When Justin Dowd worked as a food runner at a restaurant, he would sometimes doodle on the chalkboard in the kitchen. He had no idea that this skill — coupled with his ability to explain physics — would one day win him a trip to space. The science writer and animator who created the TED-Ed lesson “Could comets […]
You’ve probably heard of Area 51. But how about Area Zero? Area Zero is the flagship center of Sugata Mitra’s School in the Cloud, the idea that won him the 2013 TED Prize. It’s the final of Mitra’s labs dedicated to self-organized learning, and it opened this morning in Gocharan in West Bengal, India. A […]
We’re all looking for a tribe — a group of people we can talk with, bat around ideas with, make things happen with. And we’re all looking for inspiration — things to spark our imagination, send us off in new directions, and keep us buoyed when things get tough. One week each year, TED hosts […]
I manage TED’s online community from my home on the West Coast, and while many of my interactions are with people based all over the world, the majority of my colleagues are based across the country at TED HQ in New York City. As anyone who works remotely knows, attending meetings as a giant videoconferencing head-on-the-wall isn’t […]
Last week, I saw Barbara Walters’ list of “The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2014.” It included interesting thinkers like Elon Musk (watch his TED Talk) and George R.R. Martin (the author of Game of Thrones), along with crowd-pleasers like Taylor Swift and Oprah. But reading this list of almost exclusively marquee names made me think about some of the people […]
Before Jackie Hodges arrived for orientation at Tufts University School of Medicine, she got a gift from her soon-to-be med school: a free download of the e-book The Upstream Doctors by Rishi Manchanda. In this book, Manchanda — who has worked for a decade as a doctor in community clinics around South Central Los Angeles […]
Stella Young — comedian, activist, TEDx speaker, awesome person — died on December 6, 2014. She wished to be no one’s inspiration. YMMV.
“Syrians are just looking for a quiet place where nobody hurts you,” says one refugee, who survived a capsized escape craft on his dangerous journey. Clarice Holt, an illustrator in London, was moved by the simple, powerful truths she heard in Melissa Fleming’s TED Talk, “Let’s help refugees thrive” — and made these beautiful illustrations […]
Taking great photos isn’t just about having a nice camera. I’m a firm believer that good photography comes from smart photographers who think creatively and know how to make the most of what they’ve got—whether they’re working with fancy DSLR or an iPhone. On TED’s design team, where I manage TED’s Instagram account, we’re always […]
No, Aunt Bertha will not pinch your cheeks. That’s because she is not actually a person. Aunt Bertha is a service, created by TED Fellow Erine Gray, that connects people in need of food, healthcare and housing with the wide variety of programs available in their area. This week, Aunt Bertha is aiming to connect […]
Jaap de Roode is a biologist who studies parasites and their hosts — particularly Monarch butterflies. At TEDYouth 2014, he spoke about Monarch butterflies, their self-medicating ingenuity — and what that ingenuity can help humans discover. Lubna Batool, an 11th-grade New Yorker, was fascinated. On site at TEDYouth, with a dozen monarch butterflies flapping about […]
Conservation ecologist Eric Sanderson makes a science out of envisioning New York City in the past and the future. His Mannahatta project was a 10-year deep dive into the green landscape of Manhattan as it existed 400 years ago – and his new project, Mannahatta 2409, asks the public to create their own future visions […]
Gil Weinberg creates musically included robots so good they can improvise. The founder of the Music Technology program at Georgia Tech, he also creates innovative music apps and has contributed his technologies to many a band and ensemble. Sam Roth, an 11th grader in New York City, was excited to interview Weinberg about his experience speaking at […]
I can’t tell you how completely shocked I am to win the TED Prize. For those of you who haven’t heard of StoryCorps, it’s a Brooklyn-based nonprofit I founded 11 years ago that, so far, has given 100,000 Americans the chance to record audio interviews about their lives. Participating in StoryCorps couldn’t be easier: you invite a loved one (or, really, anyone […]
Jennifer Mascia reports on gun violence in America. For more than a year, at The New York Times, she and Joe Nocera wrote “The Gun Report,” a daily series telling the stories of people killed by gunfire in the US. The series was personal for her; one of the people she wrote about was a friend, […]
Writer, cartoonist and New York City transplant Nathan W. Pyle is the creator of the street-savvy, GIFed-out NYC Basic Tips and Etiquette. Lubna Batool, an 11th-grade New Yorker, is a big admirer of his work, which gives newcomers to the city the little tips no one else will—like that one $20 umbrella will outlast four […]