The world feels fragile these days, a bit wobbly. How do we figure out a way forward? At TED2019, we're taking a painfully honest look at what's going on, laying out shared values, exploring a common purpose -- and seeing how we can build something meaningful together: an idea, vision, ambition that's bigger than us. The event: Talks and ...

The theme of TED2019 is "Bigger than us," and day 1 did not disappoint. Even though it had just three sessions, they were chock full of compelling ideas and calls for action. Here are seven takeaways:  We're shining light into some really dark places. Sheperd Doeleman, head of the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, takes us inside the...

Day 3 of TED2019 featured three sessions of talks, a live podcast taping -- and some world-changing ideas. First, some news: You could give the next best TED Talk. If you have an idea the world needs to hear, put your name forward to speak at next year’s TED conference! We’ve just opened applications in our TED2020 Idea Search, a world...

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...

Could US economic growth be over? That's the provocative question that economist Robert J. Gordon begins with. And it's a big question. He points to travel: In 1900 travel was via the open buggy, at 1% the speed of sound. Sixty years later we travelled at 80% of the speed of sound in a Boeing 707. And since then, at a consumer level, we haven'...

In attempting the first solo crossing of Antarctica, Ben Saunders battled white-out landscapes, shifting snows and mind-altering monotony -- all while pulling hundreds of pounds of supplies. Here’s what he discovered on his incredible journey. In 2004, 27-year-old polar explorer Ben Saunders (TED Talk: To the South Pole and back, the hardest 10...

The conversation around the upcoming US presidential election is full of frenzy, headache and noise. But elections are about more than divisiveness and disagreement -- they're civic events worthy of celebration, and, while it may seem unbelievable at the moment, they hold the promise of transforming governments for the better. At TEDNYC: ...

You don’t. And you’re also steering the focus away from someone who probably just wants to be heard. Here’s how to be a more considerate conversation partner, says radio host and writer Celeste Headlee. A good friend of mine lost her dad some years back. I found her sitting alone outside our workplace, just staring at the horizon. She was absol...

They’ve become synonymous with the failure to adapt, but dinosaurs were actually marvels of speed, size, power and versatility, explains paleontologist Kenneth Lacovera. And they could represent one of our best hopes for the future. Albert Einstein was a complete and utter failure. It’s true he revolutionized science, invented our current frame...

It's a new, strange, experimental day for TED. In a special Earth Day event, TED2020: The Prequel brought the magic of the TED conference to the virtual stage, inviting TED2020 community members to gather for three sessions of talks and engaging, innovative opportunities to connect. Alongside world-changing ideas from leaders in science, pol...

The phrase “truth or dare” is a false binary -- facing the truth often requires daring action, and vice versa. That’s why, at TED2015: Truth and Dare, the two go hand-in-hand. TED2015 happens March 16-20 in Vancouver and Whistler, and we dare to think this will be the most provocative, invigorating, mind-shifting TED yet. The 58 speakers on o...

So much has disappeared from the islands of my childhood. Will the paniolo be next? My infatuation with Hawaiian cowboys began on O‘ahu’s North Shore, a quiet district enlivened by big waves and show-off surfers. On Sundays we country kids would sneak to a rugged polo field laid out parallel to the beach. We’d ogle the Honolulu high society gat...

TED@NYC is not your usual TED event. Hosted in a New York City club, speakers here—many of whom responded to an open audition call—give rapid-fire, five-minute talks. Below, a recap of each speaker who took the stage last night during this inspiring evening. The internet can be a place of intelligent conversation, or a place of rumors and...