2006 TED Prize winner Jehane Noujaim is the gutsy filmmaker responsible for Control Room, an astonishing documentary about Al Jazeera's coverage of the Iraq war and the contrasting notions of truth expressed in the US media.
Why you should listen to her:
Two weeks before the US invaded Iraq in 2003, Jehane Noujaim gained access to both Al Jazeera and the US military's Central Command offices in Qatar. By being in the right place at that very wrong time, she caught the onset and outbreak of the Iraq war on film. The resulting documentary, Control Room, exposed the very divergent ways the Arabs and the West covered the war.
Being raised between Egypt and the US, the exploration of culture is one of Jehane's driving forces. Her reason for making the film: "It's important for everyone, simply as individuals, to try to understand different people and different cultures, but it's especially important for people in the United States because we affect so much of the world beyond our borders." Noujaim's earlier film Startup.com was another case when she entered the story at the perfect point in time: The film follows an arc that mirrors the curve of the dotcom bubble itself, capturing a small Internet company from its eager beginnings through the manic, moneyed times right down to the bitter end.
Before culture even begins to shift, Jehane is there with her camera, trusting that the story to unfold is one that will change us. She's at work on her 2006 TED Prize wish for a world-uniting international celebration of film, Pangea Day.
"Through the deceptively simple practice of watching, listening and editing, Jehane Noujaim captures the complexity of reporting, and has a great deal to say about truth, democracy and the ambiguous status of the free press in the modern world."New York Times
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TEDPrize winner Jehane Noujaim on TEDTalks – July 25, 2006
TEDPrize winner Jehane Noujaim is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, responsible for Startup.com and the gutsy, controversial documentary Control Room. Two weeks before the U.S. invasion in Iraq, Jehane went to Qatar, gained access to both Al Jazeera and the U.S. military's Central Command offices, and caught the onset and outbreak of the Iraqi war on film. The result, "Control Room," lays out the divergent ways the war was reported by the Arabs and the West. In this talk, she unveils her TEDPrize wish: to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 26:22)
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Something Important to Encounter – November 16, 2006
Encounter Point, an incredible documentary that follows a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict, is opening in select cities in the US and the Middle East tomorrow. The film is co-directed by Julia Bacha, who worked with TEDPrize Winner Jehane Noujaim on the Control Room. Jehane showed clips of the film during her TED Prize talk on film's power to change the world. Part of Jehane's wish is to build a larger audience around films that matter, so help it come true by going to see this film... screening information here.
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Celebrating the new AIMS Research Centre in South Africa – May 7, 2008
2008 TED Prize winner Neil Turok sends these great photos from the new AIMS Research Centre, which is set to open May 12 in Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa. AIMS -- the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences -- promotes math and sciences education throughout Africa. Its goal is, quite simply, to find the next Einstein in Africa.
During a two-day festival starting this weekend, Neil Turok, AIMS director Fritz Hahne and the students of AIMS will dedicate the new AIMS Research Centre -- and launch a drive to build a dozen more AIMS schools all over Africa. At the party: the head of NASA, two Nobel laureates, poets and musicians, and the 25 amazing students at AIMS, as well as Stephen Hawking, who's expected to give his first-ever lecture in Africa. Look to the TED Blog and to TEDPrize.org for more reports!
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To do this weekend: Vote for Architecture for Humanity – August 29, 2008
Via Treehugger: The Members Project, from American Express, is a contest to support worthy projects from a $2.5 million fund. 2006 TED Prize winner Cameron Sinclair, of Architecture for Humanity, has submitted a project to help build sustainable livelihoods for artisans in Southeast Asia:
a locally driven social venture that creates an alliance of textile designers and gifted artisans in Southeast Asia to produce luxurious hand-woven fabrics. By providing economic opportunity, we help preserve hand-weaving in Asia while creating environmentally sustainable fabrics. Collections include fabric-by-the-yard as well as home and fashion accessories that are marketed through select retailers. We are ready to hire thousands of weavers and build innovative weaving centers.
You can nominate Cameron's project for consideration in this fund -- or nominate any of the 1,190 projects submitted -- until September 1, and you don't need to be an American Express cardholder to nominate and discuss the projects. Learn more about the Members Project >> -
10 May 2008: Pangea Day – September 14, 2007
When she was awarded the 2006 TED Prize, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim expressed a wish: a global acceptance of diversity, mediated through the power of film. (Watch her speech.)
The project is taking off, and its ambition level is spectacular. On May 10, 2008, Pangea Day, sites in New York City, Rio, London, Dharamsala, Cairo, Jerusalem, and Kigali will be video-conferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful films, supplemented by visionary speakers, and global musicians.
The purpose: to use the power of film to promote better understanding of our common humanity. A global audience will watch through the Internet, television, digital cinemas, and mobile phones. Yes, of course, movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can.
To start the process, a short Pangea Day trailer (2:30 min) has just been given front-page exposure on YouTube, inviting anyone to submit their films. Pangea is seeking films "that provoke, entertain and inspire". "Images are powerful to divide, but also to unite", says the trailer. Here it is:
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TED Prize update: "The Greens" turns 1! – April 12, 2008
When photographer Edward Burtynsky won the 2005 TED Prize, he wished that the TED community would help him teach kids how to live green. This month, his web cartoon series for kids, The Greens, turns 1 year old -- and celebrates 3 million page views! Written and produced by WGBH in Boston (with partners including PBS, TV Ontario, National Geographic, Zerofootprint, Earthwatch Institute, Climate Cartoons, and many grassroots organizations), the site is full of great ways to help kids learn about caring for our planet. This month, a clip from The Greens will be distributed to movie theaters across the US. It's a great message and it's fun to share. The Greens' producer Bill Shribman asks:
If you blog, twitter or otherwise inhabit the Interweb, please grab buttons, blurbs or embeddable video from http://www.meetthegreens.org/share/ to help this great kids' project reach an even wider audience. For more information, you can reach the project's producer Bill Shribman at the_greens@meetthegreens.org
Watch Edward Burtynsky make his TED Prize wish >> Watch the promo for The Greens >> -
Use my photographs to stop the worldwide XDR-TB epidemic: James Nachtwey on TED.com – October 3, 2008
Photojournalist James Nachtwey sees his TED Prize wish come true, as we share his powerful photographs of XDR-TB, a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis that's touching off a global medical crisis. Learn 3 quick ways to help at XDRTB.org. (Duration: 5:52.)
