“The Next Chapter” is already fascinating — full of great characters, plot twists and, hopefully, it’s all leading toward a happy ending. Today, we kicked off TED2014 — our 30th-anniversary conference — which will chew on this theme, offering intriguing ideas on where we are going next. So what happened in day one? Below, some highlights. […]
At the end of Session 1: Liftoff! at TED2014, DJ and producer Mark Ronson drops the TED Talk intro into a million tiny little pieces. Hair slicked to one side, Ronson mutters self-disparagingly about following Nicholas Negroponte, Chris Hadfield and Ziauddin Yousafzai: “Now I know what it feels like to follow Led Zeppelin, the Stones […]
TED was co-founded, in 1984, by Richard Saul Wurman and partner Harry Marks. As part of the 30th-year anniversary, Chris Anderson welcomed Wurman up onto the stage to recognize that achievement. “How does it feel to see your baby reach 30?” asked Anderson. Wurman said, “Well, I have 3 minutes. I thought about being clever. […]
“I create sculpture that makes me feel protected, yet connected to limitless sky,” says Janet Echelman, the artist who gave the TED2011 talk “Taking imagination seriously.” Echelman’s sculptures resemble netting — gigantic, beautifully draped, brightly colored and installed overhead. In fact, she’s noticed something about her installed works that she never expected to happen: People gather underneath the […]
In October 2012, a Taliban-affiliated gunman shot Ziauddin Yousafzai’s daughter Malala soon after she boarded a bus en route to her school. In Swat, Pakistan — where Ziauddin and Malala live — the Taliban had outlawed all girls from attending school — but Yousafzai, an educator and steadfast crusader for women’s rights in Pakistan, refused […]
Or, asks retired colonel Chris Hadfield to the crowd at TED2014, “What’s the most dangerous? And, why did you do it?” For Hadfield, an astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency and a commander of the International Space Station for 3 months, it was to ride a rocket ship into orbit. Watch Chris Hadfield’s TED Talk >> […]
Today, Negroponte is back to open TED, to reflect on predictions he’s made in the past and to spin some new ones for the future. His point is that when someone tells you that you are “dead wrong,” that you just might be onto something. Negroponte takes us on a lightning-paced tour of his career, […]
It’s time for TED! And first on our *brand-new stage* in Vancouver is the iridescent Kevin Olusola from Pentatonix, who starts the show off in a typically mind-shifting way, playing cello and, well, beatboxing. In honor of the fact that this is, after all, the 30th year of the conference, he takes us on a […]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEGLql53wY4&w=586&h=330] The theme of TED2014 is “The Next Chapter.” And since it’s our 30th-anniversary conference, we begin with a look back at the chapters that came before. Enjoy this opener video, created by Mac Premo and Oliver Jeffers, which just kicked off Session 1: Liftoff! Follow the action of the session, and the rest of the conference, […]
This session is for those with a pioneering spirit: where two roads diverge in the woods … these visionaries decided to fly instead. As we fire up the engines of TED2014, our 30th-anniversary conference, expect the kind of forward-thinking ideas that turn one small step for a man into a giant leap for mankind. Watch […]
Session 2 of Fellows talks at TED2014 was just as unexpected as Session 1. Here, read a recap of each talk in the session. Somi, singer + cultural activist East African songstress Somi brings her smoky voice to the TED Fellows stage, with “Brown, RoundThings for Sale” from her album The Lagos Music Salon. Often […]
With the TED Fellows, expect the unexpected: 3D animated molecules, tethered quadcopter cameras, death row inmates turned lawyers, quantum chaos. It’s the fifth-anniversary edition of TED Fellows talks, live from Vancouver, and here’s what happened in Session 1. Usman Riaz, musician + artist The Fellows stage comes to life quietly with the melodic strains of […]
Today, TED begins writing “The Next Chapter.” Attendees are streaming into the Vancouver Convention Centre for our 30th anniversary conference, the final touches have been put on the exhibitions, and the speakers have gone through rehearsals. Here, some images of our set-up efforts. Stay tuned to the TED Blog for minute-by-minute coverage of what goes […]
I want to give you the back story behind today’s TED Talk and make the case that it’s one of the most significant we’ve ever posted. And I’m not just talking about its incredible animation. I’m talking about its core idea. Two years ago the psychologist Steven Pinker and the philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, who are […]
As TED Fellows arrive from all over the world to Ed Ou’s hometown of Vancouver for TED2014, Ou himself is far away in Ukraine, where he’s been since February, documenting the civil unrest and growing political tension as a freelance photographer represented by Getty. Today, he writes in to give us an inside view, sending […]
While we’ve been preparing for next week’s TED conference in Vancouver, BC, some TEDsters have been busy Dancing with the Stars, protesting the NSA and musing on the aftermath of speaking at TED. Here are some illustrious activities from around the TED world this week: Nilofer Merchant (watch her TED Talk) admits that she had […]