Philanthropy disruptor Sara Lomelin thinks communities can build power through collective giving, or what she calls “giving circles”: groups of people with shared values who come together to make change, strengthen their social fabric and help diverse solutions get funded. Learn the four steps to start a thriving giving circle in your community -- and see how thousands of people worldwide are already part of this movement to usher in a new era of philanthropy that is democratic and joyful. Hoste...
Sep 20, 2022•14 min
Nuclear power is one of the safest, cleanest forms of energy -- yet to most people, it might not feel that way. Why is that? Isabelle Boemeke, the world’s first nuclear energy influencer and creator of the social media persona Isodope, deftly debunks the major objections to nuclear power and explains her unconventional way of educating people about this clean energy source. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 19, 2022•11 min
“We all have our own beautiful ways of moving, and this is worth celebrating,” says dancer and choreographer Ryan Heffington. Inviting you to reconsider your connection to dance, he shows how even everyday experiences -- tying your shoes, rocking a baby, whisking up some mac and cheese -- can offer choreographic inspiration and help you find joy and release when you need it most. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 16, 2022•5 min
Is art worth it? "Hell yeah," says graphic novelist R. Alan Brooks -- art has the power to scare dictators, inspire multitudes and change hearts and minds across the world. Reflecting on his journey to become an artist at a time when the world felt like it was burning, Brooks shares how creating something from a place of sincerity and passion can positively impact people in ways you may never know. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 15, 2022•13 min
What does it mean to lead in this new age of employee activism? Megan Reitz offers a four-point crash course on what employees want from their organizations and how leaders can rise to the challenge of building proactive and productive workplaces where every voice and perspective has the chance to make a difference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 14, 2022•17 min
Creating functional prosthetics at a fraction of the cost of imported tech, bionic innovator and TED Fellow Enzo Romero shares a groundbreaking model for designing 3D-printed assistive technology sourced from recycled materials -- built in and for his native Peru. Hear how Luke Skywalker's bionic hand in Star Wars inspired Romero to pursue mechatronics engineering and help people with disabilities and limited resources fully live again. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information...
Sep 13, 2022•6 min
Mass surveillance is worse than you think, but the solutions are simpler than you realize, says lawyer, technologist and TED Fellow Albert Cahn. Breaking down the crude tactics law enforcement uses to sweep up massive amounts of data collected about us by our everyday tech, he lays out how new legal firewalls can protect the public from geofence warrants and other surveillance abuses -- and how we might end the looming dystopia of mass surveillance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Sep 12, 2022•7 min
How do you rediscover a happier, more purpose-driven (and less productivity-obsessed) self in the wake of the pandemic? Quiz yourself alongside work futurist Dominic Price as he lays out a simple yet insightful four-part guide to assessing your life in ways that can help you reconnect with what's really important. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Sep 09, 2022•15 min
As climate change accelerates, finding clean alternatives to fossil fuels is more urgent than ever. Social entrepreneur Vaitea Cowan believes green hydrogen is the answer. Watch as she shares her team’s work mass producing electrolyzers -- devices that separate water into its molecular components: hydrogen and oxygen -- and shows how they could help make green, carbon-free fuel affordable and accessible for everyone. “This is how we end the fossil fuel era,” Cowan says. Hosted on Acast. See acas...
Sep 08, 2022•10 min
What if you could create new music using your favorite musician's voice? Sharing her melodic gifts with the world, multidisciplinary artist Holly Herndon introduces Holly+, an AI-powered instrument that lets people sing with her own voice. Musician Pher joins her onstage to demonstrate this mind-blowing tech while singing into two microphones -- one that amplifies his natural voice and another that makes him sound just like Holly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 07, 2022•10 min
Among the dinosaurs, giant sea dragons roamed the ancient ocean. Millions of years later, paleontologist Dean R. Lomax and his team freed the remains of one of these colossal creatures from the Earth. Settle in to learn about the once-in-a-lifetime discovery of the 10-meter-long Rutland ichthyosaur: the largest and most complete ichthyosaur ever discovered in Britain and one of the greatest finds in the country's paleontological history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informatio...
Sep 06, 2022•14 min
We're so used to narratives out of Africa being about war, poverty and devastation, says TED Fellow Wanuri Kahiu. Where's the fun? Introducing "AfroBubbleGum" -- African art that's vibrant, lighthearted and without a political agenda. Rethink the value of all that is unserious as Kahiu explains why we need art that captures the full range of human experiences to tell the stories of Africa. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 05, 2022•6 min
Is capitalism a good thing? Journalist Katherine Mangu-Ward makes the case that “weirdos” left alone to innovate and explore far-out ideas in a free market system are our best hope for the future. She asks us to reconsider our qualms about capitalism, failure and corporate death, analyzing the recent history of General Motors and Facebook to illustrate why we’re better off with a lot less government intervention. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 02, 2022•12 min
While doctors take an oath to do no harm, there's a good chance their unconscious biases can seep into how seriously they take your pain. Physician Sheetal DeCaria explains how perception impacts the medical care and treatment of chronic pain -- and calls for health care professionals to check in with how they do their patient checkups. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 31, 2022•13 min
"When teachers and families work together, everyone wins," says education technology entrepreneur and TED Fellow Heejae Lim. She shines a light on an underutilized resource in US public education -- a family's love for their children -- and shows that, with the right tools and tech, schools can remove language barriers, foster meaningful connections and help every student thrive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 30, 2022•6 min
Chemical plants create many of the materials found in everyday items, from the shoes you wear to the car you drive to the cell phone in your pocket. But the massive carbon footprint from chemical manufacturing is leading to climate breakdown. Sustainable engineering researcher Miguel A. Modestino presents his team’s pioneering work on electrochemical engineering -- the design and implementation of new chemical reactions that source their energy directly from electricity, as opposed to fossil fue...