See James Nachtwey's powerful photographs on TED.com, where you can download this TEDTalk, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances from our archive of 300+ TEDTalks -- including more talks about Media That Matters.
Watch James Nachtwey make his TED Prize wish: "I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it, in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."
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TED Prize 2008 session live now – February 28, 2008
The 2008 TED Prize winners, Dave Eggers, Neil Turok and Karen Armstrong, are on stage now at TED in Monterey, giving their speeches and expressing their wishes. The session is webcast live here (5:15pm-7:30pm, California time).
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Encyclopedia of Life launches! – February 28, 2008
E.O. Wilson made this TED Prize wish in 2007: Help me build the key tool that we need to inspire preservation of Earth's biodiversity: the Encyclopedia of Life. Today, the Encyclopedia of Life website has launched, with the first 30,000 pages, each one describing a single species, with descriptions and photos contributed by scientists and naturalists and people around the globe. Within a decade, it'll have more than 1.5 million pages, each for a single species. The New York Times has a great story giving more background on this wish >> (Please note -- the site is going to be very busy tonight!)
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Karen Armstrong's Charter for Compassion, on Chautauqua Podcasts – July 13, 2008
Listen to a 22-minute audio interview with TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong, as she talks with Joan Brown Campbell:
As part of her recent TED Prize, she is in the midst of writing a Charter of Compassion in a collaborative effort; this document, based on the principle of The Golden Rule, will be written and signed by members of the religious community of all faiths around the globe. The progress of this effort, as well as her latest book, The Bible: A Biography, is discussed.
Listen to the podcast >>This interview is part of a fascinating series of Chautauqua Podcasts.
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Ed Burtynsky's beautifully monstrous "Manufactured landscapes" – July 29, 2007
If you are planning (you should) to go see Jennifer Baichwal’s documentary "Manufactured landscapes", which opened last week in theaters across the US after spending a year mesmerizing film festivals audiences and will soon arrive in Europe, make sure you get there in time, for nothing describes the scale and essence of today's globalized industry more tellingly than the opening scene: a seven-minutes tracking shot of the floor of a boundless Chinese factory, row after row after row of disciplined workers and efficient repetition that Stanley Kubrick could have filmed.
"Manufactured landscapes" is based on the work of photographer -- and 2005 TED Prize winner (watch his speech) -- Ed Burtynsky, whose camera has captured stunning images of man-transformed landscapes around the world.
Burtynsky is not much interested in micro: his focus is on vastness, on the scale of the environmental scars and transformations brought forth by industry, energy production and transportation. The documentary (trailer) is a hybrid: it's a meditation that makes very little use of words, leaving it to images and situational sounds and noises to tell the story, and at the same time a convincing illustration of the monstrosity of today's global trade. Although Baichwal shows images from Canada, California and Bangladesh -- and makes generous use of Burtynsky's TEDPrize speech -- the movie's main character is China, the "manufacture to the world": there, Burtynsky, followed by Baichwal's cameras, has shot factories, huge container ports, quarries, the Three Gorges Dam, electronics graveyards, the rapid urbanization of Shanghai. (Another great movie, recently, has shown some of this within a fictional frame: Gianni Amelio's "The Missing Star").
Burtynsky's work (see his books) can be unsettling. He extracts beautiful, sometimes poetic images from outrageous alterations and destructions of the environment. He calls himself an artist -- not a reporter -- and refrains from judging what he photographs or from politicizing it, wanting, as he said at TED, to "make people think harder about our planet's future" without suggesting them a direction. As the film goes I find myself thinking of painters: Jackson Pollock, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dalì because, respectively, Burtynsky's photos of a computer components dump, the stacks of containers in the port of Tianjin, and the lunar shipbreaking beach of Chittagong (Bangladesh) oddly remind of their artworks.
The photographer has a rationale for aestheticizing this devastation: that's a way to gain access.
Most of what Burtynsky photographs is on private land: "My work is
mostly negotiation, with some photography thrown in", he said half-jokingly at the
premiere in San Francisco. There is a scene in the movie where he is
shown with his assistants and an interpreter trying to talk Chinese
officials into opening the gates to a neverending coal yard, and the
key sentence is "we will make it beautiful". Asked how he convinced
factory managers to gather all their thousands of employees on a street
for the picture that makes the poster of the movie (see image),
Burtynsky explained that what Westerners see as a robotization of
workers, the Chinese proudly consider an organizational and industrial
achievement. This discrepancy echoes throughout the documentary. It powerfully reminds us that "stuff" doesn't just happen, that it comes from somewhere, although we tend to forget or ignore it (thought of the impact of the extraction industry lately?) And it illustrates how, as we transform nature, we redefine who we are and our relationship to the planet.
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To stop XDR-TB, cure TB. To stop TB, cure poverty. – October 6, 2008
A powerful idea from the unveiling of James Nachtwey's photos of the XDR-TB epidemic on Friday night in New York City:
During the Q&A session with some TB experts and activists, an audience member asked: "We're talking about XDR-TB, but what about regular TB? What are we doing to cure that?"
