Designer John Maeda talks about his path from a Seattle tofu factory to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he became president in 2008. Maeda, a tireless experimenter and a witty observer, explores the crucial moment when design met computers.

The MIT Media Lab's John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art, a place that can get very complicated. Here he talks about paring down to basics.

John Maeda, former President of the Rhode Island School of Design, delivers a funny and charming talk that spans a lifetime of work in art, design and technology, concluding with a picture of creative leadership in the future. Watch for demos of Maeda's earliest work -- and even a computer made of people.

John Maeda, the former president of the Rhode Island School of Design, is dedicated to linking design and technology. Through the software tools, web pages and books he creates, he spreads his philosophy of elegant simplicity.

Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto picks his favorite talks on ideas -- both musical and beyond. "Each talk expresses a vision no one else can have," he says. "They're a triumph of uniqueness and originality."

Some of history's greatest designers share intriguing perspectives and vignettes from their prolific journeys.

Design icon John Maeda shares the everyday objects (well, non-objects) he can't live without. When most people think of design, they think of objects. Lights, chairs, cars … tangible things that we can ooh and aah over. That’s why it’s surprising to hear designer John Maeda (TED Talk: How art, technology and design inform creative leaders) de...

John Maeda still remembers a parent-teacher conference from when he was a child. Maeda beamed with pride as his teacher told his father, “John is good at math and art.” However, the next day, when Maeda’s father recounted the conference to a customer at his store, all he remembered was, “John is good at math.” Maeda, now the President of th...

When he was a child, John Maeda's father came to a parent-teacher meeting and was told that his son was good at math and art. His father nodded. The next day, at his tofu store, his father told a customer that his son was good at ... math. "That's stuck with me all my life," Maeda says. "Why wasn't art okay?" Maeda is here today to talk a...

We're thrilled to announce today the launch of TED Conversations, a new social platform on TED.com that connects people for conversation, collaboration and debate. TED Conversations was designed and built from the ground up to foster meaningful conversation among the global community who watch, share and discuss TEDTalks. Anyone who part...

Click to view (and remix) the session-opening animation Progress comes, often, from forging ahead, striking out in a direction and discovering the unknown. But sometimes it comes from looking at a familiar problem, or a familiar solution, and looking at it in a new way. In this session we'll look at a variety of familiar ideas -- science, s...

Join EyeWire, a game to map the brain, from Sebastian Seung’s lab at MIT (watch his TED Talk). The game’s one-year anniversary is today, Dec. 10, and they’d love to hit their goal of 100,000 players. Jump in. The new book, Uncharted: Big Data as a Lens on Human Culture from Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden (watch their TED Tal...

Keep the brain sharp and engaged with these talks that make it fun to avoid the "summer slump."

Today, we're thrilled to announce the TEDGlobal 2012 speaker lineup -- exploring the theme "Radical Openness." As the world becomes ever more interconnected, the ways we relate, the means by which we learn about one another and develop mutual understanding, and the rules about what we hide and what we share are changing. That's the inspir...

Thirty years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the Macintosh 128k at an Apple shareholders’ meeting. Excitement was high after the airing of the now-classic commercial “1984” during the Super Bowl two days before, and the demo -- complete with the “Chariots of Fire” theme song -- lived up to the hype. The unveiling was the backdrop for another...

For years now, Target has invited designers like Isaac Mizrahi (watch his TED Talk), Diane von Furstenberg (check out her TED playlist) and, most recently, abstract pattern-master Peter Pilotto to dream up collections. So when it came to creating the Target Design Café at TED2014, we knew it was going to be cool. The space features three enorm...

When 21-year-old guitar whiz Usman Riaz was growing up in Pakistan, he often found himself entranced by videos of Preston Reed, one of the pioneers of fingerstyle guitar. As a longtime admirer of Reed’s unique rhythms and plucky sounds, Riaz calls the experience of actually sharing a stage with him at TEDGlobal 2012 “very surreal.” “Throu...

On Monday, June 25, the curtain rises on TEDGlobal 2012: Radical Openness. More than 70 speakers -- scientists, artists, technologists, students and visionaries -- will take the TED stage over four days in Edinburgh, Scotland, to explore the intriguing theme of openness of all kinds, in politics, science, art, private life ... We'll be...

General Stanley McChrystal is the former commander of U.S. and International forces in Afghanistan. A four-star general, he is credited for creating a revolution in warfare that fuses intelligence and operations.

Ready to level up your working knowledge of business? Here’s what to read now -- and next.  Business 101, with Nilofer Merchant First, read these 2 foundational books... 1. The Change Masters Rosabeth Moss Kanter Free Press, 1985 "A foundational book for your collection. When a colleague recently switched careers, I lent her this incre...

As Facebook's director of product design, Margaret Gould Stewart (TED Talk: How giant websites design for you (and a billion others, too)) has to come up with designs seen by literally billions of people. No pressure. She's an old hand at this game, though, having previously worked on the digital output of those other giants, Google and YouTube....

Ready for a change? These well-researched (and heartfelt) talks offer ideas and inspiration for all aspects of your life, from creativity to vulnerability, from competitive sports to collaborative games.

TED2014 will bring together more than 70 speakers with fresh thinking on topics as diverse as leadership, genetics and the magic of fireflies. But this is our 30th anniversary conference, and it’s also time to look back at some of the incredible ideas surfaced in the past. At TED2014, we will hold five All-Stars sessions that bring 50+ favorite ...

The Way We Work is an original video series where leaders and thinkers offer practical wisdom and insight into how we can adapt and thrive amid changing workplace conventions. (Made possible with the support of Dropbox)

Countdown with talks that distill heaps of knowledge in 10 steps (secrets, rules, lessons, etc.) or less.

How did some of our quirkiest talks pull in millions of views? Watch these fun, fascinating hits and see for yourself.

The most notable talks of 2019, chosen by TED Curator Chris Anderson.

Hungry for inspiration but short on time? Watch these snack-sized talks.

By Liz Jacobs and Helen Walters It’s often said that good design is invisible design — it makes things easy and delightful without us realizing it. But as host Chee Pearlman reminds us at the top of the session, we're here to honor the "D" in "TED." From the artistic to the architectural to the auditory, the eight speakers in this All-Sta...

How exactly does the brain -- a 3-pound snarl of nervous tissue -- create inspired inventions, the feeling of hunger, the experience of beauty, the sense of self? Researchers at the edge of science explain ...