Gratefulness isn't always something that comes easily. Below, some reading and watching to get you into a thankful headspace. Watch: "Want to be happy? Be thankful." This TED Talk from David Steindl-Rast is the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer. In it, the Benedictine monk and interfaith scholar talks about what, exactly, it means to be gratefu...

Tides are strong. They move swiftly, sweeping all toward the shore. But TED Fellows refuse to simply drift with the water. They are innovators, advocates and artists who challenge the status quo and work in the spaces between disciplines. At the second TED Fellows Retreat — held from August 25-28, 2015, and themed “Swimming Against the T...

By Becky Chung and Emily McManus The SF Jazz theater fills with the beeping and plinking sounds of a cellphone. Bora Yoon, a TED Fellow and experimental musician who weaves found sounds from old and new technologies, is on stage surrounded by her instruments: a golden flowered gramophone horn, a mixer, a computer and her phone. The cellph...

We're thrilled to announce the opening of registration for TED2017: The Future You. In this exciting week, April 24–28, 2017, a program of more than 70 speakers will explore deep scientific and psychological insights, the latest medical advances, the neatest inventions, all mixed with a dose of ancient wisdom, to ask the questions about ours...

For over two decades, Christian Picciolini, who once led a white supremacist organization, has worked as a peace advocate and "hate breaker", helping disengage people -- including neo-Nazis, white nationalists and Islamist jihadists -- from extremist groups. In his new book Breaking Hate, he draws on the experiences of people that he's met, ...

This weekend, hundreds of video games enthusiasts lined up in the cold, waiting 12 hours-plus to be the first to get their hands on Nintendo’s new console, the Wii U. And when the game Call of Duty: Black Ops was released in 2010, gamers around the world played it for more than 600 million hours in just the first 45 days. That is the equivalen...

TEDWomen 2013 brought so many moments of delight. In session 1, Jessica Matthews showed us how a jumprope could generate electricity. In session 2, Rupal Patel revealed an incredible system to give an authentic voice to those who are unable to speak. And in session 3, Esta Soler explained how the Polaroid camera was an incredible weapon in f...

Countdown is a global initiative to accelerate solutions to the climate crisis. Watch the talks, interviews and performances from the Countdown Global Launch at ted.com/countdown. The climate crisis demands leadership at every level. Governments, cities and businesses are three key players in designing and implementing the necessary trans...

It’s the last session, can you believe it? This is the part where we declare our intent to take all we have learned and proceed with purpose to change the world. But first, a few big statements from inspiring speakers to wind us up -- the kind of statements that will send us out in fighting shape, ready to take on any challenge. Ladies an...

Astrophysicist and astronomer Seth Shostak made a daring bet in his 2012 TED Talk: We’ll find extraterrestrial life within 24 years or he’ll buy you a cup of coffee. This isn’t just wishful thinking -- technological advances over the past few decades have amplified the scope of space exploration monumentally, allowing us to search the stars ...

“Your lifestyle is the future of marketing,” Bob Lord told a group of young New Yorkers at the TED Annex (our new spillover office) on Tuesday night. About 80 interns and young professionals from local marketing firms came together to eat pizza and hear Lord's advice on merging creativity and digital know-how, during a conversation with TED’s ...

Want to know more about JR, the winner of 2011's TED Prize? We did, and his team put together this video, above, with an overview of his work in his own words and images. And below, here's an FAQ to answer the big questions. First: Who is JR? JR is an anonymous photographer and artist. In his work, he embeds into neighborhoods, favelas a...

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...

The work of artist Sanford Biggers walks a fine line between poetic and provocative, brilliantly sparking discussion about race, violence and fallen heroes. Sanford Biggers grew up in Los Angeles surrounded by works of the popular black artists his parents collected. His cousin is the famed African-American muralist John Biggers. But as a young...

By Krystian Aparta They say that children learn languages the best. But that doesn't mean that adults should give up. We asked some of the polyglots in TED’s Open Translation Project to share their secrets to mastering a foreign language. Their best strategies distill into seven basic principles: Get real. Decide on a simple, attainable g...