Dr. Marcos Espinal of the Stop TB Project gave a direct answer:
"Cure poverty. Tuberculosis is a disease of the poor."
The list of specific risk factors for TB bears this out; you are more likely to catch TB if you are, for example, malnourished, living in crowded conditions or living in a refugee camp or shelter, or if you lack access to health care. It's a disease of the bottom billion. And so are TB's frightening new mutated forms, XDR-TB and MDR-TB -- because wiping out TB before it mutates costs ... $20.
To learn more, download these PDF factsheets about XDR-TB and MDR-TB and TB from the World Health Organization and its Stop TB Project. And find 3 quick ways to help at XDRTB.org -- such as signing a letter that will be sent directly to your country's leaders.
As Benjamin von Caspel wrote, when he told his friends about XDRTB.org via Twitter:
James Nachtwey's TED prize project has gone live - http://www.xdrtb.org/ - Yet another reason to remember the bottom billion matter.
Photo of Dr. Marcos Espinal courtesy of Robert Leslie. -
James Nachtwey's photos projected around the world: pics! – October 4, 2008
The Flickr set James Nachtwey Projections 2008 collects photos from last night's worldwide photo event -- projecting James Nachtwey's powerful photos of XDR-TB in cities on all 7 continents. Nachtwey's photos of the growing XDR-TB epidemic, a deadly new mutation of tuberculosis, are meant to raise awareness of this disease. Because awareness is precisely what will help stop XDR-TB. Visit XDRTB.org to see James' photos and sign the petition (you may need to turn off your pop-up blocker).
And please add your photos of last night's event -- or of a screening you've organized on your own -- to the Flickr pool.
The photo above comes from the Emergency Room, which is tracking how this story breaks around the world, starting with bloggers and reaching throughout the media.
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See the XDRTB.org photographs in LA today and this week – October 5, 2008
All around Los Angeles this week, Phantom Galleries LA has arranged screenings of James Nachtwey's photographs of the XDR-TB epidemic. Here's the full schedule, starting with two showings today, October 5, in downtown LA and in Long Beach: Sunday, October 5, 2008: Elevate Film Festival Nokia Theater at LA Live Downtown Los Angeles 2pm-8pm University by the Sea, Long Beach Projection and information booth inside the Lafayette Building Kitchen. Free class Thursday, October 9, 2008: Downtown Art Walk Projection on wall at 6th and Main Street 7-10 pm (With an info booth at Phantom Galleries LA at the PE Lofts, 610 Main St., showing the photography of Alexandra Breckenridge and Shalon Goss curated by Edgar Varela Fine Arts.) Friday, October 10, 2008: Pasadena Art Night Projection in window at 82 North Fair Oaks. 7pm-11pm (With an info booth at the Phantom Galleries LA exhibit Dave Lovejoy: “Circular Logic” at the Majestical Roof Gallery, 88 North Fair Oaks, Suite 102, Pasadena.) Saturday, October 11, 2008: NELA Art Walk Screening at Future Studio, 5558 N Figueroa St., Highland Park 7pm-9pm Look here for more last-minute additional screenings >> Follow this wish on Twitter >>
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Win a pass to TED2009 in Dave Eggers' Once Upon a School challenge – May 20, 2008
Dave Eggers, winner of the 2008 TED Prize, wished to collect 1,000 stories of private citizens engaged in their area public schools. He called upon every adult to bring their time, skill, and energy to bear on the lives of students. In collaboration with teachers and schools around the world, people are making his wish a reality.
Since TED, a number of inspired, creative, innovative public school partnerships are now in the works: TEDsters are sponsoring books at local 826 chapters, starting programs in schools, creating websites; a number of people have committed to building their own 826-like tutoring centers. These are partnerships that embody the spirit of the TED Prize: we want to support them and help spur more.
Join this group. Challenge yourself to participate in the lives of public school students. Be imaginative, dedicated, and enthusiastic. Then tell us about your work.
The leader or initiator of the three projects that best encapsulate the TED Prize spirit -- vision, commitment, fun, partnership, and change -- will each receive a pass to TED2009 in Long Beach, California.
Find more information and to commit to taking part in the challenge, visit OnceUponaSchool.org.
We look forward to hearing your story.
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Encyclopedia of Life film is nominated for a Webby – April 8, 2008
The beautiful film that helped launch the Encyclopedia of Life has been nominated for a 2008 Webby Award. Created by Avenue A | Razorfish, the film is just one outcome of E.O. Wilson's 2007 TED Prize wish: to "help create the key tool that we need to inspire preservation of Earth's biodiversity: the Encyclopedia of Life." You can watch the video on the Webby Award player and cast your vote >>
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2007 TED Prize winner E.O. Wilson on TEDTalks – April 4, 2007
As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of his constituents, the insects and small creatures, to learn more about our biosphere. We know so little about nature, he says, that we're still discovering tiny organisms indispensable to life; and yet we're steadily, methodically, vigorously destroying nature. Wilson identifies five grave threats to biodiversity (a term he coined), and makes his TED wish: that we will work together on the Encyclopedia of Life, a web-based compendium of data from scientists and amateurs on every aspect of the biosphere. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 24:21) NEW: Watch this talk in High Resolution (480P)
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Inspiring stories from students at AIMS – July 13, 2008
From the TED Prize blog: More AIMS Student Talks: Be inspired by the stories of current and former AIMS students -- young Africans whose lives have been changed through access to a top-notch scientific education at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Every two weeks, the TED Prize team uploads three talks from the May 12 launch party for the NextEinstein initiative in South Africa (part of the TED Prize wish of physicist Neil Turok). This week we've posted talks from two students, Daphne and Viani, as well as a musical performance by Vusi Mahlasela, who dedicates a song to the students of AIMS. Watch Daphne's talk below, and see many more amazing talks and performances on the NextEinstein YouTube Channel. Get frequent updates on the TED Prize wishes via the TED Prize blog RSS feed.