Aug 29, 2022•9 min
Digital creator Dylan Marron has racked up millions of views for projects like "Every Single Word" and "Sitting in Bathrooms With Trans People" -- but he's found that the flip side of success online is internet hate. Over time, he's developed an unexpected coping mechanism: calling the people who leave him insensitive comments and asking a simple question: "Why did you write that?" In a thoughtful talk about how we interact online, Marron explains how sometimes the most subversive thing you can ...
Aug 26, 2022•11 min
The price of insulin in the US is both outrageous and deadly to those who can't live without it. Diabetes advocate Brooke Bennett shares her own struggles living with type 1 diabetes and how the astronomical cost of a life-saving drug leaves millions struggling to survive. A rallying cry for an affordable and humane livelihood for those with chronic illness. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 25, 2022•16 min
Neuroscientist Sergiu P. Pasca has made it his life's work to understand how the human brain builds itself -- and what makes it susceptible to disease. In a mind-blowing talk laden with breakthrough science, he shows how his team figured out how to grow what they call brain "assembloids" -- self-organizing clumps of neural tissue derived from stem cells that have shown the ability to form circuits -- and explains how these miniature parts of the nervous system are bringing us closer to demystify...
Aug 24, 2022•12 min
With quick wit and sharp insight, writer Jeanette Winterson lays out a vision of the future where human and machine intelligence meld -- forming what she calls “alternative intelligence” -- and takes a philosophical look at our species, asking: Are we smart enough to survive how smart we are? (Followed by a Q&A with TED’s head of curation Helen Walters) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 23, 2022•19 min
"The metaverse is already on fire, and we haven't even built it yet," says TED Fellow and video game lawyer Micaela Mantegna. She lays out why the metaverse is at risk of inheriting some of the internet's worst traits, like unchecked surveillance -- and shows how we could redirect its fate through new laws grounded in kindness and connection. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Aug 22, 2022•6 min
Taking cues from soft robotics and the natural world, conceptual artist Anicka Yi builds lighter-than-air machines that roam and react like autonomous life forms. Her floating “aerobes” inspire us to think about new ways of living with machines -- and to ponder how they could evolve into living creatures. “What if our machines could be more than just our tools, and instead, a new type of companion species?” she asks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Aug 19, 2022•8 min
Everyone has the right to a clean environment -- but major disparities exist when it comes to who faces the consequences of pollution. Environmental justice leader Peggy Shepard points to the disproportionate impact that hazardous environmental conditions have on Black, brown and Indigenous communities and challenges us to build a truly equitable future that turns "sacrifice zones" -- where community health is sacrificed for the sake of development -- into "green zones" that redress the legacy o...
Aug 18, 2022•12 min
Plastics are everywhere -- they're in our favorite electronic devices, they package our food and insulate our homes. Today, the total mass of plastic is twice the total mass of all living organisms on the planet, and it's starting to change the processes that allow the Earth's climate system to work. Plastic pollution researcher Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez breaks down the consequences of producing all of this plastic at every stage, from fossil fuel extraction to the disposal of single-use plasti...
Aug 16, 2022•10 min
What can you do to build a better world? Sharing stories from her pioneering career dedicated to tackling poverty, Jacqueline Novogratz offers three principles to spark and sustain a moral revolution. Learn how you can commit (or recommit) to creating big, positive change in your lifetime -- and give back more to the world than you take from it. "It is in the darkest times that we have the chance to find our deepest beauty," Novogratz says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...
Aug 15, 2022•15 min
On a list of the least funny topics imaginable, the global refugee crisis, border disputes and questions of citizenship are probably close to the top. And yet comedian Maeve Higgins has spent her career finding ways to make jokes about (and make sense of) the ways we draw lines across the globe. She's a stand-up comedian and writer who speaks from the point of view of an Irish immigrant in the United States. In this excerpt from How to Be a Better Human, a TED Audio Collective podcast hosted by ...
Aug 12, 2022•35 min
Have you ever wondered why you like sad music? Do you find comfort or inspiration in rainy days? In this profound, poetic talk, author Susan Cain invites you to embrace the feeling of longing -- or the place where joy and sorrow meet -- as a gateway to creativity, connection and love. Accompanied by the splendid sounds of violinist Min Kym, Cain meditates on how heartache unexpectedly brings us closer to the sublime beauty of life. Afterwards, hear a sneak peak from a conversation with Cain on A...
Aug 11, 2022•24 min
Jennifer Egan is a journalist and writer whose novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad" won both the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Using a unique format -- including a whole chapter told through Powerpoint -- Egan nimbly explores the mystery and complexity of human life in the digital age. Her newest book, "The Candy House," poses similar questions around technology, memory and authenticity. In this excerpt from The TED Interview, the author talks candidl...
Aug 10, 2022•28 min
Who are you, really? In conversation with TED science curator David Biello, neuroscientist Anil Seth lays out his fascinating new theory of consciousness and self, centered on the notion that we "predict" the world into existence. From sleep to memory and everything in between, he explores the reality we experience in our brains -- versus the world as it objectively might be. After the talk, stick around for a conversation between Elise and Anil about his new book "Being You: A New Science of Co...
Aug 09, 2022•18 min
"From populist demagogues, we will learn the indispensability of democracy," says novelist Elif Shafak. "From isolationists, we will learn the need for global solidarity. And from tribalists, we will learn the beauty of cosmopolitanism." A native of Turkey, she has experienced firsthand the devastation that a loss of diversity can bring -- and she knows the revolutionary power of plurality in response to authoritarianism. In this passionate, personal talk, she reminds us that there are no binari...
Aug 08, 2022•29 min