 3 keys for […]
Zeresenay “Zeray” Alemseged has been digging the badlands of Ethiopia, looking for clues to humanity’s origins. Here he talks about one of his most exciting finds: the 3.3-million-year-old bones of Selam, a 3-year-old hominid child, from the species Australopithecus afarensis. In studying Selam’s tiny bones, Alemseged is searching for the points at which we humans […]
The director of the award-winning documentary The War Tapes, Deborah Scranton makes films that help people tell their own stories. She talks about making The War Tapes, her 2006 doc that put videocameras in the hands of Charlie Company, a unit of the National Guard stationed in Iraq, for one year. Their raw footage and […]
This week, Steven Pinker releases his latest book, The Stuff of Thought, about language as a window onto human nature. We present two TEDTalks from Steve Pinker: his 2005 talk at Oxford, in which he offers the TEDGlobal audience an exclusive preview of the book, and his most recent talk, at TED2007, where he previews […]
Dutch sculptor Theo Jansen shares the story of his “Strandbeests,” eerily lifelike kinetic sculptures that he has built from plastic tubes, old lemonade bottles and plastic ties. He hopes that these artificial life forms, as he calls them, will one day survive on their own, crawling the beaches of Holland. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, […]
Andrew Mwenda is a journalist from Uganda and an active critic of many forms of Western aid to Africa. In this provocative talk, he asks us to reframe the “African question” — to look beyond the media’s stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness throughout the […]
Is the beloved paper dictionary doomed to extinction? When does a made-up word become real? And could you use “synecdochical” in a sentence, please? In this infectiously exuberant talk, leading lexicographer Erin McKean looks at the many ways in which today’s print dictionary is poised for transformation in this internet era. (Recorded March 2007 in […]
Inventor Dean Kamen gives a 5-minute talk about the extraordinary prosthetic arm he’s developing at the request of the US Department of Defense, to help the 1,600 “kids” who’ve come back from Iraq without an arm (and the two dozen who’ve lost both arms). Kamen’s commitment to using technology to solve problems, and his respect […]
Jeff Skoll made his fortune as the first president of eBay. Now he’s spending it at the movies. His company, Participant Productions, makes entertaining, issues-driven films that inspire real change — Murderball, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth … Here, he talks about the people who’ve inspired him to do good, and about some upcoming films that […]
After Vusi Mahlasela played a 3-song set at TEDGlobal (including the moving “Thula Mama”), the audience simply wouldn’t let him go. This charming encore, “Woza,” showcases his brilliant guitar playing and multilingual lyrics. (Recorded June 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania. Duration: 5:11.) Watch Vusi Mahlasela’s song on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment […]
South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela was a crucial artistic voice during the fight against apartheid, and now in the new modern-day nation. Here he dedicates the beautiful song “Thula Mama” to all women — with a special mention for his grandmother, who showed spine-tingling bravery in the face of apartheid-era police oppression. His story, voice […]
Jacqueline Novogratz is pioneering new ways of tackling poverty. In her view, traditional charity rarely delivers lasting results. And commercial investors are also unwilling to seed the businesses and jobs that are needed in tough conditions. Her solution, outlined through a series of revealing personal stories, is “patient capital.” This means using philanthropic funds to […]
Novelist and poet Chris Abani believes the heart of a place can be best understood through its poems and narratives. He talks about African and Nigerian stories — including his own story of artistic and political awakening, which began with an inventive teacher who taught him the forbidden history of his own people. How, he […]
Patrick Awuah left a comfortable life in Seattle to return to Ghana and co-found a liberal arts college. Why? Because he believes that Ghana’s failures in leadership — and he gives several mind-boggling examples — stem from a university system that fails to train real leaders. In a talk that brought the TEDGlobal audience enthusiastically […]
In the spring of 2007, Julius Wiedemann, editor in charge at Taschen GmbH, gave a legendary TED University talk: an ultra-fast-moving ride through the “100 websites you should know and use.” Six years later, it remains one of the most viewed TED blog posts ever. Time for an update? We think so. Below, the 2013 […]
Today we premiere the first online talks from this summer’s extraordinary TEDGlobal: “Africa: The Next Chapter.” The talks from the conference have been buzzed about around the blogosphere, and we’re thrilled now to offer them as they happened. Whether or not you were with us in Arusha, you will want to check these out … […]