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Ed Burtynsky's Manufactured Landscapes: The Movie – June 25, 2007
In an extended run at the Film Forum in New York City (and now playing in Philadelphia), the film Manufactured Landscapes is in the spirit of Edward Burtynsky's 2005 TED Prize wishes: to show the world the size, the devastation, the sheer astonishingness of the industrial landscapes we have created -- and to create a desire to learn more. Burtynsky's large-format photographs capture Chinese factories that stretch on for acres, shipbreaking beaches where manual laborers tear apart rusting oil tankers, mountains of slag and rivers of waste. Filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal accompanied Burtynsky as he shot in China and Bangladesh, and offers context around the edges of the visuals. It's stunning and heartbreaking in equal measure. Watch Ed Burtynsky's 2005 TED Prize acceptance speech here; WIRED.com has posted a portfolio of photographs here. And check out one result of Burtynsky's TED Prize wishes: Meet the Greens, a site and show that teach kids about the environment.
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2007 TED Prize winner Bill Clinton on TEDTalks – April 4, 2007
Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, Bill Clinton says he's trying to build a better world to hand to his daughter. Unequal, unstable and unsustainable, our world must correct its course, and private citizens ("like me") can be powerful forces for change. His Clinton Foundation, fresh from its success negotiating down pharmaceutical prices in the developing world, is now running a pilot health care system in Rwanda, based on the work of Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti. In 18 months, it has shown potential as a model for the entire developing world. Clinton's TED wish: Help him build this system in Rwanda, to bring world-class health care to a people who have overcome deadly hatred to rebuild their nation. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 25:52)
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Submit your film or video for Pangea Day – December 29, 2007
Hoping to submit your short film or video for Pangea Day? There's still a month and a half before the deadline -- plenty of time to get familiar with your new videocamera. From the Pangea Day site:
We're looking for films that will make us laugh, cry, and gasp. They can be fiction, nonfiction, real life, animation, or your own unique mixture. But they should hold our attention for every second. And above all, they should tell a story that someone else on the other side of the world will be able to relate to.
As you plan your film, try to imagine millions of people in different countries gathered around in the flickering light, waiting in hushed silence for your tale to start. What story will you tell? What images will you show them?Submit a film. Share a story. The world will be watching. Deadline for submission is February 15, 2008. Find out here how to submit your short film or video >> Then on May 10, 2008 -– Pangea Day -– join the worldwide film festival! Screens in Cairo, Dharamsala, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, Rio de Janeiro and Tel Aviv will be videoconferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful short film and video, visionary speakers and great music.
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This week on TEDPrize.org – July 4, 2008
There's a great blog over on our sister site, TEDPrize.org, with news of all the 2008 TED Prize winners and interesting updates. This year's wishes are interactive and amazing, with lots of great things happening right now. Keep up via the feed. From the TEDPrize.org blog: + Karen Armstrong at The Chautauqua Institution -- last week, Karen gave 5 talks exploring the theme of “What is Religion?” She discusses the distinction between faith and belief; she speaks about silence, the limitations and difficulty of God-talk, the purpose of ritual and the rise of atheism. ... Read more >> + AIMS (Abuja) Opens -- The search for the NextEinstein just expanded to Nigeria. On Monday June 30, a new AIMS center opened in Abuja, Nigeria, the capital city. AIMS (Abuja), based at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST), is the second of the fifteen AIMS centers to be rolled out across Africa in the next 5 years. ... Read more >> + A TED Table at 826NYC -- At an 826NYC event on Thursday, three TEDsters sponsored chairs for the study area. If one more TED fan sponsors a chair, we will have a TED table-full of chairs. Each chair is $110. If you are interested in sponsoring a chair, contact Jennifer at jennifer [@] 826nyc [dot] org. (And there are many other ways to support 826NYC.) ... Read more >> + An 826/TED Field Trip -- pics and reports from the first 826/TED event ... Read more >> + What to Watch in July -- Some bright spots in the wasteland of summer TV ... Read more >> + Assessing Your Community -- Dave Eggers' wish is based on the idea that communities should be involved in their public schools. His wish happens at the micro level: individuals impact the lives of individual students by offering their talent and time. The Public Education Network just released its Civic Index for Quality Public Education tool which considers this idea on a macro level. The tool assesses the strengths and weakness of the community as it relates to public education. (It helps answer the question: Is your town a good place to be a school?) ... Read more >> To get daily updates from the TEDPrize Blog, sign up for the RSS feed.
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2008 TED Prize Nominations – May 4, 2007
Yes, it seems as though we just announced the 2007 wishes (and, in fact, we did), but it's once again time to start the search for next year's TED Prize winners. We're looking for three more remarkable people that can tap into the energy of TED and do something extraordinary that will contribute to the future of life on Earth. The nomination form is now online, where there's also much more detailed information about what makes a good TED Prize winner. Please use the contact form if you have any questions.
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Pangea Cinema: A wish in progress – March 27, 2006
When Jehane made her TED Prize wish to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film, we decided the only way to do it was to really do it, in a big, noticeable way. We partnered with Steve Apkon of the Jacob Burns Film Center, America's most successful non-profit cultural arts center, who came up with a plan to pull this off, and concluded that it will cost US$10 million over 5 years. How to raise the money? Individuals can fund the roll-out of this wish in any country on the planet by becoming a Goodwill Ambassador to that country; the cost is proportionate to the population. Thanks to TEDster Richard Fox and his team at Pinstripe Media, we have a temporary Pangea Cinema site up, with details and costs of sponsoring each country. If you're interested in funding a piece of this wish, email amy(at)ted(dot)com.
