First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon spoke at TEDSummit on Wednesday in Edinburgh about her vision for making collective well-being the main aim of public policy and the economy. (Watch her full talk on TED.com.) That same morning, Boris Johnson assumed office as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the latest episode of the Brexit drama […]
The event: TED Salon: Trailblazers, hosted by TED design and arts curator Chee Pearlman and TED science curator David Biello When and where: Thursday, June 27, 2019, at the TED World Theater in New York City The partner: The Macallan Music: Sammy Rae & The Friends The talks in brief: Marcus Bullock, entrepreneur and justice […]
June 28, 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, when LGBTQ people and allies fought back in a six-night riot against a police raid on The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City. Stonewall was not the first time that LGBTQ people took a stand against oppression or police harassment, but […]
Edinburgh, Scotland will host TEDSummit this summer, from July 21-25. The city was selected because of its special blend of history, culture and beauty, and for its significance to the TED community (TEDGlobal 2011, 2012 and 2013 were all held there). We asked longtime TEDster Ellen Maloney to share some of her favorite activities that […]
The event: TED Salon: “Rethink,” hosted by TED business curator Corey Hajim and TED tech curator Alex Moura When and where: Thursday, June 6, 2019, at the TED World Theater in New York City The partner: Brightline Initiative, with Brightline executive director Ricardo Vargas warming up the audience with opening remarks Music: Dark pop bangers […]
“You have to start with an interesting question,” says neuroscientist Beau Lotto. We’re talking over Skype with collaborator Geneviève Laurendeau, the corporate PR manager at Cirque du Soleil, to discuss their year-long science project: an experiment to measure awe. When and how do we feel awe? And: Why does it matter? One great place to […]
Barreling through the high-visibility, high-tech exhibits on the TED2019 circuit, you’d be forgiven for mistaking The Data Garden for just another chillout zone, with its oasis of potted houseplants and people lying draped, spaced out, across bean bags. Yet an arresting sound beckons from this unassuming island – a soothing patter of gently percussive gongs, like […]
“I don’t think I’m qualified to speak my own mind,” says Australian comic Hannah Gadsby. “I’m not so good at turning the thinking into the talking. And you’re wondering how someone who’s so bad at the chat could be a stand-up comedian?” She starts off her TED Talk by promising the audience three ideas and […]
“For many people,” says Canadian illustrator and author Jonny Sun, “the internet can feel like a lonely place.” “A big endless, expansive void, where you can constantly call out to it, but no one’s listening. … But it turns out the void isn’t this endless, lonely expanse at all. Instead it’s full of all sorts […]
One year ago, TED launched The Audacious Project — an initiative to help change-makers with big, bold ideas for tackling global challenges find the support to make their visions a reality. What’s happened since has been amazing. Thousands of people in the US are awaiting trials at home rather than in jail cells now because […]
One of anthropologist Margaret Mead’s most famous quotes instructs us: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” We might amend Mead’s observation to honor a group of thoughtful, committed teenagers across the world who are standing up for their lives […]
More than a billion people in the world lack access to basic health care. It’s a hard truth that Raj Panjabi pointed to as he accepted the TED Prize in 2017 — globally, there’s a shortage of accredited health workers, and many people living in remote areas are all but cut off from care. There’s a […]
Astrophysicist and astronomer Seth Shostak made a daring bet in his 2012 TED Talk: We’ll find extraterrestrial life within 24 years or he’ll buy you a cup of coffee. This isn’t just wishful thinking — technological advances over the past few decades have amplified the scope of space exploration monumentally, allowing us to search the […]
The event: TED Salon: Imagine If, curated by Bryn Freedman and Amanda Miller, TED Institute The partner: U.S. Air Force When and where: Thursday, February 21, 2019, at the TED World Theater in New York City Music: Rapper Alia Sharrief, performing her songs “My Girls Rock” and “Girl Like Me” The big idea: Imagination is […]
Today, GlobalXplorer, the citizen science platform created by satellite archaeologist Sarah Parcak with the 2016 TED Prize — which allows users live out their Indiana Jones fantasies and search for archaeological sites from home — announced the location of its second expedition. The location will be: India! GlobalXplorer’s first expedition took users to Peru, where they […]
“That’s what’s so extraordinary about life: It’s a cycle of generation, degeneration, regeneration.” The humorist Emily Levine has died, after an extraordinary life spent questioning the very nature of reality. A philosopher-comic, she tore apart classics and physics and pop culture, and then, in trickster fashion, stuck them together in ways that created not just […]