The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust “charity” against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial innovation driving social change. (Recorded at TED@State, June 2009, at the US State Department, Washington, DC. Duration: 17:05) Twitter URL: http://on.ted.com/3O […]
Talking at the US State Department this summer, Hans Rosling uses his fascinating data-bubble software to burst myths about the developing world. Look for new analysis on China and the post-bailout world, mixed with classic data shows.(Recorded at the US State Department, June 2009 in Washington, DC. Duration: 19:57) Watch Hans Rosling’s talk on TED.com, […]
The man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and ’70s has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification and geo-engineering. This talk at the US State Department is a foretaste of his major new book, sure to provoke widespread debate. (Recorded at TED@State, June 2009 at the US […]
Long conflict can wreck a country, leaving behind poverty and chaos. But what’s the right way to help war-torn countries rebuild? At TED@State, Paul Collier explains the problems with current post-conflict aid plans, and suggests 3 ideas for a better approach. (Recorded at TED@State, at the US State Department, June 2009, in Washington, DC. Duration: […]
NYU professor Clay Shirky gave a fantastic talk on new media during our TED@State event earlier this month. He revealed how cellphones, the web, Facebook and Twitter had changed the rules of the game, allowing ordinary citizens extraordinary new powers to impact real-world events. As protests in Iran exploded over the weekend, we decided to […]
While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics. (Recorded at TED@State, at the US State Department, June 2009, in Washington, […]
Hans Rosling is a data rock star. Pulling health and social data from worldwide collections, he uses his brilliant bubble-making software, Gapminder, to stand our preconceived notions on their heads. Watch one of his three TEDTalks (in 2006, 2007 and 2009) and get ready to re-examine everything you think you know about the developing world. […]
Jacqueline Novogratz founded and leads Acumen Fund, a nonprofit that takes a businesslike approach to improving the lives of the poor, by investing in entrepreneurs who bring necessary goods and services — water, bread, healthcare — to communities that need it, and who would otherwise depend on traditional charity. In her new book, The Blue […]
Economist Paul Collier studies the political and economic problems of the very poorest countries: 50 societies, many in sub-Saharan Africa, that are stagnating or in decline, and taking a billion people down with them. His book The Bottom Billion identifies the four traps that keep such countries mired in poverty, and outlines ways to help […]
Zap Mama — a musical entity centered around the gorgeous voice of Marie Daulne — walked regally onstage, just three women and three microphones (and three exercise balls). Looping their voices, they wove their vocal lines into a web of mysteriously cool sound. Echoing and repeating, these three voices contained multitudes. Zap Mama’s new album, […]
We depend on Stewart Brand to take the long view — his most recent TEDTalk, in fact, is about the Clock of the Long Now, a timepiece that marks off a period of 10,000 years. He’s a rabid thinker and collector of ideas; among his many fascinations, he is especially enamored of cities, and of […]
Clay Shirky studies social networks, connections and subcultures that are using emerging technologies to connect. In Shirky’s prescient talk at TEDGlobal 2005 (given in the Era Before Facebook, if such a time can be imagined), he talks about how social media will allow for loose collaborative networks, where small contributors have big roles and fluid […]