A new word for a new profession Laura Snyder begins with a scene from June 24, 1833. It's a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elderly man stands up to make a comment. It's Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He stands up and demands, "You must stop calling yourselves Natural Philosophers." He believed that tru...

Nick Hanauer lays out the epic failure of the Republican party to serve its voters, prompting the popular surge in support for Donald Trump. The Republican Party is coming apart, and Donald Trump is leading the charge. The GOP establishment, now aware of the existential crisis they face, is in full panic mode. Media elites and most of the pundi...

This week’s TED Radio Hour examines the hacker, a term often associated with computer crime. But, as host Guy Raz tells us, “All of our TED speakers today are hacking for good -- hacking into our brains, into the environment, even into the DNA of extinct animals -- hackers trying to save the world.” First up, Mikko Hypponen, the programmer wh...

In conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson at TED HQ in New York on Wednesday, New York Times columnist David Brooks and journalist Gretchen Carlson discussed how and why America has become so polarized -- and where we can find common ground. Set between lively renditions of "America the Beautiful" and "Go Down Moses" performed by th...

Jack Dorsey is a bit of an enigma. The CEO of Twitter and Square, Dorsey is known for his amazing sense of calm in turbulent times -- while his network takes a serious chunk of the blame for the divisiveness seen around the world, both online and off. At TED2019, head of TED Chris Anderson and TED current affairs curator Whitney Penningto...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Bryan Stevenson spends most of his time in jails and prisons and on death row. He's a lawyer, and the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative. So he's found it very energizing at TED, and wanted to start by pointing out that there is a distinct identity here. Things said here have a power that maybe they do...

As a radio host, Celeste Headlee has engaged in her fair share of discussions, and she's thought a lot about how to bring out the best in a conversational counterpart. One thing she likes to say: A good conversation is like a game of catch. Huh? She explains. When you play catch, you have to do an equal number of catches and throws, right? It's...

If we learned anything at TED2019, it’s that life doesn’t fit into simple narratives, and that there are no simple answers to the big problems we’re facing. But we can use those problems, our discomfort and even our anger to find the energy to make change. Twelve mainstage sessions, two rocking sessions of talks from TED Fellows, a specia...

Amy Cuddy digs into what our faces and bodies do when we tell a lie. Let me start with a question: How do you know if a person is lying? If you’re like most people, your first response will be something like “Liars don’t make eye contact.” In a survey of 2,520 adults in sixty-three countries, 70 percent of respondents gave that answer. People a...

What are the tools we're using to build the future? Session 3 speakers go deep on what's next in finance, energy, business and the structures we live in. The next generation of trust on the Internet. For many online transactions, we rely on middlemen like banks and government to establish trust -- but these systems face growing issues lik...

The security of Western democracies depends on our welcoming displaced people, not deporting or demonizing them, says refugee advocate David Miliband. Crisis is an overused word, but the massive forced displacement we see today, the sheer number of people driven from their homes by war or oppression, deserves that description. This is a global ...

Just a few of the intriguing headlines involving members of the TED community this week: Around the globe without a drop of fuel. What has the wingspan of a Boeing 747 but weighs only about as much as an SUV? The answer is Bertrand Piccard’s Solar Impulse 2, an airplane fueled entirely by solar energy that landed in California on April 24 aft...

Neuroscientist Molly Crockett has a secret to share: if you want to make better decisions, eat a grilled cheese sandwich. In today’s talk, filmed at the TEDSalon in London, Crockett shares how she accidentally had a part in circulating this message. Several years ago, Crockett and her fellow researchers set out to study how serotonin would ...

Photo: James Duncan Davidson Paul Gilding starts his TEDTalk with four words that say almost everything: "The Earth is full." It's a terrifying concept. Have we really strained, mined and otherwise depleted the planet's resources to the point where social collapse is inevitable? Gilding believes we have, and he launches into a defense of ...

