Writer and actor Anna Deavere Smith gives life to author Studs Terkel, convict Paulette Jenkins, a Korean shopkeeper and a bull rider, excerpts from her solo show "On the Road: A Search for American Character."

From dancing math to teaching in languages other than English – this week’s X marks the spot is a selection of TEDx Talks about rethinking education. Each week, TEDx chooses four of our favorite talks, highlighting just a few of the enlightening speakers from the TEDx community, and its diverse constellation of ideas worth spreading. Below, find...

The spirit of the TEDx community shone brightly during the first TEDxGlobalDay in September. In this dynamic one-day initiative, more than 5,000 TEDxers from 230 cities in 76 countries set out to prove that local action can spark global conversations. The day was broken up into three parts, organized by local hosts who managed teams of aroun...

Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for "practical wisdom" as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.

Have 10 minutes to spare? Want to spend them on something inspiring? How about something jaw-dropping? Our new "Surprise Me" feature delivers. Just tell us how much time you have (15 minutes? 40?) and what you're in the mood to watch (Something funny? Fascinating? Persuasive?) and we'll generate a custom playlist that matches the moment. ...

If your relationship with your mother -- or with motherhood in general -- is complicated, well, congratulations, you’re human. But it also means that Mother’s Day can be tough, as the internet serves up candy-and-flowers special offers and simplistic good wishes that may describe a version of mothering you don’t identify with. Dear ones: ...

As of this week, more than 20,000 TEDxTalks have been given at 5,000+ events held in 137 countries around the globe. With the mass scale of the program, it’s a little unpredictable which talks will gain a steady following of fans on the TEDxTalks website and YouTube channel, and which talks will skyrocket into public consciousness practicall...

Matt Greoening poses with attendee Juliana Olsson. Photo: Gene Driskell, INK Conference, Lavasa, 2010 The last two sessions of the INK Conference were among the best of the three-day experience in Lavasa, India. On Sunday, December 12, attendees made it to the conference center bright and early to see talks by artist Raghava KK, The Simpsons ...

At TED, we’re constantly impressed by the accomplishments of young innovators. With talks like Adora Svitak’s “What adults can learn from kids,” 12-year-old Amy O’Toole assisting Beau Lotto in “Science is for everyone: kids included,” and Thomas Suarez, who was developing apps before he could drive, we can’t help but be hopeful for the futur...

"The birds and the bees" and "the facts of life." These are the terms adults have come up with when it comes to talking to kids about sex. At TED2012, writer John Bohannon showed dismay at the fact that adults don’t feel comfortable talking to kids about sex, or drugs for that matter, without resorting to scare tactics. In an acrobatic perfor...

As people across the world face the coronavirus outbreak, TED is committed to being a resource for information, inspiration and hope. We've curated talks, interviews, TED-Ed lessons and more to help provide some perspective during the pandemic. Here's where to start: On Monday, March 23, TED kicked off a free, live and daily conversatio...

TED Talks have now been viewed more than a billion times around the world. To celebrate this occasion, we reached out to 24 incredible talents in the areas of technology, entertainment and design, asking them create playlists of the talks that resonated most with them. Over the past three days, we’ve revealed about half of those lists, from ...

On May 4, a TEDx event took place in one of the most architecturally recognizable sites in the world -- the Sydney Opera House. Here, with the help of The MilkBar, the organizers of TEDxSydney captured the event from dawn to dusk and compressed it all into 78 seconds. Watch above as the sun rises over the beautiful building and as attendees a...

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...

It’s TEDx … from space. This unique vantage point of TEDxSanaa’s amazing mountainside signage is brought to you with some help from Google Earth. Take a look for yourself on Google Maps. We take this image as proof that TEDx has become a global enterprise. This week, from events held across the world, we’ve handpicked four TEDx Talks that...

Kids these days are “speaking” a new language, right under our noses and literally right under the table. But is texting making us dumber? No, says John McWhorter, Associate Professor at Columbia University and Contributing Editor at The New Republic. In his talk from TED@New York -- one of 293 talks given as part of the TED2013 Talent Searc...

(TED is on its annual two-week vacation. During the break, we’re posting playlists from the TEDTalks archive. We’ll be back with new talks on August 29th.) “If you could only see the world the way I see it …” Four TEDTalks from non-neurotypical thinkers, people whose minds work in extraordinary and unusual ways. 1) Temple Grandin, diagnose...

If we could recommend one superb TEDTalk about music a week, what would it be? What about business? Technology? Here at TED.com we are always looking for new and better ways to bring together the voices of TED speakers and TED viewers. This week we are launching themed iTunes podcasts, to bring more topics of interest directly to you. Along w...

The event: TED Salon: Education Everywhere, curated by Cloe Shasha, TED's director of speaker development; Stephanie Lo, director of programs for TED-Ed; and Logan Smalley, director of TED-Ed The partner: Bezos Family Foundation and ENDLESS When and where: Thursday, January 24, 2019, at the TED World Theater in New York City Music: ...

My wish is to help design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their innate sense of wonder. Help me build the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. I also invite you, wherever you...

TED Talks are available in 100 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 40,000 talk translations -- and every week, the TED Blog brings you a Q&A with one of them. Today, meet Khalid Marbou. 1. Where do you live and what do...

Few scientific papers are written in crayon and begin with the words, “Once upon a time.” But then again, few scientific papers are written by a group of 8- to 10-year-olds. In this adorable talk from TEDGlobal, neuroscientist, artist and educator Beau Lotto shares why he thinks children have an edge when it comes to scientific inquiry -- t...

Women's equality won't just happen -- not unless more women are put in positions of power, says Sandi Toksvig. In a disarmingly hilarious talk, Toksvig tells the story of how she helped start a new political party in Britain, the Women's Equality Party, with the express purpose of putting equality on the ballot. Now she hopes people around the w...

TEDYouth “The Spark” is about to ignite. The annual conference for middle and high school students will take place this Saturday in New Orleans, with 400 teens from across the region gathering to listen to talks from scientists, designers, technologists, explorers, artists and performers -- some of them adults and some of them peers. The atte...

It’s a challenge for anyone with a cause: How do you frame the issue so that people feel excited to get involved? For some causes, the answer is asking people to dump a bucket of ice on their head. For others, making that personal connection is even more tricky.  This is exactly how a small group of attendees felt when they were posed with...

Being a writer is all about expressing your unique perspective with feeling and originality, not about having a huge vocabulary or getting published, says author Jacqueline Woodson. She shares a little of what she's learned in the process of writing a lot (30+ books!). This post is part of TED’s “How to Be a Better Human” series, each of which ...

When you give a child their first smartphone, don’t send them into the digital world unprepared. Here's a look at the three-page agreement that technology executive Jennifer Zhu Scott asked her kids to sign when they got their phones, complete with some advice that adults should consider following, too. It’s become a modern rite of passage f...

TED is coming to Broadway. And curious minds of all kinds are invited. “TED Talks Live” will bring six nights of talks to The Town Hall Theater in New York City’s Theater district this November. The program will focus on three topics: The Education Revolution, War & Peace and Science & Wonder. Each night will be a thought-provokin...

Pastor Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose-Driven Life," reflects on his own crisis of purpose in the wake of his book's wild success. He explains his belief that God's intention is for each of us to use our talents and influence to do good.

If you watch my TED Talk from 2010, you might see a confident 12-year-old, cracking jokes and striding around the stage in glasses that keep sliding down her nose. You won’t see me going home and crying, or starting every page in my journal with four words: “I feel sad today.” I divided my life into two parts: my tear-stained journal vers...