First an immunologist, then a healthcare journalist and now a writer focusing on the Arab region, Shereen El Feki also serves on the UN’s Global Commission on HIV and the Law. In addition to studying social change in the Arab region, Shereen works on development with a women’s university in Saudi Arabia. Interactive Fellows Friday […]
After studying architecture in Minnesota, Joshua Wanyama established his own Kenya-based digital marketing agency, Pamoja Media. Happily back home in Nairobi, Joshua uses his company to tackle some of Africa’s most daunting social challenges — including climate change, hunger, and AIDS — while also maintaining a photography website dedicated to helping Africans tell their own […]
On Monday, the INK Conference (which is being held in partnership with TED) and the Rajeev Motwani Foundation hosted US President Barack Obama at an Expo on democracy and open government. The organizers were tasked with the critical job of showcasing new Indian innovations that might improve the relationship between citizens and government. The result? […]
For years, orthodontist Awab Alvi has been an outspoken political activist via his blog, Teeth Maestro. With the onset of disastrous flooding in his native Pakistan this July, Awab traveled to the front lines, delivering food and supplies to flood victims. Though the after effects of the floods have caused personal family tragedy, Awab’s fierce […]
The InK Conference (which stands for Innovation and Knowledge) is being run by longtime TEDster Lakshmi Pratury, who co-hosted TEDIndia a year ago. TED has signed a content partnership agreement with INK that will allow us to bring the best InK talks to TED.com. TEDIndia in 2009 was a thrilling experience, attracting a sold-out audience […]
The iconic portrait of 2011 TED Prize winner JR, jumping in front of a bold pair of eyes, was shot by the photographer and writer Christopher Shay. The story of how this photo came to be is an interesting one — and we asked Shay to tell it: I met JR when I was writing […]
… by an interesting twist, three winners connected to three different TED initiatives: TEDGlobal 2010 Fellow Adital Ela, a sustainable-design star. Watch Adital’s 5-minute talk from the TED Fellows conference >> Abreu Fellow Dantes Rameau, whose work with the El Sistema music program is an outgrowth of José Abreu’s 2009 TED Prize wish >> and […]
Band manager Vijay Nair is revolutionizing the independent music scene in India. In an industry heavily dominated by Bollywood, Vijay has resorted to creative techniques like printing instructions of how to pirate one of his band’s CDs on the back of the disc. Though his quirky company has had a lot of success, all start-ups […]
Unconventional astronomer Garki Israelian is known to TEDsters for his talk at TEDGlobal 2009 on studying the spectrum emitted by stars. Now Israelian is inviting anyone with an interest in astronomy and the space sciences to travel to the Canary Islands, in Spain, home of the world’s largest telescope, to participate on June 20-25, 2011 […]
Africa has beautiful stories to tell, says Peace Anyiam-Osigwe. At 16 years old, the Nigerian published her own magazine. She later continued bringing a “voice to voiceless issues” as a talk show host and film producer. Founder of the African Movie Academy Awards, Peace now dedicates her time to building cinemas in rural Africa, and […]
Yesterday, we featured Texan councilman Joel Burns as one of our Best of the Web picks. His courageous talk at the Fort Worth city council is part of a larger project begun in September by columnist Dan Savage and called “It Gets Better.” In reaction to recent teen suicides, Savage and his partner Terry Miller […]
Joel Burns tells gay teens “it gets better” In a courageous, intensely emotional talk at the city council in Fort Worth, Texas, councilman Joel Burns reaches out to the targets of teen bullying — kids who are gay, perceived as gay, or just different — with a vital message about their lives, and the harassment […]
Benoit Mandelbrot has died, at 85. We’re honored to have had him speak at the first TED, in 1984, and at the most recent TED in Long Beach, where he talked about his life’s work: studying fractals and roughness, and helping the world understand how fractal math underpins both nature and art. Mandelbrot was, as […]
Ever since founding the first truly effective ambulance service in India, Shaffi Mather has been hooked on social enterprises. He’s gone on to set up inclusive high-quality schools, support small-scale dairy farming, and is now launching a bribe-fighting business. (Watch his talk from TEDIndia 2009.) Can you give us an overview of each of your […]
Natalie Jeremijenko’s unusual lab puts art to work, and addresses environmental woes by combining engineering know-how with public art and a team of volunteers. These real-life experiments include: Walking tadpoles, texting “fish,” planting fire-hydrant gardens and more. (Recorded at Business Innovation Factory 5, October 2009 in Providence, RI. Duration: 19:51) [ted id=980] Watch Natalie Jeremijenko’s […]
For Kellee Santiago, founder of thatgamecompany, video games are an interactive art form. Inspired by hiking, gazing at clouds, and even stories of religious conversion, her games invoke emotional responses, pushing the boundaries of video games as a communicative media. What was your first experience with video games? Well, I had played games all my […]