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Pangea Day: Hear Jehane Noujaim on NPR – January 31, 2008
Pangea Day -- the global film festival, happening May 10, 2008 -- comes from a wish made by filmmaker Jehane Noujaim, who won the TED Prize in 2006. Listen to Jehane talk about her vision for the festival, which is taking busily taking shape now.
And it's not too late to submit your film for the February 15, 2008, deadline! Submit a film. Share a story. The world will be watching. Find out here how to submit your short film or video >>
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How to get involved in TED Prize wishes – May 18, 2008
Since it began in 2005, the TED Prize has been making wishes that call on the power of the global TED community. Here's a roundup of current TED Prize wishes that you can get involved in -- in large or small ways, with money, ideas, time or skills:
+ In 2007, biologist E.O. Wilson wished that we would help him build a comprehensive catalog of life on Earth. The Encyclopedia of Life launched this spring and is growing -- with many ways for both scientists and non-scientists to contribute. Create an account on the site to hear about the latest updates and opportunities -- including the debut of a tool for uploading your own photos. Find out more about The Encyclopedia of Life and EOL.org>>
+ In 2005, photographer Edward Burtynsky wished for new ways to teach kids about environmental stewardship. Working with WGBH in Boston, his web cartoon show, The Greens, just celebrated its first anniversary and seventh episode. Watch shows online and download art and music, take a movie quiz and share the site with kids you know. Find out more about The Greens >>
+ At TED2008, physicist Neil Turok wished for the TED community's help in developing math and sciences talent all over Africa, though the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Our next Einstein, he says, could be African. At NextEinstein.org, learn more about AIMS, watch video interviews with students, and find many ways to help in this drive to open 15 math and sciences academies in Africa and fund scholarships for the best and the brightest on the continent. Find out more about NextEinstein.org >>
+ in 2008, writer and activist Dave Eggers gave a hilarious TED Prize talk about his wish: that we will all become personally involved in our local schools, and tell a story about it. Whether you volunteer with a chapter of Dave's 826 National foundation, or on your own, sign in at OnceUponASchool.org and share your story. Find out more about OnceUponASchool.org >>
+ In 2006, filmmaker Jehane Noujaim made an audacious wish: to connect the world for one day through the power of film. Last weekend's Pangea Day was a moving 4-hour festival -- and you can replay the day on PangeaDay.org. Watch the films, speakers and music you missed, find ways to take action, and discuss each film on the site (click on "Comments" to expand the discussion). Find out more about PangeaDay.org >>
+ In 2006, Cameron Sinclair asked TED to help him build an open-source platform to help architects connect with communities in need of designs. The result was the Open Architecture Network -- a successful website that acts as both a clearinghouse for building plans and a vibrant social network, allows its users to sample, remix and customize design work for their needs. To help Sinclair's wish come true, join the community at the Open Architecture Network's website.
+ In 2006, Dr. Larry Brilliant wished to start a global early warning system to prevent the spread of infectious disease. The organization that grew out of this wish, Innovative Support To Emergencies Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD) is a venue for humanitarian collaboration with a focus on those involved in disease tracking and disaster response. You can help Dr. Brilliant now by test-driving an alpha version of their crisis assistance directory.
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Obama and McCain make statements on TB – October 4, 2008
Spurred by James Nachtwey's powerful photographs and RESULTS.org, the two major US presidential candidates, John McCain and Barack Obama, released statements yesterday detailing their plans for fighting TB. From John McCain's statement:As President, I will ensure that treatment and prevention programs are funded at levels befitting a wealthy and great nation. I will have a sustained commitment to helping people in need in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere cope with the ravages of this devastating disease.
From Barack Obama's statement:
I will strengthen the health care infrastructure crucial to reducing the spread of tuberculosis and increase U.S. funding for the Global Fund - a partnership that's already saved millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB. We'll meet the Millennium Development Goals, which include halving the number of tuberculosis deaths. And we will live up to our commitment to the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Read both full statements below >> Follow the TED Prize on Twitter >> Photo of James Nachtwey courtesy of Robert Leslie. -
Bloggers: Help break James Nachtwey's story on Oct. 3 – September 27, 2008
Photographer James Nachtwey will be breaking a big story on October 3 -- using his powerful photographs to share a vital story that the world needs to know about. You can be part of the breaking news by adding a badge to your site.
Let your readers know that -- starting October 3 -- these pictures will be shown on outdoor screens around the world and online. Seeing and sharing these pictures will truly make a difference in solving the crisis that James is photographing.
Visit James Nachtwey's blogger tools page to get badges and embeddable video for your blog >>
Find out where to see the photographs on LED screens on all 7 continents >>
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(Thanks again to Steve and Marc at Sessionwise.) Follow the TED Prize on Twitter >> -
James Nachtwey's wish and video in Portuguese – October 4, 2008
Marconi Pereira, who blogs in Portuguese at BLOG OM -- Orientação Mediúnica, has captioned James Nachtwey's TEDTalk in Portuguese. This TEDTalk includes the full XDR-TB slideshow, as well as inspiring excerpts from James' original TED Prize acceptance speech, where he talks about what drives him to make change through photography. Many, many thanks, Marconi!
To watch James Nachtwey's TEDTalk subtitled in Portuguese, use YouTube's new "CC" feature, at the bottom right-hand corner of the video player window -- it's circled in red in the image at left).
