Just a few of the intriguing headlines involving members of the TED community this week: Jill Sobule's new album, Dottie's Charms, is streaming free at Harper's. Each song is inspired by a charm on a vintage bracelet, with lyrics penned by a writer Jill admires, including Jonathan Lethem and Sam Lipsyte. (Watch Jill sing "Global warming's t...

It’s TEDx … from space. This unique vantage point of TEDxSanaa’s amazing mountainside signage is brought to you with some help from Google Earth. Take a look for yourself on Google Maps. We take this image as proof that TEDx has become a global enterprise. This week, from events held across the world, we’ve handpicked four TEDx Talks that...

Kids these days are “speaking” a new language, right under our noses and literally right under the table. But is texting making us dumber? No, says John McWhorter, Associate Professor at Columbia University and Contributing Editor at The New Republic. In his talk from TED@New York -- one of 293 talks given as part of the TED2013 Talent Searc...

(TED is on its annual two-week vacation. During the break, we’re posting playlists from the TEDTalks archive. We’ll be back with new talks on August 29th.) “If you could only see the world the way I see it …” Four TEDTalks from non-neurotypical thinkers, people whose minds work in extraordinary and unusual ways. 1) Temple Grandin, diagnose...

If we could recommend one superb TEDTalk about music a week, what would it be? What about business? Technology? Here at TED.com we are always looking for new and better ways to bring together the voices of TED speakers and TED viewers. This week we are launching themed iTunes podcasts, to bring more topics of interest directly to you. Along w...

The event: TED Salon: Education Everywhere, curated by Cloe Shasha, TED's director of speaker development; Stephanie Lo, director of programs for TED-Ed; and Logan Smalley, director of TED-Ed The partner: Bezos Family Foundation and ENDLESS When and where: Thursday, January 24, 2019, at the TED World Theater in New York City Music: ...

TED Talks are available in 100 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese, thanks to the tireless work of our volunteer translators. So far, more than 10,000 volunteers have created upwards of 40,000 talk translations -- and every week, the TED Blog brings you a Q&A with one of them. Today, meet Khalid Marbou. 1. Where do you live and what do...

Few scientific papers are written in crayon and begin with the words, “Once upon a time.” But then again, few scientific papers are written by a group of 8- to 10-year-olds. In this adorable talk from TEDGlobal, neuroscientist, artist and educator Beau Lotto shares why he thinks children have an edge when it comes to scientific inquiry -- t...

TEDYouth “The Spark” is about to ignite. The annual conference for middle and high school students will take place this Saturday in New Orleans, with 400 teens from across the region gathering to listen to talks from scientists, designers, technologists, explorers, artists and performers -- some of them adults and some of them peers. The atte...

It’s a challenge for anyone with a cause: How do you frame the issue so that people feel excited to get involved? For some causes, the answer is asking people to dump a bucket of ice on their head. For others, making that personal connection is even more tricky.  This is exactly how a small group of attendees felt when they were posed with...

Being a writer is all about expressing your unique perspective with feeling and originality, not about having a huge vocabulary or getting published, says author Jacqueline Woodson. She shares a little of what she's learned in the process of writing a lot (30+ books!). This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which ...

When you give a child their first smartphone, don’t send them into the digital world unprepared. Here's a look at the three-page agreement that technology executive Jennifer Zhu Scott asked her kids to sign when they got their phones, complete with some advice that adults should consider following, too. It’s become a modern rite of passage f...

TED is coming to Broadway. And curious minds of all kinds are invited. “TED Talks Live” will bring six nights of talks to The Town Hall Theater in New York City’s Theater district this November. The program will focus on three topics: The Education Revolution, War & Peace and Science & Wonder. Each night will be a thought-provokin...

If you watch my TED Talk from 2010, you might see a confident 12-year-old, cracking jokes and striding around the stage in glasses that keep sliding down her nose. You won’t see me going home and crying, or starting every page in my journal with four words: “I feel sad today.” I divided my life into two parts: my tear-stained journal vers...

Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, give this week’s talks a listen. Why you hate math: Laura Overdeck at TEDxWestVillageWomen When dining out, how often do you slide your check acros...

