Uber didn't start out with grand ambitions to cut congestion and pollution. But as the company took off, co-founder Travis Kalanick wondered if there was a way to get people using Uber along the same routes to share rides, reducing costs and carbon footprint along the way. The result: uberPOOL, the company's carpooling service, which in its firs...

John Gerzema says there's an upside to the recent financial crisis -- the opportunity for positive change. In this talk, he identifies four major cultural shifts driving new consumer behavior and shows how businesses are evolving to connect with thoughtful spending.

Shonda Rhimes, the titan behind Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, is responsible for some 70 hours of television per season, and she loves to work. "When I am hard at work, when I am deep in it, there is no other feeling," she says. She has a name for this feeling: The hum. The hum is a drug, the hum is music, the hum is G...

Listening to stories widens the imagination; telling them lets us leap over cultural walls, embrace different experiences, feel what others feel. Elif Shafak builds on this simple idea to argue that fiction can overcome identity politics.

Amishi Jha studies how we pay attention: the process by which our brain decides what's important out of the constant stream of information it receives. Both external distractions (like stress) and internal ones (like mind-wandering) diminish our attention's power, Jha says -- but some simple techniques can boost it. "Pay attention to your attent...

Before he fought in the galactic battles of Star Wars, Adam Driver was a United States Marine with 1/1 Weapons Company. He tells the story of how and why he became a Marine, the complex transition from soldier to civilian -- and Arts in the Armed Forces, his nonprofit that brings theater to the military. Because, as he says: "Self-expression is ...

Philosopher Dan Dennett calls for religion -- all religion -- to be taught in schools, so we can understand its nature as a natural phenomenon. Then he takes on The Purpose-Driven Life, disputing its claim that, to be moral, one must deny evolution.

Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, looking for hints of how hers evolved.

Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. Session host Juan ...

Group brainstorming is usually where creativity goes to die. But at The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, they have it down to a science. Adam grant takes us behind the scenes in the writers' room to show how creative collaboration really works, and reveals what inspires people to share their best -- and worst -- ideas. This episode is brought to you...

Elon Musk discusses his new project digging tunnels under LA, the latest from Tesla and SpaceX and his motivation for building a future on Mars in conversation with TED's Head Curator, Chris Anderson.

Frederic Angus shares a story of where Salsa came from and why we need it even more today. Salsannati Dance Company's intent is to share the love for Latin Dance around the Tri State area. The belief is that through dance, people can express joy, personality, and the unique connections made possible by the language of the body. https://salsanna...

One million animal species are at risk of extinction from climate change and habitat loss. But many animals—including elephants, rhinos, tigers, and pangolins—face a more urgent threat: people buying and selling them, dead or alive. Some say there's a magic fix: just make wildlife trade legal and the free market will put poachers out of business...

Human beings will go to great lengths to serve the common good and to belong. Around the world, 2020 showed us the power of community and common purpose. We witnessed the role of language in rallying people around a cause, yet we ended the year as divided and isolated as ever. Strong communities spring from strong individuals who are valued and ...

In her brave, poignant, and sometimes humorous talk, Emily shares that it is time to end the stigma around mental health and support those with mental illness.

Trust is a skill, and skills need to be practiced. Angus breaks down trust into its components and builds out the template required to master this essential skill.

Angus McIntosh’s life changed beyond recognition after he read The Omnivore's Dilemma – Michael Pollan’s celebrated book on the personal and global health implications of the food choices we make. The book inspired him to drop everything and leave his life as a stockbroker in London working for Goldman Sachs, to become a regenerative farmer in S...

To understand each other, we often place people inside different kinds of boxes. Adam A Thomas explains his journey through the boxes of his life, and how stepping out may not be as hard as one might think. Instead of letting ourselves be defined by our boxes, we should expand these boxes and step out in order to write our own narrative.