South African singer-songwriter Vusi Mahlasela dedicates his song, "Thula Mama," to all women -- and especially his grandmother.

Singer-songwriter Rei brings her mix of indie rock and blues to the TED stage in a performance of two songs, "my mama" and "BLACK BANANA."

Vy Higginsen's Gospel Choir of Harlem is an influential source of education and self-development for young people.

Mike's Picks: Our photo editor, Mike Femia, is sorting through tens of thousands of photos this week. He picks a favorite each day. Here's today's: I was blown away by the energy of the Mama Foundation Gospel for Teens. Photo: James Duncan Davidson

Photos: James Duncan Davidson Vy Higginsen introduces the Gospel for Teens section of the Mama Foundation for the Arts, an organization she founded in 1998. The program is a way to teach teenagers the art of gospel music. "We want them to know who they are and where they come from musically," she explains, as the choir begins to hum b...

Joe Sabia investigates new ways to tell stories -- meshing viral video and new display technologies with old-fashioned narrative.

Eric Sannerud engages with agricultural issues across disciplines and seeks to boost access to farmland for new and young farmers.

Chak Ek', the morning star, rose from the underworld to the surface of the eastern sea and on into the heavens. His brother K'in Ahaw, the sun, followed. Though Chak Ek' had risen first, K'in Ahaw outshone him, and the resentful Chak Ek' descended back to the underworld to plot against his brother and his allies. Gabrielle Vail details the Maya ...

When the Museum of Modern Art's senior curator of architecture and design announced the acquisition of 14 video games in 2012, "all hell broke loose." In this far-ranging, entertaining, and deeply insightful talk, Paola Antonelli explains why she's delighted to challenge preconceived ideas about art and galleries, and describes her burning wish ...

TED Fellow Daniel Alexander Jones creates performance experiences through music, storytelling and improvisation featuring his dynamic alter ego, Jomama Jones.

Adults tend to think of kids as "future citizens" -- their ideas and opinions will matter someday, just not today. But kids make up a quarter of the population, so shouldn't they have a say in what the world they'll inherit will look like? Urban planner Mara Mintzer shares what happened when she and her team asked kids to help design a park in B...

Take a look at what you’re wearing -- does it convey the complex, intriguing person that you are? If it doesn't, it might be time for you to rethink your wardrobe, according to style coach Stasia Savasuk. What are the questions that go through your mind when you’re deciding what to wear? “Does it have any obvious stains or holes?” “Can...

This year, the TED Prize has been given to a concept, The City 2.0. In this session, we reveal all, interspersed with a host of speakers who've dedicated their life and work to making our world's cities as excellent as they can be. In this session: We heard updates on Jill Tarter's wish to search for alien intelligence (you can help!) ...

Make a city beautiful, curb corruption. Edi Rama took this deceptively simple path as mayor of Tirana, Albania, where he instilled pride in his citizens by transforming public spaces with colorful designs.

Cellist Maya Beiser plays a gorgeous eight-part modern etude with seven copies of herself, and segues into a meditative music/video hybrid -- using tech to create endless possibilities for transformative sound. Music is Steve Reich's "Cello Counterpoint," with video from Bill Morrison, then David Lang's "World to Come," with video by Irit Batsry.

Maya Penn started her first company when she was 8 years old, and thinks deeply about how to be responsible both to her customers and to the planet. She shares her story -- and some animations, and some designs, and some infectious energy -- in this charming talk.

From 2000 to 2011 Edi Rama was the mayor of Tirana, where he implemented a series of reforms to take back the city for the people.

However, many of these cameras were captured during violent clashes. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim -- who won the TED Prize in 2006 and wished for a global day of film -- seeks to tell the story of these protestors in her new documentary, The Square. The film combines the shocking and powerful footage taken by the protestors themselves, along with...

Ogyen Trinley Dorje is the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, a revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism devoted to preserving and propagating Buddhist teachings.

On Wednesday night, join the world to watch Session 7 of TED2012 for free. In Session 7, the TED Prize wish for this year's winner, The City 2.0, will be revealed onstage, and you'll hear great speakers on the subject of cities ... updates from past TED Prize winners, including last year's winner, JR ... and inspiring music from the Mama Fou...

Yes, it’s possible to ask for what you want without coming across as a jerk, says social psychologist Adam Galinsky. Speaking up is hard to do. I understood the true meaning of this phrase last year, when my wife and I became new parents. After we took our child home from the hospital, we were unsure whether our baby was getting enough nutrient...

Maya Beiser commissions and performs radical new work for the cello.

Scholar and artist Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin transforms historical material about black identity into theatrical performances.

Maya Penn makes eco-friendly clothes and accessories, which she sells on a site she built -- and gives away a percent of the profits.

About this event: Evènement reporté fin 2021 - De l’édition du génome, aux algorithmes financiers, notre volonté à maîtriser le hasard n’a jamais parue aussi forte. Même nos vacances semblent aussi préparées qu’un vol spatial. Mais cette obsession se heurte à un monde devenu complexe et incertain, d’où émergent des développements technologiques et politiques im...

In February of 1942, Mexican farmer Dionisio Pulido thought he heard thunder coming from his cornfield. However, the sound wasn't coming from the sky. The source was a large, smoking crack emitting gas and ejecting rocks, and would come to be known as the volcano Paricutin. Where do new volcanoes like this come from, and what triggers their unpr...

Tom Wujec studies how we share and absorb information. He's an innovative practitioner of business visualization -- using design and technology to help groups solve problems and understand ideas. He is a Fellow at Autodesk.

These young speakers encourage us to ask bold questions, think creatively and dream big. It’s spot-on life advice that adults may just want to listen to.

Alice Dreger gave a powerful talk at TEDxNorthwestern on how our changing perception of anatomical differences is also changing our democracy. She was in New York today, so we invited her to the TED office for a live Q&A, where she posed this question: The recent passage of gay marriage rights in New York demonstrates what I talked about in...

Some people might not take kindly to being called a knucklehead by their boss. Not Noah McQueen. But if your boss were President Barack Obama, you'd probably give him a pass, too. In a Storycorps interview that aired this morning, President Obama interviewed McQueen, an 18-year-old White House mentee in the My Brother's Keeper initiative,...