Steven Johnson (TED2003) has wowed us at TED in the past, and his books never fail to intrigue and delight. His latest, Everything Bad is Good for You offers a provocative new lens through which to ponder the impact of modern culture. General assumptions among the cognoscenti: (1) Mass culture is dumbing us down (2) […]
The New York Times may be cranky about the new trend in web comics. (They question the distinction between web comics and animation, and bemoan the “added headaches.”) But those of us who recognize that emerging media are, by definition, works in progress, find the new form fascinating. Our favorite: The Right Number by Scott […]
Malala Yousafzai has spent her life advocating for girls’ education — surviving an assassination attempt at 15, meeting with world leaders and then watching hard-won progress collapse when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. That moment of despair forced her to completely rethink what it means to create change, and what she discovered replaced […]
At TED, we say that ideas change everything. And it’s the people behind these ideas who make TED the powerful community it is. Each talk sparks something: a new question, a shift in perspective, a feeling that lingers longer than expected. Those who hear the talk then forward along that nugget of insight, in a […]
Dear Democracy, How are you holding up? You’ve had some tough days lately, it seems. The last few years haven’t been very kind to you. Despite democracy being at a modern-day high at the end of 2017 (Drew Desilver, Pew Research), a 2025 report from the University of Gothenburg found that autocratic countries now outnumber […]
The Audacious Project, the collaborative funding platform within TED, is thrilled to announce its newest cohort of grantee innovators. This new cohort extends the vital on-the-ground work of Audacious grantees on key global issues, including reducing the flow of plastics to rivers and oceans, improving reproductive care, preventing homelessness and investing in low-income and first-generation […]
By Brigid Jacoby, with Amanda Lynch November is National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, a time to pause, reflect and continue the conversation on a disease that touches millions of lives around the world. Alzheimer’s isn’t just a medical challenge — it’s an emotional one that reshapes families, identities and the way we connect with one another. […]
The Audacious Project supports big ideas to foster change around the world’s most urgent challenges. Today, this innovative funding initiative, housed at TED, is announcing its new cohort of projects for 2024, which are as bold as ever — from an idea to repurpose generic drugs en masse to reach the 300 million people globally […]
How can you best communicate your work experience, succeed at your current job and secure the future of your career? The Way We Work, a TED original video series, helps business leaders and innovative thinkers answer those questions and more. Whether you’re starting a new job, freelancing or want to future-proof your career, season six […]
It is with immense sadness that we commemorate the legacy of Dr. Karen Bakker, who died on August 14. Karen’s talk at TED2023, Could an orca give a TED Talk?, demonstrated the beautiful promise afforded by technologies such as AI to help us understand the natural world more deeply. A Guggenheim Fellow and professor at […]
Work is a big part of our lives, so how can we bring our best selves to it, and how can we create workplaces that help employees thrive? The Way We Work is a TED original video series where leaders and thinkers offer practical wisdom and insight into how we can adapt and thrive amid […]
Today, The Audacious Project, a collaborative funding initiative housed at TED, announced that more than one billion dollars has been committed to its newest cohort of projects. This is a significant funding milestone in the initiative’s five-year history and comes at a critical time on key issues such as climate change, migrant rights and criminal […]
In response to the overwhelming popularity of Adam Grant’s interviews on the WorkLife podcast, TED Audio Collective has launched a new podcast, ReThinking with Adam Grant, to explore the science of what makes us tick. TED speaker and organizational psychologist Adam Grant will interview today’s most fascinating creators, achievers and leaders to figure out how […]
In June 2007, Ghanaian economist, acclaimed author and scholar George Ayittey delivered an impassioned call from the TEDGlobal stage in Arusha, Tanzania. Railing against a political class he felt had let the continent down for more than half a century, he challenged Africa’s most innovative youth — whom he deemed its “cheetahs” — to take […]
Communities around the globe are grappling with division and uncertainty. Lasting and transformative change on the world’s most pressing challenges will require us to work together and find common ground. At The Audacious Project, we aspire to be a lever for courageous collaboration, supporting those who are reimagining and rebuilding our systems to better meet […]
This is part of an ongoing spotlight created by Black@TED, TED’s employee resource group for staff who identify as Black. This is a reintroduction for anyone, anywhere. There’s a bad habit in desperate need of breaking. A narrow understanding of representation, watered down to mean simply a face or a voice (without weight, like a […]