Why do we love our favorite stories? Do they need a beginning, middle and end, and a character who changes by the conclusion? Masters of storytelling explore new answers to age-old questions of the craft.

Suki Kim's investigation, "Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite," chronicles her six months undercover in Pyongyang during Kim Jong-Il's final six months. She worked as a teacher and a missionary in a university for future leaders -- all while writing her book.

As a director of the World Bank in Nairobi, Peter Eigen saw firsthand how devastating corruption can be. He's founder of Transparency International, an NGO that works to persuade international companies not to bribe.

Rory Stewart -- a perpetual pedestrian, a diplomat, an adventurer and an author -- is the member of British Parliament for Penrith and the Border.

Hubertus Knabe studies the history of torture, oppression and surveillance in former East Germany.

A former two-term governor of Michigan, Jennifer M. Granholm makes the case for empowering states to create jobs through a Clean Energy Jobs Race to the Top.

David Pizarro is a psychologist interested in how certain emotions (disgust, fear, anger) affect our moral judgment.

As the former parliamentary leader of the opposition party, Lindiwe Mazibuko put her fair share of time and effort into South African politics. In this rousing talk, she turns to the African diaspora and makes a case for its members to return to their home countries and devote themselves to public service. "There's nobody waiting in the wings to...

Alessandra Orofino founded Meu Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s largest mobilization network.

Richard Dawkins urges all atheists to openly state their position -- and to fight the incursion of the church into politics and science. A fiery, funny, powerful talk.

G.T. Bynum is using data-driven outcomes and trackable goals to break down historic lines of division.

India is fast becoming a superpower, says Shashi Tharoor -- not just through trade and politics, but through "soft" power, its ability to share its culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood. He argues that in the long run it's not the size of the army that matters as much as a country's ability to influence the world's he...

Insightful talks that can help improve political debate so that we can build toward a better society.

Cheap and fast genome sequencing is about to turn health care (and insurance, and politics) upside down. Richard Resnick shows how, in this accessible talk.

How do we begin to address the massive shifts in nearly every facet of our lives? Asking the right questions is where to begin. About the book Press and reviews About the author

As the Director General of Al Jazeera from 2003-2011, Wadah Khanfar worked to bring rare liberties like information, transparency and dissenting voices to repressive states and political hot zones.

Social psychologist Dannagal G. Young breaks down the link between our psychology and politics, showing how personality types largely fall into people who prioritize openness and flexibility (liberals) and those who prefer order and certainty (conservatives). Hear why both sets of traits are crucial to any society -- and how our differences are ...

The former assistant secretary of defense and former dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Joseph Nye offers sharp insights into the way nations take and cede power.

Michael Patrick Lynch examines truth, democracy, public discourse and the ethics of technology in the age of big data.

Nate Garvis focuses on how we can use our civic institutions for the common good. Founder of Naked Civics, he believes we must create the culture for the world we want to live in.

The divisiveness plaguing American politics today is nothing new, says constitutional law scholar Noah Feldman. In fact, it dates back to the early days of the republic, when a dispute between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison led the two Founding Fathers to cut ties and form the country's first political parties. Join Feldman for some fascin...

In an unmissable talk about race and politics in America, Theo E.J. Wilson tells the story of becoming Lucius25, white supremacist lurker, and the unexpected compassion and surprising perspective he found from engaging with people he disagrees with. He encourages us to let go of fear, embrace curiosity and have courageous conversations with peop...

First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon joined TEDSummit in Edinburgh to deliver a visionary talk about making collective well-being the main aim of public policy and the economy. Watch the full talk at go.ted.com/nicolasturgeon. It was a charged week in UK politics; that same morning, Boris Johnson assumed office as Prime Minister of the Uni...

Nadia Al-Sakkaf is the editor-in-chief of the Yemen Times, the most widely read English-language newspaper in Yemen.

Anne-Marie Slaughter has exploded the conversation around women’s work-life balance.

As CEO of Citizen University, Eric Liu is working to spark a civic revival in the US and beyond.

As Asian economies and governments continue to gain power, the West needs to find ways to adapt to the new global order, says author and diplomat Kishore Mahbubani. In an insightful look at international politics, Mahbubani shares a three-part strategy that Western governments can use to recover power and improve relations with the rest of the w...

One of the UK's sharpest funny men, Rory Bremner exposes the lunacies of modern politics with devilishly clever political satire and spot-on impressions of leaders from around the world.

At the end of 2012, the US political system was headed for the "fiscal cliff" -- a budget impasse that could only be solved with bipartisan agreement. Adam Davidson, cohost of "Planet Money," shares surprising data on how bipartisan we truly are -- and hints at the disconnect between representatives and the people they represent.