With just over a month until TED2014, themed “The Next Chapter,” this year’s lineup of speakers has been busy making music, writing books and, oh, trekking across Antarctica. Check out speakers who’ve made the news in recent weeks: On Monday morning, Arctic explorer Ben Saunders completed his 1,795-mile, 105-day trek across Antarctica. This is Saunders’ third attempt […]
Next month, TED turns 30 years old. And to celebrate, we’ve put together a lightning round of trivia to test your TED Talk and speaker knowledge. For kicks, post your answers in the comments section below. We’ll post the official answer sheet today, February 13, at 1pm. Ken Robinson, who gave the most-watched talk in […]
Last night in our office, we held a miniature TED session around the theme “Examining Prejudice.” And while it explored issues of discrimination and homophobia, it also veered to some unexpected places — like your dislike of Brussels sprouts. “When we think of prejudice, we think of stupid people doing stupid things,” said psychologist Paul […]
TEDActive was born with a bang in Aspen, Colorado, in 2008. Quite literally. Less than 24 hours before the conference was supposed to start, the sprinklers erupted and drenched the simulcast lounges — red beanbag chairs and all — with buckets of water. But instead of letting despair sink in, everyone grabbed a mop, towel, […]
The image you see above is Amanda Palmer just before stepping onto the TED2013 stage to give her talk, “The art of asking.” She asked one of the crew members to snap this photo of her with daisy in hand. As our lineup of TED2014 speakers finish writing their talks and start the long process […]
By Lisa Katayama In a developed country where the dialogue around human rights is very charity-minded, it’s rare to find young people with visions of engaging rural farmers in developing countries as equals. That’s why Tokyo native Doga Makiura stands out. When Doga was 13, he left his home in Japan and enrolled himself in […]
Artist JR’s latest project turns the floor of the David H. Koch Theater, home of the New York City Ballet, into a swirl of bodies. For it, JR photographed the company’s dancers and assembled their portraits into a 6,500-square-foot mural that stretches the length of the lobby. Walking on the floor is surreal, as each […]
This week has brimmed over with TED-related news. Here, some highlights: In 2011, Arizona legislator Gabby Giffords was shot in an assassination attempt. Now she and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, have founded Americans for Responsible Solutions, a bipartisan organization that has raised $6 million in six months for the creation of sensible gun […]
“Using a powerful particle gun, we would shoot small pieces of matter through the force field and into the antimatter to make small, controlled bursts of energy –which we could then harness and put into batteries.” This quote reads like a line of dialogue from a science fiction movie. But the (exponentially more exciting) truth […]
In today’s talk, Teddy Cruz looks at San Diego-Tijuana border, where some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the United States are just a short drive from some of the poorest communities in Mexico. As used materials flow from San Diego to Tijuana, transforming the kinds of structures created there, people move from Tijuana to San Diego, retrofitting […]
I was a foreign correspondent based in China when I attempted suicide, twice. A big factor was the fear that if anyone knew what I was feeling, I would be fired and my career would be over. Here I was, a journalist since the age of 16, whose far-flung life — Peace Corps volunteer in […]
TED2014 is our 30th-anniversary conference, and the speaker lineup is — in a word — thrilling. Speakers will touch on topics ranging from technology, entertainment, design and education to climate change, architecture, music, physics, parenting, typography, fireflies and the Golden Gate Bridge. Randall Munroe of xkcd will talk about his passion for What If questions. […]
Kylie Dunn has come up with the perfect analogy for her Year of TED, a self-improvement project she dreamed up in 2011 to infuse ideas from TED Talks into her everyday life. She says that the experience was akin to the Wizard of Oz, with herself playing each of the main characters. Dunn was recently […]
So much happening in TED-related news this week. Here, some of the highlights. Lean In: The Movie? Sony has acquired the movie rights to Sheryl Sandberg’s book, which began as a TED Talk. Speaking of books, Simon Sinek (watch his talk) recently released his new book Leaders Eat Last, about how leaders can foster a […]
In the nearly two weeks since the launch of TED-Ed Clubs, almost 700 educators in 50+ countries have completed applications in the hopes of bringing the program into their classrooms. Meanwhile, TED-Ed’s Twitter feed saw a flurry of excitement as educators and students took to their keyboards to share their thoughts. Here, a look at what […]
Take the TED Conference and add a generous helping of play, a sprinkling of colorful creativity, a lot of red beanbags, an endless supply of coffee, and a plethora of riveting conversations around fire pits with a tribe of smart, quirky people from all over the world and — voila! — you have the recipe […]