How urban spaces can preserve history and build community
Walter Hood / Creative director
Why people need poetry

TED Talk: On World Poetry Day, a charming, funny talk that takes you on a lyrical journey through the human urge to imagine

Strange facts about sex

Playlist: 5 talks full of weird facts that you probably didn't learn in sex education ...

Newest Talks

  1. How urban spaces can preserve history and build community
  2. How cancer cells communicate -- and how we can slow them down
  3. What a scrapyard in Ghana can teach us about innovation
  4. Why I fight for the education of refugee girls (like me)
  5. The little risks you can take to increase your luck
  6. How teachers can help kids find their political voices

Trending

  1. The four fish we're overeating -- and what to eat instead
  2. The Earth is full
  3. Growing new organs
  4. A tale of two Americas. And the mini-mart where they collided
  5. Dance, tiny robots!
  6. Synthetic voices, as unique as fingerprints

Recommended today

  1. The smelly mystery of the human pheromone
  2. You smell with your body, not just your nose
  3. Smelfies, and other experiments in synthetic biology
  4. How to make hard choices
  5. The "dead zone" of the Gulf of Mexico
  6. How to revive a neighborhood: with imagination, beauty and art

Explore playlists

Heard on TED Radio Hour

  1. Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers
  2. Be suspicious of simple stories
  3. New data on the rise of women
  4. What the Social Progress Index can reveal about your country
  5. The Earth is full
  6. How much does a video weigh?

TED-Ed lessons: feed your curiosity

  1. Zen kōans: unsolvable enigmas designed to break your brain
  2. What really happened to the Library of Alexandria?
  3. How the Normans changed the history of Europe
  4. Why does your voice change as you get older?
  5. Did ancient Troy really exist?
  6. How can you change someone's mind?

What is genius?

  1. The untapped genius that could change science for the better
  2. The linguistic genius of babies
  3. Your elusive creative genius
  4. The deadly genius of drug cartels
  5. The emergent genius of ant colonies
  6. The gentle genius of bonobos

Explore philosophy

  1. Philosophy in prison
  2. How do you explain consciousness?
  3. How to make hard choices
  4. A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
  5. Why does the universe exist?
  6. For argument's sake

Our brains: predictably irrational

  1. Why people believe weird things
  2. The optimism bias
  3. Beware conflicts of interest
  4. The paradox of choice
  5. The art of choosing
  6. The riddle of experience vs. memory

Powerful art activism

  1. Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of Earth
  2. Turning powerful stats into art
  3. Art made of the air we breathe
  4. How art gives shape to cultural change
  5. A powerful poem about what it feels like to be transgender
  6. Enough with the fear of fat

Be a better photographer

  1. Photographing the landscape of oil
  2. America's native prisoners of war
  3. The story of life in photographs
  4. Photographs of secret sites
  5. How photography connects us
  6. How your pictures can help reclaim lost history

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.