We all contain an inner nitpicker, but we shouldn’t let it drag us down and drown out everything else. Psychologist Rick Hanson gives advice on how to put it back in its place. We all have two different voices inside us: one that is nurturing, and one that is critical; one that lifts up, and one that weighs us down. Both of these voices have a ...

In this excerpt from the brand-new podcast The TED Interview, the beloved writer tells us how she is learning to live with loss. Writer Elizabeth Gilbert has reached the heights of fame -- her two TED Talks (2009’s “Your elusive creative genius” and 2014’s “Success, failure and the drive to keep creating”) have together gotten more than 24 mill...

When someone makes a StoryCorps interview, they'll usually talk about the most important people in their lives, remember the best and worst moments they’ve lived through, and pass on wisdom they’ve gleaned over the years. So it comes as no surprise that memories of parents are often the star of the show. Our facilitators tell us that even pe...

Photo: James Duncan Davidason Author and UVA psychology professor Jonathan Haidt kicks off his TED2012 talk with a provocative question: "how many of you think of yourselves as religious?" Some people raise their hands, but not so many. Another question: "Do you think of yourselves as spiritual in any shape or form?" The majority of peopl...

Most people go into top positions with good intentions, but those often crumble due to the demands -- and perks -- of the job. If you want to succeed, devote some time and energy to self-leadership, says consultant Lars Sudmann. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from s...

"TED is about challenging convention and deepening our understanding of the world around us by considering, even for just a few moments, a radically different way to look at things," says Dalia Mogahed, host of Session 5 of TEDWomen 2016 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. In the conference's penultimate session, thou...

“Africa is doomed to be poor” -- that wrongheaded statement is an example of the destiny instinct, the belief that innate characteristics determine the destinies of countries or cultures, says the late global health expert Hans Rosling. Here’s why it happens and how to overcome it. On May 12, 2013, I had the great privilege of addressing 500 wo...

Thoughts like these are completely normal, but many new moms feel ashamed of having them. Here’s how to let go of self-judgment and too-high expectations, from reproductive psychiatrists Alexandra Sacks and Catherine Birndorf. I’ve have been working in women’s mental health for the past decade and my mission has been to educate people about the...

Underpaid and overworked as a freelancer? Freelancing vet Soness Stevens debunks the myths that could be preventing you from earning -- and knowing -- your full professional value. This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which contains a piece of helpful advice from people in the TED community; browse through all t...

Relationship researcher Eli J. Finkel shares a three-step process to help you identify -- and get -- what you most want out of your marriage. What is marriage for? In modern societies, we can have financial security, cohabitation, sex, love, children and more without being married. This makes the institution less essential -- and much more flex...

Americans expect their president to be equal parts CEO, diplomat-in-chief, commander of armed forces, party leader and motivational figure. Perhaps it’s time to rethink the presidency itself, suggests historian Jeremi Suri. In its extremes of power and responsibility, the US presidency is probably the most talked about and least understood offi...

Psychologist Guy Winch shares some practical tips for soothing the sting of rejection. Rejections are the most common emotional wound we sustain in daily life. Our risk of rejection used to be limited by the size of our immediate social circle or dating pools. Today, thanks to electronic communications, social media platforms and dating apps, e...

Here’s something you might want to consider tattooing on your forehead: What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do, says productivity guru Tim Ferriss. To do or not to do? To try or not to try? Most people will vote no, whether they consider themselves brave or not. Uncertainty and the prospect of failure can be very scary noise...

Researchers are finding that your mental patterns could be harming your telomeres -- essential parts of the cell’s DNA -- and affecting your life and health. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Elizabeth Blackburn and health psychologist Elissa Epel explain. How can one person bask in the sunshine of good health, while another person looks old before...

The many-headed dragon of public anger has a mouthful of fire for parents who don't vaccinate. But such scolding misses the mark, alienating caring parents who just want their kids to be safe. When measles broke out at California’s Disneyland in 2015, sickening nearly 150 people across seven states and spreading to Mexico and Canada, the online...