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 … […]
TEDster Allison Hunt‘s five-minute talk finds humor and marketing strategy in the most unlikely of places — her own hip-replacement surgery. As the world scrutinizes broken health-care systems, this particularly timely clip shows how getting to the front of a two-year waiting list can have an altruistic effect. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: […]
David Bolinsky and his team at XVIVO illustrate scientific and medical concepts with high-drama animation. These animators are true auteurs, carefully scripting and editing the story of cellular processes to show everyone — expert and amateur alike — the truth and the beauty of our bodies. You’ve never seen the life of a cell quite […]
Next week on TED.com, we’ll premiere the first talks from the TEDGlobal 2007 conference, held in Arusha, Tanzania, this June. Several bloggers from the conference will be posting here over the coming week. TEDGlobal 2007 Fellow Juliana Rotich has been keeping the influential blog Afromusing for two and a half years, writing and interviewing about […]
As Program Director for TEDGlobal2007, Emeka Okafor worked with TED Curator Chris Anderson and the TED team to assemble a list of speakers that spoke to the heart of the new Africa — the “cheetah generation” of inventors and investors, policymakers and bloggers, who are bringing new energy to the continent. We spoke to Emeka […]
The slam poet/tech artist/paper sculptor Rives does eight minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours: 4 o’clock in the morning. This elusive hour, both very late and very early, appears often in art and literature as a way to describe the most extreme states of […]