TEDx events unleash fresh ideas from local communities. Close to 50,000 talks have been given at 10,000 events since the program launched in 2009. Below, the 10 most-watched TEDx talks posted to our homepage.
Sheikha Al Mayassa, a patron of artists, storytellers and filmmakers in Qatar, talks about how art and culture create a country's identity -- and allow every country to share its unique identity with the wider world. As she says: "We don't want to be all the same, but we do want to understand each other."
For some communities, the technology, globalization and centralized government that was meant to bring us together has resulted in local disempowerment, leading to high rates of unemployment and crime. Economist Raghuram Rajan emphasizes the importance of decentralization and offers five key elements needed to restore and revive an ailing commun...
Nearly 1,800 newsrooms have shuttered across the US since 2004, leaving many communities unseen, unheard and in the dark. In this passionate talk and rallying cry, journalist Chuck Plunkett explains why he rebelled against his employer to raise awareness for an industry under threat of extinction -- and makes the case for local news as an essent...
India has one of the world's highest rates of plastic recycling, thanks largely to an extensive network of informal recyclers known as "kabadiwalas." Entrepreneur Mani Vajipey discusses his work to organize their massive efforts into a collection system that could put India on the path to ending plastic pollution -- and show the rest of the worl...
Sometimes the solutions to our biggest challenges don't have to be gigantic investments. Gianluca Ambrosetti describes a solar generator made of mostly everyday materials like mirrors, concrete, and aluminum foil that might actually change the way the world functions today.
Think of TEDx as hosting an awesome dinner party, with great food, inspirational videos, brilliant speakers and mind-blowing conversation. By organizing a TEDx event, you will have the opportunity to create a truly unique event that will unleash new ideas, inspire and inform.
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The growth of online marketplaces like Uber, Airbnb and Amazon can sometimes threaten local businesses such as taxis, hotels and retail shops by taking away jobs or reducing income to the community. But it doesn't have to be this way, says strategy consultant Amane Dannouni. Pointing to examples like Gojek (Indonesia's Uber for motorbikes) and J...
The average farmer in America makes less than 15 cents of every dollar on a product that you purchase at a store. They feed our communities, but farmers often cannot afford the very foods they grow. In this actionable talk, social entrepreneur Mohammad Modarres shows how to put your purchasing power into action to save local agriculture from col...
Local reporters are on the front lines of important stories, but their work often goes unnoticed by national and international news outlets. TED Fellow and journalist Gangadhar Patil is working to change that. In this quick talk, he shows how he's connecting grassroots reporters in India with major news outlets worldwide -- and helping elevate a...
When someone asks you where you're from … do you sometimes not know how to answer? Writer Taiye Selasi speaks on behalf of "multi-local" people, who feel at home in the town where they grew up, the city they live now and maybe another place or two. "How can I come from a country?" she asks. "How can a human being come from a concept?"
When Ma Shwe Sin Win (Cynthia) received a LinkedIn request from her father, she ignored it – because she didn't realize it was from him. Forced into the Western first and last name format, her father's Burmese name transformed into something she didn't even recognize. In this playful talk, Ma Shwe Sin Win reflects on naming practices, and thinks...
What defines “home?” Is it people, a specific place or the memories made during a certain period of time? These talks offer a thoughtful look at what it means to belong.
Severine Autesserre studies the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is in the middle of the deadliest conflict since World War II; it's been called "the largest ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world.” The conflict seems hopelessly, unsolvably large. But her insight from decades of listening and engaging: The conflicts are often locally based....
You can use your smartphone to find a local ATM, but what if you need a defibrillator? Lucien Engelen shows us online innovations that are changing the way we save lives, including a crowdsourced map of local AEDs.
Traveling to new destinations is always an experience. Let these talks encourage you to think differently about the places you visit and the people you see.
Large global corporations don't just impact the local economies of emerging markets, they also play a part in the evolution of their modernizing cultures. Makiko Eda explores how employees balance both global and local cultural norms, showing how the influence goes both ways to create a valuable, more nuanced worldview.
Cross-posted from the TEDx blog: On Monday, September 20, TED and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-host TEDxChange, a TEDx event that focuses on the Millennium Development Goals set by the United Nations 10 years ago. TEDxChange will look at how we've done in the past decade to meet the goals, and what needs to be done to ensure the ...
Two-thirds of the world may not have access to the latest smartphone, but local electronic shops are adept at fixing older tech using low-cost parts. Vinay Venkatraman explains his work in "technology crafts," through which a mobile phone, a lunchbox and a flashlight can become a digital projector for a village school, or an alarm clock and a m...
Astronomer Clifford Stoll helped to capture a notorious KGB hacker back in the infancy of the Internet. His agile mind continues to lead him down new paths -- from education and techno-skepticism to the making of zero-volume bottles.
We invited Instagrammers to share photos of natural beauty in the world around -- and boy, did they deliver. Check out these gorgeous images of everyday natural wonders photographed all over the world, each one tagged #localnaturalwonders. Whether shot in remote regions or on the street outside, they all act as a great reminder that we should ke...
Speaking at the 2007 EG conference, "renegade lunch lady" Ann Cooper talks about the coming revolution in the way kids eat at school -- local, sustainable, seasonal and even educational food.
Miranda Wang and Jeanny Yao were the winners in British Columbia of the 2012 Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge Canada. After a visit to a Vancouver waste station, Wang and Yao were blown away by the enormous amount of waste in plastic. Plastic is very hard to sort for recycling -- all types have a similar density. Says Wang, "Plastics are useful, ...
Collector Ravin Agrawal delivers a glowing introduction to 10 of India's most exciting young contemporary artists. Working in a variety of media, each draws on their local culture for inspiration.