TED Talks
Mike Biddle: We can recycle plastic
Less than 10% of plastic trash is recycled -- compared to almost 90% of metals -- because of the massively complicated problem of finding and sorting the different kinds. Frustrated by this waste, Mike Biddle has developed a cheap and...
TED Talks
Stewart Brand: What squatter cities can teach us
Rural villages worldwide are being deserted, as billions of people flock to cities to live in teeming squatter camps and slums. Stewart Brand says this is a good thing. Why? It'll take you 3 minutes to find out.
TED Talks
James Stavridis: A Navy Admiral's thoughts on global security
Imagine global security driven by collaboration -- among agencies, government, the private sector and the public. That's not just the distant hope of open-source fans, it's the vision of James Stavridis, a US Navy Admiral. Stavridis...
TED Talks
Michael McDaniel: Cheap, effective shelter for disaster relief
Michael McDaniel designed housing for disaster relief zones -- inexpensive, easy to transport, even beautiful – but found that no one was willing to build it. Persistent and obsessed, he decided to go it alone. At TEDxAustin, McDaniel...
TED Talks
TED: You may be accidentally investing in cigarette companies | Bronwyn King
Tobacco causes more than seven million deaths every year -- and many of us are far more complicit in the problem than we realize. In a bold talk, oncologist Dr. Bronwyn King tells the story of how she uncovered the deep ties between the...
TED Talks
María Neira: This is your brain on air pollution
Air pollution knows no borders -- even in your own body, says public health expert María Neira. In this startling talk, she describes how the microscopic particles and chemicals you breathe affect all your major organs (including your...
TED Talks
TED: An artist's unflinching look at racial violence | Sanford Biggers
Conceptual artist and TED Fellow Sanford Biggers uses painting, sculpture, video and performance to spark challenging conversations about the history and trauma of black America. Join him as he details two compelling works and shares the...
TED Talks
Jonathan Klein: Photos that changed the world
Photographs do more than document history -- they make it. At TED University, Jonathan Klein of Getty Images shows some of the most iconic, and talks about what happens when a generation sees an image so powerful it can't look away -- or...
TED Talks
TED: How farming could employ Africa's young workforce -- and help build peace | Kola Masha
Africa's youth is coming of age rapidly, but job growth on the continent isn't keeping up. The result: financial insecurity and, in some cases, a turn towards insurgent groups. In a passionate talk, agricultural entrepreneur Kola Masha...
TED Talks
Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?
It's an unexpected side effect of globalization: problems that once would have stayed local—say, a bank lending out too much money—now have consequences worldwide. But still, countries operate independently, as if alone on the planet....
TED Talks
TED: The African swamp protecting Earth's environment | Vera Songwe
The peatlands of Africa's Congo Basin are a vast expanse of swamp and greenery that act as one of the world's most effective carbon sinks -- and they're under threat of environmental destruction. Economist Vera Songwe explains how...
TED Talks
Robert Gordon: The death of innovation, the end of growth
The US economy has been expanding wildly for two centuries. Are we witnessing the end of growth? Economist Robert Gordon lays out 4 reasons US growth may be slowing, detailing factors like epidemic debt and growing inequality, which...
TED Talks
TED: Texting that saves lives - Nancy Lublin
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. When Nancy Lublin started texting teenagers to help with her social advocacy organization, what she found was...
TED Talks
Robert Neuwirth: The power of the informal economy
Robert Neuwirth spent four years among the chaotic stalls of street markets, talking to pushcart hawkers and gray marketers, to study the remarkable "System D," the world's unlicensed economic network. Responsible for some 1.8 billion...
TED Talks
Alex Tabarrok: How ideas trump crises
The "dismal science" truly shines in this optimistic talk, as economist Alex Tabarrok argues free trade and globalization are shaping our once-divided world into a community of idea-sharing more healthy, happy and prosperous than...
TED Talks
TED: A political party for women's equality | Sandi Toksvig
Women's equality won't just happen -- not unless more women are put in positions of power, says Sandi Toksvig. In a disarmingly hilarious talk, Toksvig tells the story of how she helped start a new political party in Britain, the Women's...
TED Talks
TED: How the news distorts our worldview - Alisa Miller
Alisa Miller, head of Public Radio International, talks about why -- though we want to know more about the world than ever -- the media is actually showing us less. Eye-opening stats and graphs.
TED Talks
Jennifer Granholm: A clean energy proposal -- race to the top!
Kicking off the TED2013 conference, Jennifer Granholm asks a very American question with worldwide implications: How do we make more jobs? Her big idea: Invest in new alternative energy sources. And her big challenge: Can it be done with...
TED Talks
Lesley Hazleton: The doubt essential to faith
When Lesley Hazleton was writing a biography of Muhammad, she was struck by something: The night he received the revelation of the Koran, according to early accounts, his first reaction was doubt, awe, even fear. And yet this experience...
TED Talks
TED: How small countries can make a big impact on climate change | Nicola Sturgeon
When it comes to tackling climate change, the size of a country doesn't matter -- it's their ambition that counts, says First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. In a rousing talk, she shares examples of small nations -- from Bhutan...
TED Talks
TED: A vision of crimes in the future | Marc Goodman
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. The world is becoming increasingly open, and that has implications both bright and dangerous. Marc Goodman paints a...
TED Talks
Bruce Schneier: The security mirage
The feeling of security and the reality of security don't always match, says computer-security expert Bruce Schneier. In his talk, he explains why we spend billions addressing news story risks, like the "security theater" now playing at...
TED Talks
Dan Pacholke: How prisons can help inmates live meaningful lives
In the United States, the agencies that govern prisons are often called 'Department of Corrections.' And yet, their focus is on containing and controlling inmates. Dan Pacholke, Deputy Secretary for the Washington State Department of...
TED Talks
Noah Feldman: Politics and religion are technologies
Noah Feldman makes a searing case that both politics and religion -- whatever their differences -- are similar technologies, designed to efficiently connect and manage any group of people.