Some people go over-the-top for Valentine’s Day, showering their loved ones with candy and roses. Others bemoan Valentine’s Day as the ultimate Hallmark holiday. Wherever you stand on this spectrum -- as Cupid pulls back his bow this week -- it’s hard not to think about your own relationship or lack thereof. It’s a question deeply embedded in al...

As usual, the TED community has lots of news to share this week. Below, some highlights. Why there are still so few women at the top. Leanin.org, the organization created by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to help empower women, released its second annual Women in the Workplace report. The news is not good: Women have less access to senior le...

From healthy food projects to public health campaigns, TED@Unilever highlighted ideas to inspire leaders at every level. At this TED Institute event, which showcased speakers from both inside and outside the wellness company, the focus was on what corporations and individuals can do to initiate change. Below, some words from each of the T...

Everyone celebrates the thought leader. But thoughts alone won't solve the world's biggest challenges. In the face of disruptive change, TED and The Project Management Institute (PMI) have partnered to share the ideas behind awe-inspiring business projects, creative pursuits and innovative collaborations. Below, a recap of the six speakers w...

Watching more than seventy live, perspective-changing TED Talks back to back for five days straight is nothing to scoff at. Let's be honest: Your brain gets tired. That's why TED's curators program each session with short video breaks to give the mind a rest before the next set of talks. Funny, inspiring, silly, beautiful, here's all the videos ...

TED University is the raucous session before “real TED” starts when attendees get up and give their own short talks. (Some of our very favorite TED Talks came from this session, like talks on Lego, sex, and 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do.) This morning at a cheerful 9am, we met the next class of professors. A brief recap: ...

With just over a month to go before the 2012 presidential election in the US, eyes around the world are on the contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. The election may well come down to a few key issues. So what matters most to Americans? The TED Blog read this Gallup poll from late July on issues that citizens want the next president ...

Day five of TED2016 contained one session filled with big ideas, but also an opportunity to look back at the conference as a whole. Below, the major themes that ran through the course of the week. We’re ready for our moonshot moment. The most-evoked image of the conference? Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon. Speakers including Dan P...

Perhaps you are looking forward to a new and hopeful 2014; perhaps you see late December as the perfect time for reflection and resolution. I'm pleased to let you off the hook. This is the time when you should look back at your year and focus on the question: What TED Talks did I miss? Lucky for you, the 2013 edition of "Why the eff didn't you w...

In a searching session of talks hosted by curator and photographer Deborah Willis and her son, artist Hank Willis Thomas (who spoke together at TEDWomen 2017), 12 speakers explored conflict, love, the environment and activism, and more. The session featured duet talks from Paula Stone Williams and Jonathan Williams, Neha Madhira and Haley Stack,...

Over the years, many writers and storytellers have given great TED Talks. Here, we’ve assembled 12 of our favorite quotes from them.  We've also created special quote images scattered throughout this post for the occasion -- feel free to share them as quote cards (use the hashtag #TEDReads), employ them as wallpaper for your phone or other mo...

Need a new reason to get up in the morning? Enrich your life by finding and developing your next passion, with tips from psychology researcher Angela Duckworth. Ever watch The Great British Bake-off? It’s an addictive reality TV show about the hunt for Britain’s best amateur baker. Few of the contestants cook for a living -- baking is simply th...

Photographer and filmmaker Giles Duley talks about empathy in action. When Giles Duley arrived in Lebanon to photograph Syrian refugees who’d fled there, he saw something that he wasn’t expecting. He saw himself. Inside the makeshift city of cardboard and fabric, Duley met many individuals with whom he closely identified. As a triple amputee...

For babies and toddlers Quantum Entanglement for Babies by Chris Ferrie This book is a wonderfully simple, visual explanation of one of the most complex and counterintuitive scientific ideas of our time. It’s fun for little ones but equally delightful for non-babies. -- Vikram Sharma (TED Talk: How quantum physics can make encryption stronger...

Legacy is a delightfully complex concept, and it's one that the TED@Westpac curators took on with gusto for the daylong event held in Sydney, Australia, on Monday December 11th. Themed around the idea of "The Future Legacy," the day was packed with 15 speakers and two performers and hosted by TED's Cyndi Stivers and TED speaker and monster p...