Thought-provoking, silly and sometimes somber, the interstitials shown at TED2016 provide a needed moment for a breath between talks. The videos are meant to “light up different parts of the brain,” says Anyssa Samari, who scours the internet year-round alongside Jonathan Wells to curate this kindling that keeps the intellectual fires burning. “They create balance.” […]
“You’re about to participate in the largest collective VR viewing in history,” said Chris Milk in his talk on virtual reality at TED2016. “We are all going to watch something at the exact same time, together.” A Google Cardboard and pair of Urban Ears headphones sat on every chair in the theater. We assembled the viewer, downloaded a special […]
You’re standing on a small platform: Someone snaps you into a heavy vest, and pulls a clunky helmet over your eyes. Before you can adjust to the extra weight, suddenly the world has a strange echo, and all other noise falls away. Your surroundings are now a rumbling Tomb Raider-themed universe, and you are its hero. […]
“A while ago, I tried an experiment,” says Shonda Rhimes, the “titan” behind Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder. “For one year, I would say ‘yes’ to all the things that scared me. Anything that made me nervous or took me out of my comfort zone, I’d say ‘yes.’” Public speaking? Yes. Acting? […]
RejectTED Talks. Onion Talks. DED Talks. Here in the TED office, you often hear chuckles as someone watches one of the quickly growing crop of TED spoofs floating in the ether. And surprisingly, there are some pretty good lessons for speakers embedded in these spoofs. See what I mean below. The spoof: Stephen Colbert’s RejecTED Talks […]
There’s something so cool about finding a new podcast to love — each little download opens a door to new ideas, new jokes, new ways of seeing the world. Working at TED, as you might guess, many of us have strong opinions about this. Beyond the podcasts we all love: This American Life, Radiolab, The […]
A cure for those what-do-I-watch-now moments: starting today, TED is on Apple TV. In our beautifully designed new Apple TV channel, you can watch TED’s full library of talks (1900+ of them and counting) and our expanding collection of playlists (more than 200 of them, from “Architectural inspiration” to “Talks to watch when every conceivable […]
The glossy pages of magazines offer fascinating people, absorbing stories and photos that transport you to faraway places. During Session 8 of TED2015, a magazine will spring into three dimensions on the stage, thanks to Pop-Up Magazine. See, every now and then, we hand over the reins to a guest curator. At TED2011, Bill Gates and Juan Enriquez […]
This Friday, TED Radio Hour kicks off its third season. As one of the editorial consultants for the show on TED’s side, I am always impressed with the way Guy Raz and his team experiment with new ways of storytelling. In Friday’s episode, we’ll solve for x; the week after, we’ll take a look at […]
On the surface, the talk is “TED-like”: the round red carpet, the well-rehearsed speaker, the shadowy audience, the headset mic. But quickly, discordant elements begin to register: the strange parenthetical markings on the floor, the inappropriate audience responses, the fact that the speaker himself is a 10-year-old boy. Welcome to “The Thought Leader,” a satire […]
TED was well-represented at the 87th annual Academy Awards last night. Documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature for Citizenfour, and brought journalist Glenn Greenwald (watch his TED Talk) onstage with her to accept the award. The film dives into the world of Edward Snowden (watch his Q&A at TED2014), […]
You might not think TED has anything to do with Fifty Shades of Grey. We didn’t either. Until we woke up this morning to find ourselves called out in The New Yorker’s scathing review of the movie: “You get dirtier talk in most action movies, and more genitalia in a TED talk on Renaissance sculpture.” […]
In The Hundred-Foot Journey, a young chef named Hassan transcends the kitchen of his family’s boisterous Indian restaurant, charms the icy proprietress of the Michelin-starred French restaurant across the street, and tries his hand at becoming a top chef in Paris. The story unfolds over the course of years, and actor Manish Dayal came up […]
Fargo, North Dakota, has a skewed reputation. This city, which happens to be my hometown, rocketed to infamy thanks to the 1996 dark comedy by the Coen Brothers about a down-on-his-luck car salesman (William H. Macy) who plans to have his wife kidnapped, and the sheriff (Frances McDormand) who investigates what happens when the plan […]
Photographer Frans Lanting returns to TED for a short reminder of what’s happening outside the walls of our beautiful glass box. “Humanity,” he says, “takes center stage at TED, but I’d like to add a voice for the animals.” Lanting retells a story he once heard from a tribal elder not far from Vancouver, about […]
Armed with an accordion and wearing a fetching chocolate brown pork pie hat, musician Jason Webley is here. Or as he puts it, an “unknown hairy guy who plays the accordion” is here. Having navigated some technical difficulties, Webley brings the audience firmly on side with his self-deprecating humor and folksy blend of charming cod philosophy. With […]