A Parkland teacher's homework for us all
Diane Wolk-Rogers / Educator
A map that shows you the shortest paths to happiness — literally

TED Talk: These maps take into account not only the route you want to take, but how you want to feel along the way

The beauty of strangers

Playlist: Explore the poetic and unexpected pleasures of embracing the strangers who make fleeting appearances in our lives

Newest Talks

  1. A Parkland teacher's homework for us all
  2. Why it's worth listening to people you disagree with
  3. The "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico
  4. The harm reduction model of drug addiction treatment
  5. A printable, flexible, organic solar cell
  6. What's missing in the global debate over refugees

Trending

  1. What separates us from chimpanzees?
  2. How our microbes make us who we are
  3. Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!
  4. Why we need strangeness
  5. The Earth is full
  6. The art of asking

recommended today

  1. How to keep rivers and streams flowing
  2. The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting
  3. How I brought a river, and my city, back to life
  4. Reviving New York's rivers -- with oysters!
  5. The boiling river of the Amazon
  6. How to make filthy water drinkable

Explore playlists

Heard on TED Radio Hour

  1. Forget the pecking order at work
  2. The way we think about work is broken
  3. What makes us feel good about our work?
  4. Why do ambitious women have flat heads?
  5. For more wonder, rewild the world
  6. Life in Biosphere 2

TEDx fan favorites

  1. My philosophy for a happy life
  2. How to stop screwing yourself over
  3. What makes you special?
  4. Why you should quit social media
  5. Plus-size? More like my size
  6. Why people believe they can't draw

TED-Ed lessons: feed your curiosity

  1. A simple way to tell insects apart
  2. Why do cats act so weird?
  3. The science of stage fright (and how to overcome it)
  4. The science of skin color
  5. How playing an instrument benefits your brain
  6. What would happen if you didn't sleep?

lifelong learning

  1. The life-long learner
  2. How to get better at the things you care about
  3. 12 truths I learned from life and writing
  4. Why some of us don't have one true calling
  5. We should aim for perfection -- and stop fearing failure
  6. Life's third act

and now ... a few bad ideas

  1. 3 ways to spot a bad statistic
  2. Battling bad science
  3. Why people believe weird things
  4. On being wrong
  5. Why we make bad decisions
  6. What I learned from 100 days of rejection

be an activist. start now

  1. The antidote to apathy
  2. Activism needs introverts
  3. How to make peace? Get angry
  4. Courage is contagious
  5. How protest is redefining democracy around the world
  6. How the US government spies on people who protest -- including you

deep space science

  1. How to take a picture of a black hole
  2. The hunt for a supermassive black hole
  3. How I fell in love with quasars, blazars and our incredible universe
  4. The sound the universe makes
  5. Is our universe the only universe?
  6. Let's look for life in the outer solar system

About TED

TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 110 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.