The past two weeks have seen some fascinating TED-related news items. Below, highlights. As the mayor of Tirana, Albania, Edi Rama transformed his city into a multi-colored explosion of geometric pattern. (Watch his TED Talk.) The leader of Albania’s opposition Socialist Party, Rama has now been named the nation’s new Prime Minister following his party’s commanding win in […]
The image above is classic Liu Bolin — the artist painted exactingly to blend in with the scene behind him. (Watch his talk from TED2013, “The invisible man.”) But if you look closely, you will see that the man in the picture is not actually Bolin—the tell-tale Ray-Bans reveal that this is JR, the artist […]
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhD_rCGjqUM%5DA year ago, political scientist Tarig Hilal captivated the audience at TEDxKhartoum with the story of the Sudan he saw — not a place of violent strife, political unrest or pervasive poverty, but a country of beautiful natural landscapes, a rich history and a hopeful generation of changemakers ready to turn a new chapter […]
Installed in the middle of the social spaces during TEDGlobal 2013 two weeks ago, three visual scribes kept busy throughout the conference drawing, capturing and sometimes deconstructing the content of every talk on giant whiteboards. David Christie, Fernanda de Uriarte and Tom Oswald, of the London firm Innovation Arts, turned the ideas expressed by the speakers on […]
Before TEDGlobal 2013, director Bruno Giussani reached out to the giant community of TEDx organizers around the world to ask for some comic relief. He asked them, “What are the funniest videos from your event?” And, as usual, TEDx’ers came through — with wild enthusiasm. Below, the 5 hilarious TEDx Talks Giussani selected to show at […]
June is otherwise known as Pride Month, a time to celebrate both the struggles and victories on the road to equality. So it feels very fitting that today, June 26, on the final day of their term, the Supreme Court delivered a pair of rulings that bolster gay marriage. Today, explore this compilation of talks about […]
The past few weeks have seen some extraordinary TED-relevant news items, both happy and sad. Below are some highlights. This year’s TEDGlobal included a new simulcast event, TEDxVilniusLive, which featured a livestream of the conference, a TEDxYouShare audience session, and a Maker Fair that showed off plenty of innovative local work. Lithuania’s youngest quadcopter constructor, […]
From an unexpected reason why malaria has not been eradicated to a bold argument for why businesses can be a powerful force in solving the world’s problems, TEDGlobal 2013 brought so many opportunities for us to “Think Again,” as citizens of a global world. Here, some incredible images taken on site during days 4 and […]
Chances are, you’ve heard Ghandi’s famous words: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Now, you have an opportunity to bring the famous adage to life. The TED Prize is a $1 million grant, awarded annually to a bold leader with an idea for a large-scale, high-impact project that will inspire global change. […]
It’s the last day of TEDGlobal 2013, which means goodbyes and premature reminiscing. Onward: In session 11, “Tech Impact,” we heard about the dangers and delights of our accelerated technological age. We’re doomed! No we’re not! Yes we are! And in session 12, “All Together Now,” we held mental hands and were reminded that, in […]
David Steindl-Rast is a monk, and a composed, serene figure to wrap up the last session of TEDGlobal 2013. His theme, gratefulness, is also appropriate for the end of a long and intense week. After all, he points out, we all share the same essential goal: to be happy. And gratitude provides the key. “We […]
As this amazing week of TEDGlobal 2013 winds to a close with Session 8: Altogether Now, the audience is still reeling from a shocking talk on the mighty roots of corruption by Charmian Gooch, founder of Global Witness. What better to help soothe the soul than the rich and sultry voice of Irish-born pop singer-songwriter […]
When we talk about corruption, certain types of individuals come to mind, says Charmian Gooch, co-founder of watchdog NGO Global Witness. She gives some familiar examples of the type. There’s the (former) Soviet megalomaniac — such as Saparmurat Niyazov, the all-powerful leader of Turkmenistan, whose indulgences included erecting a 40-foot-high gold-plated statue of himself that […]
“This was my cancer,” TED Fellow Salvatore Iaconesi begins his TEDGlobal talk, showing a slide of brain scans taken last summer, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer at age 39. Since the moment Iaconesi heard the word “cancer” come out of his doctors’ mouth, he noticed something — that the way people related to […]
Political philosopher Michael Sandel — the second “Michael from Harvard” this session — returns to TED in the last session of TEDGlobal, “All Together Now,” to address the marketization of our culture. These days there’s very little money can’t buy. If you ever wind up in jail in San Diego, CA, and you find your […]
Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter is here to make the case that business can help tackle social problems. Issues such as healthcare, access to water and climate change are bread-and-butter concerns for TEDsters in the room, who clearly agree with his early statement that we’re all very aware that these problems exist. Many of them also […]