Follow the TED Prize on Twitter >>
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Announcing 2008 TED Prize winners – November 21, 2007
Watch the video announcement >>
The TED Prize was introduced in 2005, and it is unlike any other award. Although the winners receive a prize of $100,000 each, the real prize is that they are granted a WISH. "A wish to change the world." There are no formal restrictions on the wish. We ask our winners to think big and to be creative. The goal is that it creates an incredible sense of excitement and common purpose. It inspires the TED community, and all those who hear about the wish, to offer their help in making the wish come true. Three winners are chosen each year. They could be anyone with world-changing potential: inventors or entrepreneurs, designers or artists, visionaries or mavericks, story-tellers or persuaders. But they must be people who the judges believe have the ability to inspire others to do something great for the world. Our new winners will announce their wishes at TED2008 in Monterey, on February 28, 2008, and their presentations will be released online to the world shortly afterward. View past years' winners here: 2007 >> 2006 >> 2005 >>
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TED2007 Day Three: things that knocked my hat in the creek – March 10, 2007
Wow! Day Three at TED2007 ROCKED! A magical day which got crank-started by a truly electric presentation on the perils of Local Warming.
This was a day which just can't wait for the TEDTalks to come out. Daniel Goleman made a wonderful connection between emotional intelligence and the empathy which will be required -- by all of us -- to make more informed, broader-scope consumption and action decisions in the future. Later in the day Eames Demetrios, grandson of Charles Eames (and a true design thinker in his own right) made the same point in a different way -- humanity has got the information now; we just need to start making better choices.
Today (actually, yesterday, since once again I find myself blogging at 4 in the morning -- funny that...) was one of those classic TED days where almost everything was mind-blowing,where just about everything knocked my hat in the creek. Highlights for me were JJ Abrams and his Mystery Box; Jeff Skoll and his enlightened humanity; Deborah Scranton and her movie The War Tapes, which every global citizen must see and experience; Will Wright and his latest "game" which I couldn't help but think was the fortuitous answer to the TEDPrize wish of 2007 TEDPrize winner E.O. Wilson; Jaime Lerner as a vibrant example of the power of pure enthusiasm; Eames Demetrios for giving us the gift of previously unseen movies which exposed the vernacular power of iterative prototyping, as well as a parable of a banana leaf which pretty much sums up TED 2006+2007 in a nutshell (you MUST watch this TEDTalk when it comes out!); and of course Tracy Chapman and Isabel Allende for their artistry and authenticity.
It was a good day.
Above, all, I want to express my personal gratitude for Thomas Dolby and the musicians of the Jazz Mafia for the musical punch they give to all of TED:
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TED Prize 2008: Dave Eggers and Tutoring, Neil Turok and the next African Einstein, Karen Armstrong and the Charter for Compassion – February 28, 2008
(Unedited running notes from the TED2008 conference in Monterey, California. Session six - TED Prize)
Every year at TED, three exceptional people are awarded the TED Prize. They each receive US$ 100'000, but that's not the real prize: they also are granted a wish -- no restrictions -- that they can express in front of the TED audience, asking for help to turn it into reality.
2007 UpdatesLast year, former president Bill Clinton, photographer James Nachtwey and biologist EO Wilson received the TED Prize. What happened since:
- Clinton asked for help in developing a "high quality rural health system for the whole country" of Rwanda: teams have been sent to the country, technology is being developed, and funds have been raised.
- Nachtwey solicited help for reporting and spreading "a story that the world needs to know about", related to public health: many partners have given a hand, and the story will be released in September in "Time" magazine, on billboards, through public events and communication campaigns, etc.
- EO Wilson wanted help in creating the Encyclopedia of Life, an online resource with an indefinitely expandable page for each species, contributed to by scientists and amateurs: the EOL is now under development and the first version of the site is live.
The three wishes still need support to be completed. See a detailed update here.
2008 Winners
This year's TED Prize winners are writer David Eggers, physicist Neil Turok, and religious scholar Karen Armstrong.
Eggers is an author of many bestselling books, including the recent "What is the what" about a Sudanese refugee, a publisher of books and literary magazines, and a teacher-at large: In 1998 he founded in San Francisco 826Valencia, a very successful writing and tutoring lab for young people from the neighborhood, which has since been cloned in five other American cities.
He tells in a very funny way and with great pictures the story of 826Valencia, of the adjoining store (a mad trove of delightful things), of the chapters in other cities, and -- his TED Prize wish -- he wants now to go farther than that, because "empowering a child with writing is the essence of democracy". He asks the conference's attendees -- and anyone else who's in a position to help -- to "find a way to directly engage with a public school in your area" and then share the story of their involvement on the OnceUponASchool website, hoping in their inspirational effect to start a virtuous cycle, "so that within a year we have 1000 examples of transformative partnerships".
The site went live minutes ago, offering guidelines for partnering with schools and providing a space for receiving people's pledges and stories of involvement (there are already several telling stories of literacy and writing programs). Many things are needed to make Dave's inspiring wish a reality: personal engagement by the largest possible number of people, of course, but also very practical things such as funding and web hosting.
Interested in supporting Eggers' wish? See an implementation plan and a list of needs here and a discussion board here.
Neil Turok is a South-African born physicist at Cambridge, and a close collaborator of Stephen Hawking, with whom he speculated that the Big Bang wasn't the beginning, that the universe existed before the Bang and that there may be Bangs in the future, and that we may live in an endless universe.
In his spare time, Turok is the founder of the African institute for mathematical sciences (AIMS), hosted in a converted hotel in Cape Town, minutes from the beach (which helps in attracting top lecturers...). "If you don't have math, you are not going to enter the modern age, he says. We emphasize problem-solving, working in groups. Everyone lives together in the hotel, lecturers and students, so it's not surprising to find impromptu tutorials at 1am. We specially emphasize areas of great relevance to African development." Turok tells stories of AIMS students (who come from three dozen countries) who went on to Masters and PhDs, and brings two of them up on stage.
