Mike's Picks: Our photo editor, Mike Femia, is sorting through thousands of photos this week. He picks a favorite each day. Here's today's: A beautiful photo by Ryan Lash of the truly amazing Reggie Watts onstage at TED2012. My happiness increases by 10x every time I look at it.

Late in January, Robin Ince tweeted: balls, 7 months too late I've just realised what i should have done my TED talk on So the TED Blog asked: What? And here is what he wrote: Every year I attempt to say yes to things that are out of my comfort zone. These are never physical things such as parachute jumps or mountain climbs -- I...

Most people’s hearts leap up when they see the words “50% off” or “Buy One Get One Free.” Unfortunately, discounts cause us to act quickly and spend more than we should, say economist Dan Ariely and writer Jeff Kreisler. Susan Thompkins is somebody’s Aunt Susan, and everyone has someone like her. Aunt Susan is a genuinely happy and loving woman...

Today, June 21, is Go Skateboarding Day, which is a perfectly good reason to celebrate this global culture of under-the-radar creativity and community. Below are four TED Talks in celebration of the innovation and flow of skating. Rodney Mullen: Pop an ollie and innovate! Beginning at age 10, Rodney Mullen been sharing his unique style a...

Today, we're thrilled to announce the launch of TED Books, an imprint of short nonfiction works designed for digital distribution. Shorter than traditional books, TED Books run less than 20,000 words each -- long enough to explain a powerful idea, but short enough to be read in a single sitting. Books are available on the Kindle and Kindle R...

These five different exercises -- all from TED speakers -- can help you add more thanks to your life. Feel free to do the challenges in any way that suits you, whether it’s in back-to-back days or spread out over weeks or months. Then, if some of them resonate with you more than others, focus on those and save the rest for another time. The...

Whether you put on your cap and gown last week -- or last century -- these honest answers can give you some insight and guidance. “If you don't know what you want to do with the rest of your life, you're not a failure. Give yourself time and get yourself experience to figure things out.” -- Angela Duckworth (TED Talk: Grit -- the power of pass...

Work comes in all shapes and sizes — there's no one-size-fits-all model for what humans do to make a living. We can see this in the countless TEDTalks from people telling stories about what they do, be it single-handedly creating a polyphonic orchestra, performing magical stunts on city streets, or even studying fungi. While we aren't all glam...

In an interview on the Today Show this morning, Kevin Breel reveals why he thinks his TED Talk has gone viral: not because his story is unique, but because it is so common. Breel’s talk, given at TEDxKids@Ambleside, has been watched about 1.5 million times so far. In it, the 19-year-old reveals that, while he seemed to be living a great l...

At TEDMED 2010, opera singer Charity Tillemann-Dick told the story of a revolutionary, life-changing surgery -- a double lung transplant. While a doctor had warned her that she would never sing again, she revealed what it felt like to get her voice back. “We need to stop letting disease divorce us from our dreams,” she said. Now, three yea...

In this session, TED is hosting a dinner party on stage, with various TED attendees and some speakers sitting on stage throughout. Seth Godin, Stewart Brand and Sir Ken Robinson are all primed and ready to jump in with discussion of those we are about to hear. Namely: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein writes novels that explore questions of phi...

The McGregor Reading Room at the University of Virginia is sometimes referred to as the “Harry Potter Room.” All  bookshelves, oriental carpets and chandeliers, the room earned its nickname for its posh look and the fact that it’s a favorite spot for studying. But last December, this room filled with a little real-life magic: the smell of fre...

To kick off day 3 of TED2019, five speakers explored big shifts: challenging accepted wisdom on love, giving, leadership, truth -- and illegal substances. The event: Talks from TED2019, Session 5: Mindshift, hosted by TED's Chris Anderson and Corey Hajim When and where: Wednesday, April 17, 2019, 8:45am, at the Vancouver Convention Cen...

Humanity is defined by its immense body of knowledge. Most times it inches forward, shedding light onto the mysteries of the universe and easing life's endeavors in small increments. But in some special moments, knowledge and understanding leap forward, when one concentrated mind or one crucial discovery redirects the course of things and ch...

Happy Tuesday! Enjoy a bonus binge this week: a playlist about design. "Design giants" contains 13 talks by iconic modern designers. Hear from Philippe Starck, who asks, "Why design?" ... Stefan Sagmeister on how design helped him find happiness ... Eames Demetrios on his grandparents' legendary work ... and today's talk, Paola Antonelli, on...

