TEDTalks (audio)

TEDTalks : Katherine Fulton: You are the future of philanthropy - Katherine Fulton (2007)

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0500

In this uplifting talk, Katherine Fulton sketches the new future of philanthropy -- one where collaboration and innovation allow regular people to do big things, even when money is scarce. Giving five practical examples of crowd-driven philanthropy, she calls for a new generation of citizen leaders.

TEDTalks : Robert Full: Learning from the gecko's tail - Robert Full (2009)

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0500

Biologist Robert Full studies the amazing gecko, with its supersticky feet and tenacious climbing skill. But high-speed footage reveals that the gecko's tail harbors perhaps the most surprising talents of all.

TEDTalks : John La Grou plugs smart power outlets - John La Grou (2009)

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:00:00 -0500

John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy.

TEDTalks : How we are deceived by our own miscalculations of the future - Dan Gilbert (2005)

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 07:32:00 -0600

Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness -- sharing some surprising tests and experiments that you can also try on yourself. Watch through to the end for a sparkling Q&A with some familiar TED faces.

TEDTalks : Healing and other natural wonders - Dean Ornish (2004)

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Dean Ornish talks about simple, low-tech and low-cost ways to take advantage of the body's natural desire to heal itself.

TEDTalks : A brief digression on matters of lost time - John Hodgman (2008)

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Humorist John Hodgman rambles through a new story about aliens, physics, time, space and the way all of these somehow contribute to a sweet, perfect memory of falling in love.

TEDTalks : Creativity, fulfillment and flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004)

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi asks, "What makes a life worth living?" Noting that money cannot make us happy, he looks to those who find pleasure and lasting satisfaction in activities that bring about a state of "flow."

TEDTalks : The real difference between liberals and conservatives - Jonathan Haidt (2008)

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.

TEDTalks : What positive psychology can help you become - Martin Seligman (2004)

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:28:00 -0500

Martin Seligman talks about psychology -- as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?

TEDTalks : Technology, faith and human shortcomings - Billy Graham (1998)

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Speaking at TED in 1998, Rev. Billy Graham marvels at technology's power to improve lives and change the world -- but says the end of evil, suffering and death will come only after the world accepts Christ. A legendary talk from TED's archives.

TEDTalks : The brain in love - Helen Fisher (2008)

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Why do we crave love so much, even to the point that we would die for it? To learn more about our very real, very physical need for romantic love, Helen Fisher and her research team took MRIs of people in love -- and people who had just been dumped.

TEDTalks : Classical music with shining eyes - Benjamin Zander (2008)

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it -- and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections.

TEDTalks : Institutions vs. collaboration - Clay Shirky (2005)

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:30:00 -0500

In this prescient 2005 talk, Clay Shirky shows how closed groups and companies will give way to looser networks where small contributors have big roles and fluid cooperation replaces rigid planning.

TEDTalks : How ordinary people become monsters ... or heroes - Philip Zimbardo (2008)

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Philip Zimbardo knows how easy it is for nice people to turn bad. In this talk, he shares insights and graphic unseen photos from the Abu Ghraib trials. Then he talks about the flip side: how easy it is to be a hero, and how we can rise to the challenge.

TEDTalks : 4 ways to improve the lives of the "bottom billion" - Paul Collier (2008)

Wed, 28 May 2008 15:00:00 -0500

Around the world right now, one billion people are trapped in poor or failing countries. How can we help them? Economist Paul Collier lays out a bold, compassionate plan for closing the gap between rich and poor.

TEDTalks : Exploring the ocean's hidden worlds - Robert Ballard (2008)

Tue, 20 May 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard takes us on a mindbending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, even new mountains. He makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. Google Ocean, anyone?

TEDTalks : The amazing intelligence of crows - Joshua Klein (2008)

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:27:00 -0500

Hacker and writer Joshua Klein is fascinated by crows. (Notice the gleam of intelligence in their little black eyes?) After a long amateur study of corvid behavior, he's come up with an elegant machine that may form a new bond between animal and human.

TEDTalks : 6 ways mushrooms can save the world - Paul Stamets (2008)

Tue, 06 May 2008 04:00:00 -0500

Mycologist Paul Stamets lists 6 ways the mycelium fungus can help save the universe: cleaning polluted soil, making insecticides, treating smallpox and even flu ... Read more.

TEDTalks : An inside tour of the world's biggest supercollider - Brian Cox (2008)

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 01:47:00 -0500

"Rock-star physicist" Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive project.

TEDTalks : Your genes are not your fate - Dean Ornish (2008)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:00:00 -0500

Dean Ornish shares new research that shows how adopting healthy lifestyle habits can affect a person at a genetic level. For instance, he says, when you live healthier, eat better, exercise, and love more, your brain cells actually increase.

TEDTalks : The universe on a string - Brian Greene (2005)

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:50:00 -0500

Physicist Brian Greene explains superstring theory, the idea that minscule strands of energy vibrating in 11 dimensions create every particle and force in the universe.

TEDTalks : Where does creativity hide? - Amy Tan (2008)

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:38:00 -0500

Novelist Amy Tan digs deep into the creative process, looking for hints of how hers evolved.

TEDTalks : Open-source economics - Yochai Benkler (2005)

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:30:00 -0500

Yochai Benkler explains how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization.