Rarely a TED wish has been expressed more unequivocally than Turok's: Help me, he says, make sure that the next Einstein will be African, by "unlocking and nurturing scientific talent" across the continent, because The only people who can fix Africa are talented young Africans".
His wish is a crisp, yet very ambitious vision, and to realize it he has a plan: building 15 centres of excellence across Africa, possibly modeled on AIMS but specialized in different areas of science, recruiting outstanding students and teachers, developing fellowship and entrepreneurship programs, attracting both private and public support, etc. Turok plans to start with Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Uganda and Madagascar; he has already obtained political support, and local scientists will be leading the way. "The institutes have to be relevant, innovative, cost-effective, and high quality, because we want Africa to be rich."
Interested in helping out? At this point, everything is needed, from building a website for what Turok named the "Next Einstein From Africa" program to teaching equipment and more. Plan and list of needs here, discussion board here.Religious thinker Karen Armstrong is a former nun and has written more than 20 books on faith and the major religions, and is a powerful voice for ecumenical understanding.
She tells how she "encountered" Judaism and Islam while reporting a story for British TV in Jerusalem. In that tortured city, where the three faiths jostle so closely, you understand what religion can be. It led me, she says, to look at my own religion in a different way, and found things that were incredible: unproven, abstract doctrines. Belief, which we make such a fuss about today, is actually a recent enthusiasm, it surfaced in the 17th century in the West. Previously, belief only meant love. "Credo" didn't mean to accept certain acts of faith: it meant I commit myself, I engage myself.
If religion is not about believing things, what is it about? It's about behaving differently, in a committed way -- and then you begin to understand the truths of religions. You understand religious doctrines only when you put them into practice. In each of the major world's faiths, compassion is not only the test of any true religiosity, also the way to get into the presence of the divinity. In compassion we remove ourselves from the center of our world and we put another person there. Every major tradition has put at its core a "golden rule": do not do to others what you do not want be done to you.
But look at our world. We are living in a world where religion has been hijacked, where terrorist sing Koranic verses to justify their atrocities, where we have Christians judging other people. We have a talent as a species for messing up wonderful things.
The traditions also insisted that you could not and must not confine your compassion to your own group. You must have concern for everybody. Love your enemies. Honor the stranger. We formed you into tribes and nations so that you may know one another, says the Koran.
There is also a great deal of religious illiteracy. People seem to equate faith with "believing things", and very often secondary goals get pushed into first place instead of the golden rule, compassion, because the golden rule is difficult. A lot of religious people prefer to be right, rather than compassionate.
Since 9/11 I've travelled all over the world and found everywhere a desire for change. Recently in Pakistan hundreds of people came to my lectures, especially young people, asking what they can do to create change.
It seems to me that our current situation is so serious that any ideology that doesn't promote a sense of global understanding and global appreciation of each other is failing the test of the time. The golden rule should be applied globally, we should not treat other nations in ways that we would not like to be treated ourselves. It's time that we move beyond the idea of toleration, and towards appreciation of the other.
Armstrong's TED Prize wish sits right in the middle of some of today's most profound global tensions: help me, she asked, "with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion", to be crafted by a group of twelve inspirational thinkers from the three Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and "based on the fundamental principles of universal justice and respect".
Bridging the divide among the three prevalent monotheistic faiths, which all claim Abraham as part of their religious history, using the lens of compassion, will require more than scholarly preeminence and good will. It will call for the creation of a totally new narrative, stepping beyond hatred and defensiveness and, in Armstrong's own words, "making the authentic voice of religion a power in the world that is conducive to peace". It will demand a subtle effort that engages everybody. It will necessitate operational support (which will come from the UN Alliance of Civilizations, but also from individuals). Mostly, it will depend on the participation of many and on finding the right answer to the key question: Who are the spiritual leaders of these three religions who should be solicited to participate in the group of twelve?
Interested in supporting Karen to turn her very ambitious and very necessary vision into reality? Plan and list of needs, and discussion board.A performance by South African singer Wusi Mahlasela closes the session.
The videos of today's three TED Prize speeches will be released on TED.com in a couple of weeks.
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TEDPrize Winner Jehane Noujaim's Breakout Star – April 18, 2006
Josh Rushing, the American star of 2006 TEDPrize winner Jehane Noujaim's documentary Control Room has gone and done something very unexpected: he quit the U.S. Military after 14 years to join the English language Al-Jazeera International news station as on-air talent. As you may recall from the film, former marine Rushing, one of the U.S. media spokespersons for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, started off the film spouting the American party line, but grew over the course of the documentary into a much more complicated and sympathetic figure. Fast Company magazine describes in their cover story how many Americans view him as an idiot, or worse a traitor. Find out why Rushing hopes that Al Jazeera International could help repair America's image not only in the Arab world, but worldwide. In viewing the film, you can see how Rushing was quite affected by his relationship with Al Jazeera reporters; there's no question that appearing in Control Room literally changed his life.
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TED Prize Winner: Jehane Noujaim – October 14, 2005
Jehane Noujaim is the gutsy filmmaker behind Control Room, the controversial documentary following events at Al Jazeera — the largest Arab news network — from the onset of the Iraq war. Jehane left for Qatar two weeks before the US invasion and gained access to both Al Jazeera and the US Military's Central Command. She also produced and directed the award-winning film, Startup.com. Jehane is on a mission to uncover cultural truths, and she's looking for ideas for her next documentary. We suspect the TED community will have some thoughts on this TED Prize wish ...