It all starts with an idea -- a seed that spawns astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, new ways to think, to create. Journey through the world of extraordinary ideas with TED Radio Hour, a new program from NPR and TED that inspires imagination about modern life and places bets on tomorrow, with today's most compelling ...

One hint: it often ends with the letters “est.” And it can lead to competition and disappointment, says psychologist and workplace researcher Shawn Achor. Some people treat praise like a limited commodity. They believe that the key to advancement and success must be to absorb and rack up as much recognition and admiration as possible. This is t...

Many of us like to lead with the positive, but it turns out that goes against what psychologists are discovering about human nature, says business writer Daniel Pink. “I’ve got some good news and some bad news.” You’ve undoubtedly said that before. Whether you’re a parent, a kid, a teacher, a doctor or a writer trying to explain a missed dea...

TED2015 featured more than 90 speakers, and more than 20 hours of talks. We turned our perceptions inside-out, saw some new technology, traveled to space more than once, heard astounding life stories, learned about unusual materials, rethought artistic expression and contemplated the divides of society, with an eye toward ending injustice. ...

Anyone who has appreciated a meditative mental drift while knitting or mowing a lawn knows that there is something calming about engaging in a familiar, low-impact activity that requires minimal thought and bestows a clear sense of progress. That goes at least some of the way toward explaining the immense appeal of adult coloring books, which no...

Beer-Sheva, Israel-based community member Yubal Masalker wrote this in response to Jennifer Senior's TED Talk, For parents, happiness is a very high bar: "In my opinion, as we know more, we make more of an issue of every tiny matter. This is the main reason why there are now so many books about how to raise children. There is high demand for ...

TED Talks have now been viewed more than a billion times around the world. To celebrate this occasion, we reached out to 24 incredible talents in the areas of technology, entertainment and design, asking them create playlists of the talks that resonated most with them. Over the past three days, we’ve revealed about half of those lists, from ...

In 1972, Matthieu Ricard had a promising career in biochemistry, trying to figure out the secrets of E. coli bacteria. A chance encounter with Buddhism led to an about turn, and Ricard has spent the past 40+ years living in the Himalayas, studying mindfulness and happiness. In this free-wheeling discussion at TED Global in October 2014, Ricard t...

Great news: TED Books are now available on Apple's iBookstore. It’s an exciting time for publishing, and we’re glad to work with Apple to make TED Books available to as many readers as possible. TED Books, which launched earlier this year, are an imprint of short nonfiction works designed for digital distribution. Shorter than traditional book...

A cure for those what-do-I-watch-now moments: starting today, TED is on Apple TV. In our beautifully designed new Apple TV channel, you can watch TED’s full library of talks (1900+ of them and counting) and our expanding collection of playlists (more than 200 of them, from “Architectural inspiration” to “Talks to watch when every conceivable...

One researcher's quest to end discrimination against single people. Bella DePaulo, now in her sixties, has always been single. For some time, she thought the marriage bug would bite her, until she realized it wouldn’t—and she didn’t want it to. DePaulo, who describes herself as “single at heart,” relishes the lifestyle. What she doesn’t love is...

When you're in the giving mood, there are four different ways you can share TED: a membership to view two full TED Conferences with TED Live, a personally curated DVD of your favorite TED Talks, or simply a TED Talk that inspired you. With all of these options, you can definitely find at least one way to share a great idea with someone as yo...

The latest TV show from TED’s creative team spins ideas from TED Talks in new directions -- en español. Soy TED, a new Spanish-language TV series about big ideas, premieres on Vme TV this Friday, September 25, at 7pm EST. Each episode of Soy TED centers on a theme — from happiness to exploration to drones — built around a few key TED Ta...

The TED community has been moving-and-shaking as usual. Below, some newsy highlights. What you don’t know about ‘no.’ If your friend is getting ready for a job interview and asks, “Do I look good in this?,” and you answer, “No, totally!,” should they change or stride confidently out the door? This week, Kathryn Schulz writes in The New Yorker a...

Below, a look at some members of the TED community with news to share this week: Sara Lewis confirms to a local paper that there are in fact more fireflies this summer, and that we are in midst of peak firefly season. Hurry—it ends mid-August! (Watch Sara’s TED Talk, “The loves and lies of fireflies.”) Language historian Anne Curzan speaks...