From all the breathless hype that surrounds the topic, you'd be forgiven for thinking that disruptive innovation was a common force throughout the world. Reality proves otherwise. In this session, we brought together a collection of individuals who have some right to the title of disruptor. Their work pushes at the boundaries of what's expected ...

On Friday, Aaron Swartz -- the 26-year-old internet innovator who helped create RSS and had a hand in the building of Reddit -- was found dead in his apartment in an apparent suicide. Swartz, who suffered from depression, had reportedly found out just days before that a plea bargain deal with federal prosecutors had fallen apart. A longtime ...

By Liz Jacobs and Ben Lillie Taking stock of our moment in history helps us better understand ourselves, our societies and the present moment itself  -- which often gets lost in the temptation to look backwards or forwards. And at TED2014: The Next Chapter we're doing plenty of both. But we're also designating this All-Stars session to th...

Before you start the search for speakers for your event, it’s important to know exactly what a TEDx Talk is. It also helps to understand the different types of talks worth spreading. That way, you know what you’re looking for. A TEDx Talk is a showcase for speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas in under 18 minutes. Why under 18 minutes? ...

TED Talks are available in 102 languages, from Albanian to Vietnamese, thanks to the tireless work of our volunteer translators. So far, more than 10,000 volunteers have created upwards of 44,000 talk translations — and today, the TED Blog brings you a Q&A with one of them. Here, meet Wataru Narita of Tokyo, Japan. 1. What do you do b...

Just a few of the intriguing headlines involving members of the TED community this week: Jill Sobule's new album, Dottie's Charms, is streaming free at Harper's. Each song is inspired by a charm on a vintage bracelet, with lyrics penned by a writer Jill admires, including Jonathan Lethem and Sam Lipsyte. (Watch Jill sing "Global warming's t...

Last week we announced our first-ever video audition for TED. Make a one-minute application video to get started -- video deadline is April 25, 2011, at 11:59pm Eastern. Finalists will be invited to our May 24 audition in New York City. (Get more details, and learn how to enter.) As the entries start coming in, TED's Content Director, Kelly...

About this event: Join us on Wednesday 27th February for our second "TEDxLive" event showing an exclusive live webcast of the TED 2013 conference in Longon Beach, California. You're welcome to bring your laptops and iPads along to work on throughout the evening while we watch the live show. VENUE: Project Space (1st floor), Loughborough University School Of...

Today, we are absolutely ecstatic to announce the speaker program for TED2013, themed “The Young. The Wise. The Undiscovered.” With speakers ranging from a deep-sea explorer to a beatboxer, economists to a roboticist, from a photo journalists to an eco-designer to a yo-yo master, many of this year’s speakers have spent decades building their...

Drew Curtis is not a politician. The curator of Fark.com, the legendary online community of news jokes and funny Photoshops, he proudly proclaims this fact on homepage of his latest website. This declaration is only surprising because, just a few inches above, the intention of the website is revealed: “Drew Curtis for Governor.” See, poli...

About this event: TEDxGöteborgLive will return this month with a live-streaming of the first TED conferences of the third day of TED 2013, straight from Long Beach Performing Arts Center in California. In 2013, the TED line-up will have the largest number of speakers in the conference series' history, as a result of TED's first-ever global talent search. Thr...

About this event: This year TEDxMidwest has 35 world class speakers and one of the best audiences in Chicago. The feedback we hear most often from our previous events is that it’s “one of the best events ever in Chicago”. This year will be even better. TEDxMidwest runs Thursday, May 2 from 1pm-6pm and Friday, May 3 from 9am-6pm at the Harris Theater in Millen...

Today on TED.com, you’ll notice some changes. That’s because we have launched our first major redesign since the site debuted in 2007, back when online video was just a twinkle in the Internet’s eye. You might notice that this redesign responds to the things that you, the TED community, have told us on repeat. First: You need TED to be as ea...

