TED Talks
TED: Why Brexit happened -- and what to do next | Alexander Betts
We are embarrassingly unaware of how divided our societies are, and Brexit grew out of a deep, unexamined divide between those that fear globalization and those that embrace it, says social scientist Alexander Betts. How do we now...
TED Talks
TED: Why open a school? To close a prison | Nadia Lopez
Our kids are our future, and it's crucial they believe it themselves. That's why Nadia Lopez opened an academic oasis in Brownsville, Brooklyn, one of the most underserved and violent neighborhoods in New York -- because she believes in...
TED Talks
Rana Abdelhamid: 3 lessons on starting a movement from a self-defense trailblazer
At 16, Rana Abdelhamid started teaching self-defense to women and girls in her neighborhood. Almost 10 years later, these community classes have grown into Malikah: a global grassroots network creating safety, power and solidarity for...
TED Talks
TED: A highly scientific taxonomy of haters | Negin Farsad
TeD Fellow Negin Farsad weaves comedy and social commentary to cleverly undercut stereotypes of her culture. In this uproarious talk/stand-up hybrid, Farsad speaks on her documentary, The Muslims Are Coming!, narrates her fight with the...
TED Talks
TED: Can art amend history? | Titus Kaphar
Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the present. In an unforgettable live workshop, Kaphar takes a brush full of white paint to a...
TED Talks
TED: Living sculptures that stand for history's truths | Sethembile Msezane
In the century-old statues that occupy Cape Town, Sethembile Mzesane didn't see anything that looked like her own reality. So she became a living sculpture herself, standing for hours on end in public spaces dressed in symbolic costumes,...
TED Talks
Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film
Movies have the power to create a shared narrative experience and to shape memories and worldviews. British film director Beeban Kidron invokes iconic film scenes -- from Miracle in Milan to Boyz n the Hood -- as she shows how her group...
TED Talks
TED: The revolutionary power of diverse thought | elif Shafak
From populist demagogues, we will learn the indispensability of democracy, says novelist elif Shafak. "From isolationists, we will learn the need for global solidarity. And from tribalists, we will learn the beauty of cosmopolitanism." A...
TED Talks
Liu Bolin: The invisible man
Can a person disappear in plain sight? That's the question Liu Bolin's remarkable work seems to ask. The Beijing-based artist is sometimes called "The Invisible Man" because in nearly all his art, Bolin is front and center — and...
TED Talks
TED: Bridges should be beautiful | Ian Firth
Bridges need to be functional, safe and durable, but they should also be elegant and beautiful, says structural engineer Ian Firth. In this mesmerizing tour of bridges old and new, Firth explores the potential for innovation and variety...
TED Talks
TED: How teachers can help kids find their political voices | Sydney Chaffee
Social justice belongs in our schools, says educator Sydney Chaffee. In a bold talk, she shows how teaching students to engage in activism helps them build important academic and life skills -- and asks us to rethink how we can use...
TED Talks
TED: Black life at the intersection of birth and death | Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa
It is the artist's job to unearth stories that people try to bury with shovels of complacency and time, says poet and freedom fighter Mwende "FreeQuency" Katwiwa. Performing her poem "The Joys of Motherhood," Katwiwa explores the...
TED Talks
TED: How to have better political conversations | Robb Willer
Robb Willer studies the forces that unite and divide us. As a social psychologist, he researches how moral values -- typically a source of division -- can also be used to bring people together. Willer shares compelling insights on how we...
TED Talks
TED: How students of color confront impostor syndrome | Dena Simmons
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. As a black woman from a tough part of the Bronx who grew up to attain all the markers of academic prestige, Dena...
TED Talks
TED: Addiction is a disease. We should treat it like one | Michael Botticelli
Only one in nine people in the united States gets the care and treatment they need for addiction and substance abuse. A former Director of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli is working to end this epidemic and treat people...
TED Talks
Muhammed Idris: What refugees need to start new lives
Every minute, 20 people are newly displaced by climate change, economic crisis and political instability, according to the UNHCR. How can we help them overcome the barriers to starting new lives? TED Resident Muhammed Idris is leading a...
TED Talks
iO Tillett Wright: Fifty shades of gay
iO Tillett Wright has photographed 2,000 people who consider themselves somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum -- and asked many of them: Can you assign a percentage to how gay or straight you are? Most people, it turns out, consider themselves...
TED Talks
TED: A mother and son united by love and art | Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas
An art school professor once told Deborah Willis that she, as a woman, was taking a place from a good man -- but the storied photographer says she instead made a space for a good man, her son Hank Willis Thomas. In this moving talk, the...
TED Talks
TED: Am I not human? A call for criminal justice reform | Marlon Peterson
For a crime he committed in his early twenties, the courts sentenced Marlon Peterson to 10 years in prison -- and, as he says, a lifetime of irrelevance. While behind bars, Peterson found redemption through a penpal mentorship program...
TED Talks
TED: Bring on the female superheroes! | Christopher Bell
Why is it so hard to find female superhero merchandise? In this passionate, sparkling talk, media studies scholar (and father of a Star Wars-obsessed daughter) Christopher Bell addresses the alarming lack of female superheroes in the...
TED Talks
TED: The beauty and complexity of finding common ground | Matt Trombley
How can we disagree with one another, respectfully and productively? In this thoughtful talk, team builder Matt Trombley reflects on "agonism" -- the tendency to take a rigid stance on issues -- and shares why finding aspects of...
TED Talks
TED: How Syria's architecture laid the foundation for brutal war | Marwa Al-Sabouni
What caused the war in Syria? Oppression, drought and religious differences all played key roles, but Marwa Al-Sabouni suggests another reason: architecture. Speaking to us over the Internet from Homs, where for the last six years she...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Brian A. Pavlac: Ugly History: Witch Hunts
In the German town of Nördlingen in 1593, innkeeper Maria Höll found herself accused of witchcraft. She was arrested for questioning, and denied the charges. She insisted she wasn't a witch through 62 rounds of torture before her...
TED Talks
TED: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local | Taiye Selasi
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...