Last spring, singer-songwriter Stew (whose playful, provocative performance was a highlight of TED2006) rewrote the book on musicals with “Passing Strange,” a groundbreaking show that won rave reviews during its limited, sold-out run. Developed with the Public Theater as part of an ongoing effort to bring non-traditional voices into musical theater, Passing Strange was non-traditional, […]
This week, the UN and the World Bank launched the Stolen Asset Recovery initiative, or StAR — a plan to help poor countries recover funds stolen by corrupt leaders and stashed overseas. According to Reuters: World Bank estimates that cross-border flow of global proceeds from criminal activities, corruption and tax evasion is between $1 trillion […]
Wednesday night, Jill Sobule (watch her TEDTalk performance) and the modern string ensemble Ethel (watch their TEDTalk performance) paired up to play a charming set together in Central Park, a preview of the upcoming album from this partnership that began at TED2006. Backed by Ethel’s wall of sound, Jill’s sweet, funny, wise pop songs — […]
When she was awarded the 2006 TED Prize, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim expressed a wish: a global acceptance of diversity, mediated through the power of film. (Watch her speech.) The project is taking off, and its ambition level is spectacular. On May 10, 2008, Pangea Day, sites in New York City, Rio, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, […]
A few days ago TED2005 speaker Craig Venter (watch his talk) announced that his lab has finished sequencing a single human’s genome — his own. At his old company, Celera, Venter worked on sequencing his genome and four other genomes all mixed together, creating an anonymous composite. He told Newsweek: What we got this time […]
2007 TED Prize winner EO Wilson wished to create the key tool that we need to inspire preservation of Earth’s biodiversity: the Encyclopedia of Life. On May 9th of this year, it was announced that a consortium of institutions were starting the work to make it happen. (Check out the video that Avenue A/Razorfish made […]
Making private space travel possible and accessible to everyone has been a recurring topic at recent TED conferences, discussed by speakers such as Burt Rutan at TED 2006 (watch his speech), Peter Diamandis at TEDGLOBAL 2005, Richard Branson at TED 2007 and others. This week the first images of the central terminal and hangar facility […]
This year at TED, TED Prize winner Bill Clinton wished for us to partner with his foundation, the Rwandan government, and Partners in Health to build a sustainable, high-quality rural health system for the whole country. The pilot clinic in the Rwandan district of Rwinkwavu has been a proven success and there is a lot […]
Update: OLPC has announced that, starting Nov. 12, it will begin selling the XO laptop to consumers through its Give 1 Get 1 program. From the site: For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be […]
Al Seckel writes: To all TEDsters, It is with the greatest of sadness that we have to inform you that our very dearest friend and fellow TEDster Dr. Paul MacCready passed away on 28th August. Everyone who is reading this knows what a great and tremendous man he was, and how he devoted his entire […]
At TEDGlobal2007, blogger Andriankoto Ratozamanana, of Harinjaka, gave a 3-minute talk on a developing environmental crisis: the “crazy slash and burn” of the Madagascar forest. (To grasp the size of the problem, see this NASA image of burning in Madagascar, taken from the Terra satellite.) This weekend, he emailed us to update the story: A […]
The information spread a few months ago: director Steven Spielberg is planning a movie (a theatrical documentary) about pioneering green architect William (Bill) McDonough, his work, and his “Cradle to Cradle” vision of absolute sustainability — which Bill detailed in a 2002 book (written with Michael Braungart) and explained at TED2005 (watch his speech) and […]
TEDsters have already heard this story — from speakers Iqbal Quadir, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Ashraf Ghani, Jacqueline Novogratz, and several others at last June’s TEDGLOBAL in Tanzania: developing countries need investments more than aid. One of the world’s biggest charities has now acted upon this idea. CARE, writes the New York Times, is turning down some […]
Not all inventions need to be grandiose, complex things, Amy Smith said at TED2006: sometimes they can be simple and smart ideas that just help a lot of people (watch her speech – read summary). That’s the philosophy behind her first International Development Design Summit (IDDS), which just took place at MIT, where she teaches […]
At TED2007, Lakshmi Pratury beautifully spoke about the lost art of letter-writing and its power. Founder of Tamarind Grove, which creates business and cultural links between the US and India, and a longtime TEDster, Lakshmi just posted on her blog her thoughts on the 60th anniversary of India’s independence (that was yesterday, August 15): “In […]
University of Chicago economist Emily Oster went on stage at TED2007 to say that most of what we know about AIDS in Africa is wrong — and proceeded to show data and graphs to make her case (watch the video of her speech — or read the summary). Now she’s applied her atypical lens to […]