What do a disease-fighting epidemiologist (retired) and an up-and-coming social psychologist have in common? They're both fascinated by the unseen social problems hidden behind the word "inequality."  Beyond the lack of access to money and power -- what does inequality do to us as human beings? Epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson (TED Talk: ...

In 2009, epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett published the book The Spirit Level, making a bold case that economic inequality within a society, the size of the gap between rich and poor, has corrosive effects from the bottom of society right up to the top. Wilkinson spoke about their book and research this summer at TEDGlobal ...

"If there is this big difference, with some people worth everything and other people worth nothing, where do you come?" So asks Richard Wilkinson in the trailer for the forthcoming documentary based on his influential book The Spirit Level. Wilkinson, an epidemiologist, spent his career examining health issues caused or worsened by poverty and i...

You could, on first glance, see Dhaka as a fast and loose place, the kind of city that draws people in, churns them around and spits them out after a few tough years. Many in Dhaka face circumstances similar to those in other South Asian cities: poverty, limited education, exploitation. Dhaka itself sits at or near the bottom of rankings of ...

Inequality is a complicated term. It can be applied to so many factors, for one thing. There's income inequality, asset inequality, gender inequality, social, class, political ... you name it, someone, somewhere likely feels (and is) hard done by. And, for all the focus that Thomas Piketty has gained for his analysis of a new, ever-diverging glo...

What are the tools we're using to build the future? Session 3 speakers go deep on what's next in finance, energy, business and the structures we live in. The next generation of trust on the Internet. For many online transactions, we rely on middlemen like banks and government to establish trust -- but these systems face growing issues lik...

Political philosopher Michael Sandel -- the second "Michael from Harvard" this session -- returns to TED in the last session of TEDGlobal, "All Together Now," to address the marketization of our culture. These days there's very little money can't buy. If you ever wind up in jail in San Diego, CA, and you find your cell uncomfortable, don'...

A headline-driven sketch of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital is, of course, incomplete. For a nuanced picture, you need to talk with someone like the architect, university lecturer and photographer Nurur Rahman Khan. Writer Alex Gallafent talks with the born-and-bred “Dhakaite.” You could, on first glance, see Dhaka as a fast and loose place, t...

Please enjoy your roundup of TED-related news: This one’s for the boys. Mark Ronson takes a break from making music to have some fun in Charli XCX’s video for “Boys.” You’ll find him (suavely) combing his hair, amid scenes of other male celebs, such as Wiz Khalifa, Riz Ahmed and Joe Jonas having a pillow fight or cuddling with puppies, in...

The most important economic fact of our time, says Chrystia Freeland, author of Plutocrats, is that we are living in an age of surging income inequality, a global phenomenon that includes the US and UK, certainly, but also Communist China, India, and, she says, "we're even seeing it cozy social democracies like Sweden, Finland and Germany." ...

Can capital be just? As a firm believer in capitalism and the free market, Paul Tudor Jones II believes that it can be. Jones is the founder of the Tudor Investment Corporation and the Tudor Group, which trade in the fixed-income, equity, currency and commodity markets. He thinks it is time to expand the “narrow definitions of capitalism” th...

Hacking is a term that prompts intense emotions, as we’ve seen in recent years with the likes of Kevin Mitnick, Evgeniy Bogachev and Sabu. But one thing’s clear: hackers can draw attention to important issues like nobody’s business. And by exposing weaknesses in our current online systems, they often help the web both evolve and improve. Such fo...

A Piketty guide for lifelong learners. When Thomas Piketty’s "Capital in the Twenty-first Century” was published earlier this year, it was something of a sensation. That’s no small feat for a chart-heavy doorstop on “the dismal science” of economics. A fair portion of the book’s notoriety was due to its subject matter: wealth distribution, a...

Chrystia Freeland writes about the power of money. As a journalist, she examines how money shapes society, impacts politics and essentially makes the world go ‘round. In today’s talk, given at TEDGlobal 2013, Freeland tackles the growing global plutocracy, looking at how 21st century democratic capitalism is making the rich richer while pulli...

