Jay Silver and Eric Rosenbaum's MaKey MaKey kit lets you turn everyday objects into computer interfaces -- inspiring both fun and practical new inventions.

Joi Ito is the former director of the MIT Media Lab.

Shimpei Takahashi thinks we should forget about analyzing data or sales figures and just come up with ideas -- lots and lots of ideas.

With a career that fuses rock and roll, corporate identity creation, and impressionistic geography, Paula Scher is a master conjurer of the instantly familiar.

Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison‘s inclusive, audacious journey to improving life here on earth and beyond is paving the way for human interstellar travel.

Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library TV combines an irreverent approach to wine and a shrewd social media strategy. It won him web fame and the cachet to spin off book deals, new businesses and his own entrepreneurship consulting firm.

Cristina Domenech proposes to use language as an instrument of liberation and as a way to change the world.

LaToya Ruby Frazier focuses her camera lens on working class families, exploring themes of family, inequality, health care and environmental racism.

"The hood is good," says Jon Gray of the Bronx, New York-based creative collective Ghetto Gastro. Working at the intersection of food, design and art, Gray and his team honor the soul and history of their community while applying their unbridled creativity and expansive imagination to unexpected, otherworldly collaborations. Learn more about how...

"The world needs you, badly," says legendary biologist E.O. Wilson in his letter to a young scientist. He gives advice collected from a lifetime of experience -- and reminds us that wonder and creativity are the center of the scientific life.

The executive chef at Chicago's Moto restaurant, Homaro Cantu created postmodern cuisine and futuristic food delivery systems.

A two-term U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins captures readers with his understated wit, profound insight -- and a sense of being "hospitable."

Frank Warren is the creator of the PostSecret Project, a blog full of secrets anonymously shared via postcard.

Janet Echelman found her true voice as an artist when her paints went missing -- which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge. A transporting 10 minutes of pure creativity.

Lawrence Lessig has already transformed intellectual-property law with his Creative Commons innovation. Now he's focused on an even bigger problem: The US' broken political system.

Woody Norris is a serial inventor of electronics, tools and cutting-edge sonic equipment -- such as the LRAD acoustic cannon.

Aaron Koblin is an artist specializing in data and digital technologies. His work takes real world and community-generated data and uses it to reflect on cultural trends and the changing relationship between humans and technology.

In her book "Gamestorming," Sunni Brown shows how using art and games can empower serious problem-solving.

Karen Bass has traveled the world to explore and capture footage from every environment across the Earth.

Wanuri Kahiu wants to curate, commission and create art that celebrates fun, fierce and frivolous Africa.

The founder of Sirius XM satellite radio, Martine Rothblatt now heads up a drug company that makes life-saving medicines for rare diseases (including one drug that saved her own daughter's life). Meanwhile she is working to preserve the consciousness of the woman she loves in a digital file ... and a companion robot. In an onstage conversation w...

These surprising, slightly psychedelic talks are better than staring at a blacklight poster.

4 reasons why you shouldn't be afraid to make up new words (no matter how ridiculous they may sound).

At TED's Full Spectrum Auditions, comedian Joshua Walters, who's bipolar, walks the line between mental illness and mental "skillness." In this funny, thought-provoking talk, he asks: What's the right balance between medicating craziness away and riding the manic edge of creativity and drive?

Actor Wendell Pierce ruminates on his performance of "Waiting for Godot" in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, highlighting the prophetic, transformative and rejuvenating powers of art in times of great strife.

In this deeply personal talk, photographer Ryan Pfluger shares how difficult times prompted him to take a series of road trips during which he discovered the power of photography to foster connection. Describing the tradition's unique place in our image-saturated culture, he explains how portrait photography -- even if its just self-portraiture ...

Alexa Meade takes an innovative approach to art. Not for her a life of sketching and stretching canvases. Instead, she selects a topic and then paints it--literally. She covers everything in a scene--people, chairs, food, you name it--in a mask of paint that mimics what's below it. In this eye-opening talk Meade shows off photographs of some of ...

Bassam Tariq is a blogger, a filmmaker, and a halal butcher -- but one thread unites his work: His joy in the diversity, the humanness of our individual experiences. In this charming talk, he shares clips from his film "These Birds Walk" and images from his tour of 30 mosques in 30 days -- and reminds us to consider the beautiful complexity with...

What if your job didn't control your life? Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler practices a radical form of corporate democracy, rethinking everything from board meetings to how workers report their vacation days (they don't have to). It's a vision that rewards the wisdom of workers, promotes work-life balance — and leads to some deep insight on what wo...

UPS’s David Lee works to create platforms that make it easier for people to turn fuzzy ideas into concrete solutions.