American synthetic biologist Sheref Mansy is working on constructing artificial cells that mimic -- and "talk" to -- biological cells. In this fascinating conversation, Mansy weaves through the question of what does and does not constitute "life," the possible practical applications for his work, and how conversations with artists have opene...

Most of us enter the professional world believing that the focus and hard work which got us through our education will help us rise there, too. But we don't yet realize that there are significant obstacles lying in our path. Author Michelle P. King explains how the need to conform can stand between women and success. Between the ages of 24 a...

Homophobia and mass shootings are afflictions that won't be solved overnight -- but the problematic and outdated restrictions against gay blood donors could be. Nothing rubs salt in the wounds of tragedy like bigotry or bureaucracy -- or both. But that is just what happened last week after the shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando. Wit...

Paul Rucker’s eye-opening work forces people to look at the bias and bigotry that have been sewn into the fabric of America. The silhouette of a KKK robe is unmistakable, with its ominous, hooded outline. It's a stark reminder of one of the ugliest parts of America’s past -- a past that has been bubbling to the surface again in recent years. Th...

Let it be noted, says co-host Chris Anderson, that this year's TED started with a roaring cheer and with a scream of anguish. Our job this week is to explore what's amazing, in every sense of the word, from the jaw-droppingly wonderful to the shocking and urgent. So Chris and co-host Helen Walters have decided to kick off Session 1 with a qu...

Drew Curtis is not a politician. The curator of Fark.com, the legendary online community of news jokes and funny Photoshops, he proudly proclaims this fact on homepage of his latest website. This declaration is only surprising because, just a few inches above, the intention of the website is revealed: “Drew Curtis for Governor.” See, poli...

What happens when the technology for manipulation on the neural level becomes possible? Could there be a future therapy for people with depression or PTSD -- or heartbreak? Do people really want to have their memories manipulated? Elizabeth Loftus, Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu grapple with some big questions. In late 2013, MIT neuroscientists Xu ...

Obsessive navel-gazing can be satisfying, but the problem is, it can also be damaging. Organizational psychologist Tasha Eurich suggests ways to escape the loop of rumination and learn how to move forward for real. It was Tuesday evening around 11pm. Holed up in my dark office, I sat staring at a set of freshly analyzed data. A few weeks earlie...

Musician, ethnomusicologist, author, and social media maven -- Kyra Gaunt (see her TEDxChisinau talk here) won’t limit herself to one way of thinking. Using a variety of media, she works nonstop to help humanity see our own remarkable unity in diversity. Your work encompasses scholarship, musical performance, educational theory, race, gender,...

Among the winners of the 71st annual Peabody Awards: TED.com! The judges wrote: An outgrowth of a 1984 conference that brought together leaders in technology, entertainment and design (TED), the site makes creative thinkers and their ideas available everywhere, anytime. We're thrilled and honored to be among this company of Peabody awa...

At the age of 19, Eman Mohammed became the only female photojournalist based in Gaza, breaking longstanding cultural taboos around the role of women in society. Three weeks into her career, the Gaza War began. Now 26, Mohammed continues to document harrowing and intimate stories of war and its aftermath in Gaza and beyond. Here, Mohammed tells...

Linguist and psychologist Steven Pinker's talk at the end of TED2018 Session 1 argued enthusiastically that humanity has, as a whole, made remarkable progress toward prosperity, peace and happiness — backing up his assertions with charts that showed an optimistic trajectory. But is that the whole story? A roundtable of TED Fellows — includin...

Our office might be closed for summer vacation, but the TED Fellows are hard at work at the very first TED Fellows Retreat, happening now  in Whistler, British Columbia. Because the Fellows have proliferated since the program officially launched in 2009, many of these extraordinary thinkers have never had a chance to meet and conspire. And t...

Jon Ronson is the author of The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, an exploration of what defines a psychopath. At TED2012, he told a part of that story on stage -- how he met a man named Tony who was held for years in a psychiatric prison because he faked mental illness too well, and about how Ronson himself became tra...

“This is a little different than the mainstage at TED, in a sense that this is a little more relaxed,” says our host, the poet and TED speaker Clint Smith. “These are speakers who have not been selected specifically for the mainstage, but they’re just as talented, just as brilliant, and just as important.” A spectrum of ideas, stories, pe...

Find repose by exciting the mind. Some of the world's leading thinkers offer the books that inspired them and their work. Skim the list for your favorite speakers, or get nerdy on a topic you've always wanted to know more about. Below find 52 books, recommended by TED speakers. Creativity Creative Confidence, by Tom Kelley and David Kelley Cr...

On the stage at TEDGlobal 2011, Ben Goldacre delivered an incredibly fast-paced and informative talk on the subtle ways nutritionists, pharmaceutical companies, and others distort scientific evidence. TED's Ben Lillie caught up with him to talk about how to read newspapers, the power of the placebo effect, and how people really want to learn...

Complex times require a bold embrace of diversity and difference -- and an ability to turn the unknown into an advantage. How can we tap into the unexpected? For a fifth year, BCG has partnered with TED to bring experts in education, diversity, AI, biology and more to the stage to share ideas from the forefront of innovation. At this year...

The greatest ideas of our time will be sparked by a simple question: "What if?" What if we had truly inclusive workplaces? What if we removed the inefficiencies that stand in the way of eliminating world hunger? What if we could deliver quality health care in the home? What if we took back our privacy online? At this year’s TED@UPS -- held on...

TED Fellow Paul Wicks is changing the way patients with chronic health conditions connect with one another, and how they participate in research. Trained as a neuropsychologist -- and specializing in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson’s disease -- Paul began using the internet in 2002 to bring together communities of patients wi...

We asked TED speakers, TED-Ed educators and TED Fellows: “What books would you bring with you to a desert island?” In their deliciously diverse responses, you'll find there's something for every kind of reader. They offered up recommendations -- please use the following links to jump around the sections you're interested in -- for when you're h...

Since we know TED speakers love to read, we asked them: What book could you not stop reading? Here are their eclectic picks, ready for sticking in your carry-on or for gifting. If you want to be transported to another place and time The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood This novel is set in the near future and tells a horrifying story of a...

Here's a huge list of TED speaker-recommended books, with all the diversity of titles and topics you might expect. No matter your mood, preference or occasion, we’ve got you covered. When you’re lying in the sun Any book by Isaac Asimov I have stacks of collections of science-fiction short stories. I grab these before getting on a long f...

Books can entertain, sucking you like a tornado into incredible new worlds. Books can teach, giving you a richer understanding of time periods, people and ideas you’ve never been exposed to. But books can do so much more. In today’s talk, TED's own Lisa Bu introduces us to the concept of “comparative reading,” the practice of reading book...

The current coronavirus pandemic is a truly global one; in fact, Antarctica is the only continent with no cases (although that could change). Most nations have responded with similar measures -- stay-at-home advisories, shutdown of non-essential businesses, social distancing -- but the scope of these changes has varied and so has the human impac...