Why government leaders should publish the data they're collecting -- and why citizens everywhere should push them to do so. Think about governments and data and your mind likely turns to secrecy, surveillance, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning. And it’s true: as long as we've had governments they've gathered data on us, and lots of it. Now a newi...

Counting the days until TED2013 starts on February 25? In the meantime, curl up with a book by one of the talented, scholarly, funny and wise speakers who will grace the stage in Long Beach, California. These books are organized below by session. And make sure to tune in to the TED Blog starting on the 25th for exclusive -- and extensive -- live...

Find repose by exciting the mind. Some of the world's leading thinkers offer the books that inspired them and their work. Skim the list for your favorite speakers, or get nerdy on a topic you've always wanted to know more about. Below find 52 books, recommended by TED speakers. Creativity Creative Confidence, by Tom Kelley and David Kelley Cr...

All TED Talks are good. Why do only some go viral? Over the last year, a human behavior consultancy called Science of People set out to answer this question. To do so, says founder Vanessa Van Edwards, they polled 760 volunteers, asking them to rate hundreds of hours of TED Talks, looking for specific nonverbal and body language patterns....

In 2013, TED published more than 250 talks, each with an idea worth spreading. And yet, certain ideas seemed to resonate throughout the year, as if speakers at different events were singing parts of the same choral symphony. As 2013 draws to a close, here is a look at some of the big ideas we parsed this year. Consider it the rousing finale ...

With the same humor and humanity he exuded in "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter brand name for global warming.

A full third of the world's population -- 2.6 billion people -- play video games, plugging into massive networks of interaction that have opened up opportunities well beyond entertainment. In a talk about the future of the medium, entrepreneur Herman Narula makes the case for a new understanding of gaming -- one that includes the power to create...

One of our nation’s most provocative thinkers on American Democracy shares his views on the state of our democracy and the original ideals for our Republic. Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School. More info at https://lessig.org

At the core of our constitution is the ideal of equality. Two centuries of compromise has let us forget that. If we’re to recover a representative democracy, we must defend again its simple ideal — that all citizens are equal.

We are heading the questions we – as pure individuals - can’t often answer. Climate change, social inequalities, jeopardized liberal democracy are just a few of them. Moreover, we live under pressure of ours or others‘ life expectations. Many people lose their inner peace and must fight for mental balance. That is a great challenge for our lives...

Cecilia Laschi shows the latest improvements in soft robotics and the great impact that they are having and will have in our society.

Ever stuck in a panicking crowd? What were you thinking? How can we draw from the behaviors of colonies of bacteria and herds of sheep? How can we streamline our movement and get safely out of the jamming crowd? Who are you gonna call to find it out? A physicist!

The debate about aid efficiency (or lack thereof) has been brewing for years. Yet it is the drama and urgency of the Syrian refugee crisis and the incapability of Europe to respond that may have finally set things in motion. Liska’s talk sheds light on the DIY grassroots response to the European refugee crisis. Can the response of a new generati...

The arts and music create a community identity. Think Austin. And think Hilton Head Island SC. The growth and development of the arts can infuse a community with a creative mindset; get the community's youth involved in the arts and music; and embed a love of the arts in the lifeblood of a community. In a powerful talk infused with a musical per...

Dovremmo preoccuparci per il fatto che i robot ci "ruberanno il lavoro" rendendo l'uomo inutile? Cecilia Laschi, Professore Ordinario di Bioingegneria Industriale all’Istituto di BioRobotica della Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, crede di no e lo spiega con esempi concreti e sfruttando la sua esperienza nella ricerca e nell'imprenditoria in a...

Dorothea Lasky touches our souls with her poetry reading. Associate Professor of Poetry at Columbia University School of the Arts, and a co-editor of Open the Door: How to Excite Young People About Poetry (McSweeney’s, 2013), Dorothea brings us into an emotional journey, enriched by her own thoughts and considerations.