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 […]
You know the intro video that plays before any TED Talk — that 7-second clip that shows a drop of water rippling out into either space or a neural network, depending on who you talk to? Well, Michael Montes is the person who created the music for it. This longtime composer also just scored the […]
TED-Ed Clubs give students the opportunity to research, write and present a TED-style talk about an idea they just can’t get out of their head. Over the course of a flexible 13-meeting program, students narrow in on an idea and learn how to communicate it in the most effective way possible. For some students, inspiration for their talk will come […]
War isn’t easy to talk about. TED’s Juliet Blake knows this first-hand — she is the daughter of German Jews who never spoke about the war that wiped out so many members of their family. And yet, that devastation is exactly why it is so important to have conversations about the worst of human experiences. […]
Please enjoy your weekly roundup of TED-related news: This week, the New York Times took a look at Krista Donaldson’s nonprofit, D-Rev, which designs medical equipment for the developing world. (Watch her talk about their $80 prosthetic knees.) The article reads, “D-Rev is one of dozens of small Silicon Valley start-ups aiming to use market dynamics to […]
When Salman Khan shared his vision for “a free world-class education for anyone anywhere” at TED2011, he turned the education world on its head. As he introduced Khan Academy — a virtual classroom that uses video lessons to create an individualized, self-paced learning experience — his alternative model fueled the nascent dialogue about online education. […]
A pillar stands in the main hallway of Middletown High School South in New Jersey, with a whiteboard on either side of it. In front of these boards, students line up and excitedly uncap markers to write, of all things, thank-yous. Some only write one or two words; others pen sprawling paragraphs. While so much […]
By JD Schramm* In my TED Talk, I acknowledged for the first time that, in 2003, I tried to end my life. I wanted to share this in a public setting because 19 out of 20 people who attempt suicide will fail — and those that make the difficult decision to come back to life […]
The effect of laughter on someone who’s sad. The danger and excitement of dirt biking. The reason human beings need so much sleep. The thought of infinity. These are just a few of the topics that students are exploring through TED-Ed Clubs. This new program, announced today by our educational initiative TED-Ed, is a way […]
Frederic Kaplan has found an unconventional way to build a time machine. Rather than making a metal object (or, uh, a police call box) that whisks you through time and space, he wondered: Could a time machine be built out of information? In today’s TED Talk, filmed at TEDxCaFoscariU, Kaplan previews the Venice Time Machine, […]
The TED Prize turns our staff into genies: every year, we give $1 million dollars to one inspiring leader with a bold wish for the world. A sampling of wishes that have won in recent years: “Help us spark a global movement to record and preserve meaningful conversations with one another that result in an ever-growing […]
Execution. A word that gives me the willies not because I picture a Westerosi royal beheader coming for my neck, but because it conjures images of budgets and bottom lines. Seriously, why can’t I just think for a living? When you live in a world of ideas, turning passion into a product is no easy […]