TED Talks
David Perry: Are games better than life?
Game designer David Perry says tomorrow's videogames will be more than mere fun to the next generation of gamers. They'll be lush, complex, emotional experiences -- more involving and meaningful to some than real life. With an excerpt...
TED Talks
Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods)
Using three iPods like magical props, Marco Tempest spins a clever, surprisingly heartfelt meditation on truth and lies, art and emotion.
TED Talks
Shereen El Feki: Pop culture in the Arab world
Shereen El Feki shows how some Arab cultures are borrowing trademarks of Western pop culture -- music videos, comics, even Barbie -- and adding a culturally appropriate twist. The hybridized media shows how two civilizations, rather than...
TED Talks
TED: How to build a thriving music scene in your city | Elizabeth Cawein
How does a city become known as a "music city"? Publicist Elizabeth Cawein explains how thriving music scenes make cities healthier and happier and shares ideas for bolstering your local music scene -- and showing off your city's talent...
TED Talks
Golan Levin: Software (as) art
Engineer and artist Golan Levin pushes the boundaries of what's possible with audiovisuals and technology. In an amazing TED display, he shows two programs he wrote to perform his original compositions.
TED Talks
Philip Rosedale: Life in Second Life
Why build a virtual world? Philip Rosedale talks about the virtual society he founded, Second Life, and its underpinnings in human creativity. It's a place so different that anything could happen.
TED Talks
Paul Nicklen: Animal tales from icy wonderlands
Diving under the Antarctic ice to get close to the much-feared leopard seal, photographer Paul Nicklen found an extraordinary new friend. Share his hilarious, passionate stories of the polar wonderlands, illustrated by glorious images of...
TED Talks
Arthur Ganson: Moving sculpture
Sculptor and engineer Arthur Ganson talks about his work -- kinetic art that explores deep philosophical ideas and is gee-whiz fun to look at.
TED Talks
Thomas Dolby: "Love Is a Loaded Pistol"
To write his first studio album in decades, "A Map of the Floating City," Thomas Dolby has been working in the inspirational setting of a restored lifeboat. At TED2010 he premieres a gorgeous, evocative song from that album -- about one...
TED Talks
C.K. Williams: Poetry of youth and age
Poet C.K. Williams reads his work at TED2001. As he colors scenes of childhood resentments, college loves, odd neighbors and the literal death of youth, he reminds us of the unique challenges of living.
TED Talks
Mike Rowe: Learning from dirty jobs
Mike Rowe, the host of "Dirty Jobs," tells some compelling (and horrifying) real-life job stories. Listen for his insights and observations about the nature of hard work, and how it's been unjustifiably degraded in society today.
TED Talks
Abigail Washburn: Building US-China relations ... by banjo
Abigail Washburn wanted to be a lawyer improving US-China relations -- until she picked up a banjo. The TED Fellow tells a moving story of the connections she's formed touring across the US and China while playing that banjo and singing...
TED Talks
David Pogue: The music wars
New York Times tech columnist David Pogue performs a satirical mini-medley about iTunes and the downloading wars, borrowing a few notes from Sonny and Cher and the Village People.
TED Talks
Caroline Lavelle: Casting a spell on the cello
Caroline Lavelle plays the cello like a sorceress casting a spell, occasionally hiding behind her wild mane of blond hair as she sings of pastoral themes. She performs "Farther than the Sun," backed by Thomas Dolby on keyboards.
TED Talks
Imogen Heap: "Wait It Out"
Imogen Heap plays a powerful stripped-down version of "Wait It Out," from her new record, Ellipse.
TED Talks
Nathan Myhrvold: Cooking as never seen before
Cookbook author (and geek) Nathan Myhrvold talks about his magisterial work, "Modernist Cuisine" -- and shares the secret of its cool photographic illustrations, which show cross-sections of food in the very act of being cooked.
TED Talks
Carlo Ratti: Architecture that senses and responds
With his team at SENSEable City Lab, MIT's Carlo Ratti makes cool things by sensing the data we create. He pulls from passive data sets -- like the calls we make, the garbage we throw away -- to create surprising visualizations of city...
TED Talks
Geert Chatrou: A whistleblower you haven't heard
World champion whistler Geert Chatrou performs the whimsical "Eleonora" by A. Honhoff, and his own "Fête de la Belle." In a fascinating interlude, he talks about what brought him to the craft.
TED Talks
Bill T. Jones: The dancer, the singer, the cellist ... and a moment of creative magic
Legendary dance choreographer Bill T. Jones and TED Fellows Joshua Roman and Somi didn't know exactly what was going to happen when they took the stage at TED2015. They just knew they wanted to offer the audience an opportunity to...
TED Talks
Rufus Griscom + Alisa Volkman: Let's talk parenting taboos
Babble.com publishers Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman, in a lively tag-team, expose 4 facts that parents never, ever admit -- and why they should. Funny and honest, for parents and nonparents alike.
TED Talks
Teitur: Home is a song I've always remembered
For musician Teitur, singing is about giving away a piece of yourself to others. "If your intentions are to impress people or to get the big applause at the end," he says, "then you are taking, not giving." Listen as he plays on stage at...
TED Talks
Tom Thum and Matthew Broadhurst: What happens in your throat when you beatbox?
Viral beatboxer Tom Thum has an orchestra in his mouth, but how does he make all those sounds? Get an up-close-and-personal look as laryngeal surgeon Matthew Broadhurst sticks a camera down Thum's throat while he creates a mind-boggling...
TED Talks
Natalie MacMaster: Fiddling in reel time
Natalie MacMaster and her musical partner Donnell Leahy play several tunes from the Cape Breton tradition -- a sprightly, soulful style of folk fiddling. It's an inspired collaboration that will have you clapping (and maybe dancing) along.
TED Talks
Rives: A mockingbird remix of TED2006
Rives recaps the most memorable moments of TED2006 in the free-spirited rhyming verse of a fantastical mockingbird lullaby.