TEDTalks : New thinking on the climate crisis - Al Gore (2008)

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 01:27:00 -0500

In this brand-new slideshow (premiering on TED.com), Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act.

TEDTalks : 2008 TED Prize wish: Charter for Compassion - Karen Armstrong (2008)

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0500

People want to be religious, says scholar Karen Armstrong; we should help make religion a force for harmony. She asks the TED community to help build a Charter for Compassion -- to restore the Golden Rule as the central global religious doctrine.

TEDTalks : 2008 TED Prize wish: Once Upon a School - Dave Eggers (2008)

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:59:00 -0500

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, author Dave Eggers asks the TED community to personally, creatively engage with local public schools. With spellbinding eagerness, he talks about how his 826 Valencia tutoring center inspired others around the world to open

TEDTalks : 2008 TED Prize wish: An African Einstein - Neil Turok (2008)

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 00:26:00 -0500

Accepting his 2008 TED Prize, physicist Neil Turok speaks out for talented young Africans starved of opportunity: by unlocking and nurturing the continent's creative potential, we can create a change in Africa's future.

TEDTalks : My stroke of insight - Jill Bolte Taylor (2008)

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:10:00 -0500

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story.

TEDTalks : Theremin, the untouchable music - Pamelia Kurstin (2002)

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:40:00 -0600

Virtuoso Pamelia Kurstin performs and discusses her theremin, the not-just-for-sci-fi electronic instrument that is played without being touched. Songs include "Autumn Leaves," "Lush Life" and David Mash’s "Listen, Words Are Gone."

TEDTalks : Way-new collaboration - Howard Rheingold (2005)

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 02:39:00 -0600

Howard Rheingold talks about the coming world of collaboration, participatory media and collective action -- and how Wikipedia is really an outgrowth of our natural human instinct to work as a group.

TEDTalks : The omnivore's next dilemma - Michael Pollan (2007)

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:04:00 -0600

What if human consciousness isn't the end-all and be-all of Darwinism? What if we are all just pawns in corn's clever strategy game to rule the Earth? Author Michael Pollan asks us to see the world from a plant's-eye view.

TEDTalks : Tales of passion - Isabel Allende (2007)

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:00:00 -0600

Author and activist Isabel Allende discusses women, creativity, the definition of feminism -- and, of course, passion -- in this talk.

TEDTalks : Beauty and truth in physics - Murray Gell-Mann (2007)

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:00:00 -0600

Armed with a sense of humor and laypeople's terms, Nobel winner Murray Gell-Mann drops some knowledge on TEDsters about particle physics, asking questions like, Are elegant equations more likely to be right than inelegant ones?

TEDTalks : Habits of happiness - Matthieu Ricard (2004)

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 01:42:00 -0500

What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard says we can train our minds in habits of well-being, to generate a true sense of serenity and fulfillment.

TEDTalks : The illustrated woman - Maira Kalman (2007)

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:50:00 -0500

Author and illustrator Maira Kalman talks about her life and work, from her covers for The New Yorker to her books for children and grown-ups. She is as wonderful, as wise and as deliciously off-kilter in person as she is on paper.

TEDTalks : Life at 30,000 feet - Richard Branson (2007)

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 06:17:00 -0500

Richard Branson talks to TED's Chris Anderson about the ups and the downs of his career, from his multibillionaire success to his multiple near-death experiences -- and reveals some of his (very surprising) motivations.

TEDTalks : The stuff of thought - Steven Pinker (2005)

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:56:00 -0500

In an exclusive preview of his book The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker looks at language and how it expresses what goes on in our minds -- and how the words we choose communicate much more than we realize.

TEDTalks : Tackling poverty with "patient capital" - Jacqueline Novogratz (2007)

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:00:00 -0500

Jacqueline Novogratz shares stories of how "patient capital" can bring sustainable jobs, goods, services -- and dignity -- to the world's poorest.

TEDTalks : Educating a new generation of African leaders - Patrick Awuah (2007)

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 08:29:00 -0500

Patrick Awuah makes the case that a liberal arts education is critical to forming true leaders.

TEDTalks : Cheetahs vs. Hippos for Africa's future - George Ayittey (2007)

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:32:00 -0500

Ghanaian economist George Ayittey unleashes a torrent of controlled anger toward corrupt leaders in Africa -- and calls on the “Cheetah generation” to take back the continent.

TEDTalks : Toys that make worlds - Will Wright (2007)

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:22:00 -0500

In a friendly, high-speed presentation, Will Wright demos his newest game, Spore, which promises to dazzle users even more than his previous masterpieces.

TEDTalks : Decoding the future with genomics - Juan Enriquez (2003)

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:11:00 -0500

Scientific discoveries, futurist Juan Enriquez notes, demand a shift in code, and our ability to thrive depends on our mastery of that code. Here, he applies this notion to the field of genomics.

TEDTalks : Secrets of success in 8 words, 3 minutes - Richard St. John (2005)

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 00:11:00 -0600

Why do people succeed? Is it because they're smart? Or are they just lucky? Neither. Analyst Richard St. John condenses years of interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

TEDTalks : Goodbye, textbooks; hello, open-source learning - Richard Baraniuk (2006)

Mon, 21 Aug 2006 00:11:00 -0500

Rice University professor Richard Baraniuk explains the vision behind Connexions, his open-source, online education system. It cuts out the textbook, allowing teachers to share and modify course materials freely, anywhere in the world.