Chef David Hertz is trying to build a movement that uses food to create jobs, increase empathy, and even address inequality. Everything changed for Brazilian chef David Hertz when he visited a favela for the first time. It was 2004, and he’d just quit his job as a chef at an upscale restaurant on the most expensive street in São Paulo. A friend...

Back in the ’90s, the golden mussel (Limnoperna fortunei) hitched a ride on ships traveling from Asia to South America. In the past decade and a half, the mussel has proliferated through South America’s river systems, destroying the native habitat and disrupting the operation of power plants and water treatment facilities. This invasive spec...

What's going wrong with democracy? Iavan Krastev is a political scientist to speak about crisis in Europe. Not, in his words, an inspiring topic. And he's here to talk about some of the problems with openness, in contrast to most of the talks. "You people in the church of TED," says Krastev, "are very optimistic. You believe in complexity...

In Session 2 of TEDWomen 2019, we met some extraordinary pattern makers: people helping us predict the future, improve our relationship to technology and unearth powerful discoveries. The event: TEDWomen 2019, Session 2: Pattern Makers, hosted by Pat Mitchell and Cloe Shasha When and where: Thursday, December 5, 2019, 8:30AM PT, at La ...

In 2011, a single email launched what became a worldwide movement calling out wealth inequality. Yet three years on, Occupy hasn’t delivered on its utopian promises. Why? In opening Session 2 at TEDGlobal 2014, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci talks about the shortcomings of social movements galvanized by social media. To be sure, online...

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 world around us is mainly made of two things: nature and the materials that we extract from it. To fight climate change, we need to protect and regenerate n...

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...

In an incredible session, speakers and performers laid out the biggest problems facing the world -- from political and economic catastrophe to rising violence and deepfakes -- and some new thinking on solutions. The event: TEDSummit 2019, Session 3: The Big Rethink, hosted by Corey Hajim and Cyndi Stivers When and where: Tuesday, July ...

Week 7 of TED2020 featured conversations on where the coronavirus pandemic is heading, the case for reparations, how we can better connect with each other and how capitalism must change to build a more equitable society. Below, a recap of insights shared throughout the week. Bill Gates, technologist, philanthropist Big idea: The corona...

After his mainstage talk on the opening night of TED, psychologist Steven Pinker sat down with Chris Anderson to dive into his new book, Enlightenment Now. The two examined some criticisms of the book and the thesis behind it, dug into the data, and then threw the floor open for questions, in a session that offered the luxury of time to real...

The penultimate session of TEDSummit 2019 had a bit of everything -- new thoughts on aging, loneliness and happiness as well as breakthrough science, music and even a bit of comedy. The event: TEDSummit 2019, Session 5: Stages of Life, hosted by Kelly Stoetzel and Alex Moura When and where: Wednesday, July 24, 2019, 5pm BST, at the Edi...

The term “fiscal cliff” has gained traction in the U.S. news in the past few months, at least in part because it paints a vivid metaphorical picture. Popularized by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, the term refers to the ill economic consequences that could occur if Congress does not change its course on several policies by January 1, ...

Chris Anderson invited Bill and Melinda Gates to the TED2014 stage for what turned out to be a personal and charming Q&A. This is an edited version of that conversation. Anderson began with the provocation, "On the basis that a picture's worth a thousand words, I asked them to dig from their archive to explain what they've done." The firs...

Technology fuels social movements and opens up opportunities for political change. But at the same time, technology can radically compromise our privacy. In Session 2, speakers explore both potentials, with surprising conclusions. Below, recaps of the talks in this session. In 2011, a single email launched a worldwide movement against wea...

Yesterday, nearly every seat of the theatre at the Admiralspalast was filled for the TEDBerlin Salon, the first official TED event in Germany (and, with TEDGlobal's move to Rio in October, the only one taking place in Europe this year). In two sessions hosted by Bruno Giussani, 15 speakers and performers covered an eclectic array of topics, wh...

When it comes to US politics, many are frustrated that gridlock and grandstanding so often substitute for the hard job of getting things done. Just 14% of Americans say they approve of the work that Congress is doing, according to a recent Gallup poll. (Which, as a recent TED speaker notes, is lower than the approval rating for cockroaches, thou...