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. Yoruba Richen will talk about the fastest-moving social justice campaign in history. Wendy Chung will offer a scholarly overview of what we know right now about autism. And Chris Hadfield of NASA will put down his guitar long enough to talk to us about life in space — and back on earth.  Some speakers on the lineup will look back and reflect on things that have happened over the past 30 years. Other speakers will look forward and predict: where are we headed next?

These speakers will be writing “The Next Chapter” of TED. Click the name to read the full bio.

Session 1: Liftoff

• Nicholas Negroponte, tech visionary
• Chris Hadfield, astronaut
• An education reformer
• Mark Ronson, music producer

Session 2: Retrospect

• Bran Ferren, technology designer
• Marc Kushner, architect
• Yoruba Richen, documentary filmmaker

Session 3: Reshape

• Matthew Carter, type designer
• Amanda Burden, urban planner
• David Kwong, cruciverbalist
• Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist
• Peggy Liu, Sustainability activist
• Michel Laberge, plasma physicist

Session 4: Wish

• Zak Ebrahim, peace activist
• Melinda and Bill Gates, philanthropists
• Charmian Gooch, anti-corruption activist and winner of the 2014 TED Prize
• Sting, composer/singer/author/actor/activist

Session 5: Us

• Nancy Kanwisher, brain researcher
• Rob Knight, microbial ecologist
• Stephen Friend, open-science advocate
• Jon Mooallem, writer
• Geena Rocero, model and activist
• David Chalmers, philosopher

Session 6: Wired

• Margaret Gould Stewart, user experience master
• Del Harvey, security maven
• Charlie Rose, conversationalist
• Chris Kluwe, punter and author
• Jeremy Kasdin, planet finder
• Avi Reichental, 3D printer
• Hugh Herr, prostheticist

Session 7: Why?

• Wendy Chung, geneticist
• Elizabeth Gilbert, writer
• Allan Adams, theoretical physicist
• Jason Webley, musician
• Jim Holt, writer and philosopher
• Helder Guimarães, magician

Session 8: Hacked

• Marco Tempest, techno-illusionist
• Keren Elazari, cybersecurity expert
• David Epstein, sports science reporter
• Ed Yong, science writer
• Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist

Session 9: Signals

• Sara Lewis, firefly specialist
• Deborah Gordon, ecologist
• Randall Munroe, cartoonist
• Andrew Connolly, astronomer
• Will Marshall, space scientist
• Louie Schwartzberg, filmmaker

Session 10: Passion

• Mellody Hobson, investment expert
• Sarah Lewis, writer
• Ben Saunders, arctic explorer
• Masarat Daud, rural education campaigner
• Isabel Allende, novelist
• Shaka Senghor, author
• Blood Orange, musician and producer

Session 11: Unstress

• Raspyni Brothers, jugglers
• Simon Sinek, leadership expert
• Sarah Jones, polymorphic playwright
• Jennifer Senior, writer
• Kevin Briggs, Golden Gate guardian

Session 12: Onward

• Joi Ito, relentless mind
• Shai Reshef, education entrepreneur
• Gabby Giffords and Mark Kelly, gun law activists
• Andrew Solomon, writer
• Julia Sweeney, actor, comedian and playwright

For a photo layout of the sessions » 

And for much more information on each and every speaker » 

Want to hear these speakers live? Sign up for a TEDLive subscription to experience TED2014 remotely »

Starting March 17, follow TED2014 on the TED Blog »

Be a part of our next conference, TEDGlobal 2014, taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October »

This post was last updated on March 15 to reflect changes to the speaker lineup.