If you’ve Googled anything this morning, you’ve probably noticed that the site’s logo features an orb-shaped graph instead of a second ‘o,’ plus all sorts of equations like “V –E + F = 2.” The doodle is an homage to Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, who was born on this day in 1707. The man responsible for geometry, trigonometry, algebra, numb...

Welcome to"Dear Guy," TED's advice column from psychologist Guy Winch. Twice a month, he'll answer your questions about your relationships, your job (or jobs), your family (or families), your passions, fears and more. Please send your questions to dearguy@ted.com; to read his previous columns, go here. Dear Guy, I am a married woman in her e...

With TEDGlobal 2013 just 17 days in the distance, we in the TED office are getting very excited to “Think Again.” Here, a look at the conference speakers who made the news this week. Education innovator Anant Agarwal is interviewed in The New Yorker article “Laptop U.” The founder of edX, Harvard and MIT’s online learning venture, Agarwal wi...

At the end of every December, we at the office get a little indignant that some of our favorite TED Talks from the year didn't seem to do as well as we'd hoped. Some amazing talks, for whatever reason -- whether they're too absurd, niche or quirky, or simply were posted at a less than ideal time -- don't resonate at first blush with our audience...

Questions of justice and injustice are the most difficult of our world. There's no app that can fix these things; simple solutions just don't exist. And yet, we have to try. In these six talks, speakers share their thoughts on large-scale injustices and give their thoughts on how we can start to dismantle them. The echo of humiliation. “I...

According to Colin Powell, the retired four-star general and former United States Secretary of State, learning to give a salute can be life changing. At TED, many have shared what they believe to be missing from our current education system -- Ken Robinson says its space for kids to flex their creative muscles while Geoff Mulgan argues it’s a...

TEDYouth 2013 was a blast. In session 1, Suzanne Simard taught us about the familial relationships of trees. In session 2, Maya Penn shared how she launched a business at 8 years old. And in session 3, Ashton Kutcher thrilled the crowd with a surprise talk on what it means to be a "magnificent failure." Throughout it all, the 400 middle and ...

Timothy Bartik says that investing in early childhood education is not just good for the children involved -- but for communities as a whole. In today’s talk, he offers a detailed look at how preschool education boosts local economies in colossal ways. “Early childhood education can bring more and better jobs to a state and can thereby promot...

Could unemployment be a factor that leads to terrorism? In today's talk, peace strategist Mohamed Ali (not to be confused with the boxer) introduces us to the youth of Mogadishu, Somalia -- 70 percent of whom are unable to find jobs. In this talk, Ali highlights just how appealing the messages of terrorist organizations and gangs can be to t...

Stella Young’s story brings to mind two TED Talks that on the surface could not be more different, but share a common thread. Geena Rocero is a young woman who made a conscious choice to inspire with her identity. As a kid, she knew she’d been born into the wrong body, and she looked up to role models who helped her grow and step into her own...

This short post collects messages and reflections on Rita Pierson, who passed away Friday in Texas. If Dr. Pierson's talk or work touched your life, please share in the comments below. So very sorry to have this terrible news. I only met Dr. Pearson on the day of the recording and was deeply impressed as we all were by her passion, vivac...

Spring has been an exciting season for TEDx. In March, the program celebrated its 4th birthday; and now — just two months later — we’re excited to announce that the TEDx YouTube channel has reached its 100 millionth video view. In 2009, the TEDx program was created in the spirit of TED’s mission, “ideas worth spreading,” to empower indivi...

The paradox of finding peace in a war zone, and a way to make aid more effective -- by decentralizing it and thus speeding it up. Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, this week’s talks, wh...

Sometimes it feels like the world is fraying. Like our long-hold truths turn out, in an instant, to be figments of the imagination. Amid this turmoil, how can we strengthen connection, create more fulfilling lives? Speakers from Session 10 offer a range of provocative answers. The event: Talks from TED2019, Session 10: Connection, hosted ...

On a drizzly spring day in Boston earlier this month, three dozen musicians mingled in the President’s Library of the New England Conservatory (NEC), one of the most prestigious music institutions in the country. The weather did not dampen the infectious enthusiasm in the room. After all, 10 of these musicians were about to mark a milestone:...