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Announcing the 2009 TED Prize winners: oceanographer Sylvia Earle, SETI's Jill Tarter, maestro José Antonio Abreu – October 16, 2008
TED and the TED Prize are proud to unveil the three remarkable winners of the 2009 TED Prize: deep-ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, astronomer Jill Tarter, and Maestro José Antonio Abreu. Each of them is a leader in his/her chosen field of work, with an unconventional viewpoint and a vision to transform the world. Their lives and their words are inspiring.
Sylvia Earle, called “Her Deepness” by the New Yorker and the New York Times, “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress, and “Hero for the Planet” by Time, is an oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer with a deep commitment to research through personal exploration.
“We've got to somehow stabilize our connection to nature so that in 50 years from now, 500 years, 5,000 years from now there will still be a wild system and respect for what it takes to sustain us."
Jill Tarter, director of the SETI Institute’s Center for SETI Research and holder of the Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI. She has devoted her career to hunting for signs of sentient beings elsewhere, and almost all aspects of this field have been affected by her work.
" 'Are we alone?' Humans have been asking [this question] forever. The probability of success is difficult to estimate but if we never search the chance of success is zero."
José Abreu, a retired economist, trained musician, and social reformer founded El Sistema (“the system”) in 1975 based on the conviction that what poor Venezuelan kids needed was classical music. After 30 years and 10 different political administrations, El Sistema is now a nationwide organization of 102 youth orchestras, 55 children’s orchestras and 270 music centers.
"Music has to be recognized as an ... agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values -- solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings."
Learn more about them here.
Each wins $100,000 plus "One Wish to Change the World." Their wishes will be unveiled at TED2009 on February 5, 2009.
We can't wait!
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E.O. Wilson on PBS: Why should we care if the woodpecker goes? – July 13, 2007
The last "Bill Moyers Journal", the weekly report on PBS, featured a long interview (video - transcript) by Moyers with biologist and TED Prize 2007 winner EO Wilson. The focus was very much on Wilson's career -- "No one in our time has added more to our understanding of Earth's ecology than Ed Wilson" is how Moyers described him -- but Moyers took the opportunity to also ask questions about the Encyclopedia of Life. The EOL is Wilson's TED Prize wish (video - summary - text): It's a vast project aimed at documenting all 1.8 million named species of animals, plants, and other forms of life on Earth, and those yet to be discovered ("We're maybe today about 1/10 through the discovery of species", says Wilson). Efforts towards an EOL have been underway since January 2006, but Wilson's TED2007 speech has significantly accelerated the process, with the McArthur Foundation leading a US$ 50 million funding commitment, leading scientific institutions including Harvard University and the Smithsonian teaming up, and agency Avenue A/Razorfish creating a first design concept for the Encyclopedia and a video to explain the ambitious vision behind the initiative, using photography by Frans Lanting (watch his TED 2005 speech) and others. Moyers is a great interviewer. At a certain point, he asks Wilson: why should we care if the woodpecker goes? I mean, we've lost---how many species have we lost? Wilson: How many species going extinct or becoming very rare do you think it takes before you see something happening? We now know from experiments and theory that the more species you take out of an ecosystem like a pond, a patch of forest, a little bit of marine shallow environments, the more you take out the less stable it becomes. If you have a tsunami or a severe drought or a fire, it is less likely that that ecosystem, that body of species in that particular environment, is going to come back all the way. So it becomes less stable with fewer species. And then we also know it becomes less productive. In other words, it's not able to produce as many kilograms of new matter from photosynthesis and passage through the ecosystem. It's less productive. It sure is less interesting, though, isn't it? And more than that: we lose the services of these species. Moyers: The services of these species. Wilson: Yes, services of these species to us. Like pollination and water purification. Moyers: That we get free from nature. Wilson: Yeah. Here's an easy way to remember it.
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Pangea Day trailer: Now in 20 languages – December 21, 2007
On May 10, 2008 -– Pangea Day -– we're throwing a worldwide film festival. Screens in Cairo, Dharamsala, Kigali, London, New York City, Ramallah, Rio de Janeiro and Tel Aviv will be videoconferenced live to produce a 4-hour program of powerful short films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music. Pangea Day grew out of the wish of 2006 TED Prize winner Jehane Noujaim, who made her wish to "unite the world through the power of film."
Watch the trailer now -- with subtitles in 20 languages! Working with dotSUB, a web-based translation tool, you can choose subtitles in Arabic, French, Chinese, German, Hindi, Korean ... and register on dotSUB to translate it into even more languages.
Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion, while uniting millions of people to build a better future. There are many ways to get involved:
Submit your own short film
If you had the world's attention for just a few minutes, what story would you tell? On May 10, 2008, the opportunity is yours. Submit a film. Share a story. The world will be watching. Deadline for submission: Feb. 15, 2008. Find out how to submit your short film >>
Host a screening
People are signing up to host screenings all over the world -- in homes, parks, schools, and more. More than 200 screenings in 46 countries are listed on our Google Map, and we've just begun! Sign up to host a screening >> -
2007 TED Prize winner James Nachtwey – April 4, 2007
Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, James Nachtwey talks about his decades as a photojournalist. A slideshow of his photos, beginning in 1981 in Northern Ireland, reveals two parallel themes in his work. First, as he says: "The frontlines of contemporary wars are right where people live." Street violence, famine, disease: he has photographed all these modern WMDs. Second, when a photo catches the world's attention, it can truly drive action and change. In his TED wish, he asks for help gaining access to a story that needs to be told, and developing a new, digital way to show these photos to the world. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 23:41)
NEW: Watch this talk in High Resolution (480P)
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