On a drizzly spring day in Boston earlier this month, three dozen musicians mingled in the President’s Library of the New England Conservatory (NEC), one of the most prestigious music institutions in the country. The weather did not dampen the infectious enthusiasm in the room. After all, 10 of these musicians were about to mark […]
Happy 10,000th event, TEDx! Since its start in 2009, TEDx events have been held in 167 countries at an average rate of 8 per day. These events have taken place at locations as far flung as Mount Everest and the Sydney Opera House but, beyond that, these events have transformed individuals and their communities. Below an infographic—created by designer […]
What’s funny in one language isn’t necessarily funny in another. Maysoon Zayid’s “I got 99 problems … palsy is just one” presented many challenges for TED translators bringing the hilarious talk into their language. As she tells stories from her life as a Palestinian-American comedian with cerebral palsy, Zayid cracks with wordplay. For translators, it’s […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-yzTSrjkxc&w=983&h=553] If you ever find yourself in Brazil, advises Misha Glenny, try to look past the samba, soccer and sea. The journalist, who is currently researching a book on the underground drug trade in Rio de Janeiro, sees a Brazil of challenges, contradictions and opportunities that are far more complex than the celebrations on Ipanema […]
TEDGlobal 2014 is venturing “South!” In October, we’ll gather in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a five-day conference that will flip your thinking on innovation, problem-solving and, well, the world. Today, we’re revealing the first 40 speakers who’ll appear on the TEDGlobal stage. (Which, by the way, is being built on Copacabana Beach). They range from a “satellite datacaster“ to a […]
In 2008, Patricia Zougheib was at work in Beirut, Lebanon, when she came across a video of Jill Bolte Taylor describing her own stroke. She was awed, and Googled the three red letters she noticed in the background—T-E-D. “I started watching one talk after the other,” she says, “and I got hooked, big-time.” For a […]
Beliefs run deep, influencing not just whether we follow a religion but also the choices we make about every aspect of our lives. Belief is something we at TED think a lot about, and last night we held a session in our office dedicated to exploring what we believe and why we believe it. The […]
We’re launching a new way of exploring ideas. Ideas are the lifeblood of TED. They are the focal point of every talk, the fulcrum of every conversation and discussion. They’re also impossible to pin down, forever evolving, growing and adapting as the world around them changes. ideas.TED.com is built to celebrate this: to track ideas […]
The Maxi Taxi is Port of Spain’s answer to the subway. In the capital city of Trinidad and Tobago, this network of mini buses shuttles commuters along set routes—a red line, a yellow line, a green line—bringing them from neighborhoods to business districts and back. Like commuters in many cities, Maxi Taxi riders generally avoid […]
The illness hit me on a beautiful summer weekend. I woke up early and did an hour of exercise, feeling very excited to take my children to a local festival that evening. We all put on our summer kimonos, called yukata—my then 5-year-old son turned into a little samurai and my 2-year-old girl became a princess. […]
For the past four years, TED has held an annual evening salon in New York City to find talents, voices and ideas that the world needs to hear. At TED@NYC, an energetic audience gathers over dinner and drinks and watches a passionate lineup of speakers deliver short, rapid-fire talks and performances. The twist? For this event, we put out an open call and invite anyone in […]
The epic beauty of Everest has long enchanted photographers Aaron Huey (watch his TED Talk), James Balog (watch his talk) and Teru Kuwayama (read more about this TED Fellow). The three now turn their lenses on the quiet heroes of the mountain, to raise money for the families and community of the 16 Sherpas killed in […]
Time has given its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People of the Year a twist again for 2014 — each person on the list was written about by someone who could just as easily have appeared on it themselves. Below, the many TED connections in this package, both honorees and writers, divided into the categories Titans, […]
In the 1800s, around 50,000 brown bears — or grizzlies — roamed much of the Western United States. Today, those bears can be seen in less than 2 percent of their former range. TED-Ed Educator David Laskin uses NASA satellites to track the shifting, interrelated patterns of today’s grizzlies and the plants they live among. In […]
It’s 1pm at Sitters Studio, and seven people are gathered around a table while Adora Svitak’s “What adults can learn from kids” plays on a whiteboard in front of them. On video, the then-12-year-old begins, “When was the last time you were called childish?” Nods around the table. “For kids like me, it happens every time we […]
Twice a year, we select 20 unconventional change-makers to join the TED Fellows program, a global network of innovators from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Last year’s TED Fellows class included an eye surgeon using low-cost mobile phone technology to make eye care more accessible across Kenya; photojournalists documenting conflicts in Palestine and Bosnia; a biological anthropologist researching cancer […]