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: If a story moves you, act on it | Sisonke Msimang
Stories are necessary, but they're not as magical as they seem, says writer Sisonke Msimang. In this funny and thoughtful talk, Msimang questions our emphasis on storytelling and spotlights the decline of facts. During a critical time...
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
Jacqueline Novogratz: A third way to think about aid
The debate over foreign aid often pits those who mistrust "charity" against those who mistrust reliance on the markets. Jacqueline Novogratz proposes a middle way she calls patient capital, with promising examples of entrepreneurial...
TED Talks
Freeman Hrabowski: 4 pillars of college success in science
At age 12, Freeman Hrabowski marched with Martin Luther King. Now he's president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he works to create an environment that helps under-represented students -- specifically...
TED Talks
Chrystia Freeland: The rise of the new global super-rich
Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds -- and so is economic inequality, says writer Chrystia Freeland. In an impassioned talk, she charts the rise of a new class of plutocrats (those who are extremely powerful because they are...
TED Talks
TED: Why women should tell the stories of humanity | Jude Kelly
For many centuries (and for many reasons) critically acclaimed creative genius has generally come from a male perspective. As theater director Jude Kelly points out in this passionately reasoned talk, that skew affects how we interpret...
TED Talks
Samy Nour Younes: A short history of trans people's long fight for equality
Transgender activist and TED Resident Samy Nour Younes shares the remarkable, centuries-old history of the trans community, filled with courageous stories, inspiring triumphs -- and a fight for civil rights that's been raging for a long...
TED Talks
TED: Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash | Rutger Bregman
Ideas can and do change the world, says historian Rutger Bregman, sharing his case for a provocative one: guaranteed basic income. Learn more about the idea's 500-year history and a forgotten modern experiment where it actually worked --...
TED Talks
Auret van Heerden: Making global labor fair
FLA head Auret van Heerden talks about the next frontier of workers' rights -- globalized industries where no single national body can keep workers safe and protected. How can we keep our global supply chains honest? Van Heerden makes...
TED Talks
Dolores Huerta: How to overcome apathy and find your power
"Sí, se puede!" -- "Yes, we can!" It's the rallying cry Dolores Huerta came up with as a young activist in the 1970s, and she's lived by it in her tireless pursuit of civil rights ever since. With her signature wit and humor, Huerta...
TED Talks
TED: Why black girls are targeted for punishment at school -- and how to change that | Monique W. Morris
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Around the world, black girls are being pushed out of schools because of policies that target them for punishment,...
TED Talks
Ruby Sales: How we can start to heal the pain of racial division
"Where does it hurt?" It's a question that activist and educator Ruby Sales has traveled the US asking, looking deeply at the country's legacy of racism and searching for sources of healing. In this moving talk, she shares what she's...
TED Talks
TED: A prosecutor's vision for a better justice system | Adam Foss
When a kid commits a crime, the uS justice system has a choice: prosecute to the full extent of the law, or take a step back and ask if saddling young people with criminal records is the right thing to do every time. In this searching...
TED Talks
How to turn moments into momentum | Renee Montgomery
Inspired by the rising movement against racism in the US, WNBA champion Renee Montgomery made an unexpected decision: she opted out of her dream job. As she says in this stirring talk, she wanted to "make it felt," and that meant turning...
TED Talks
Pat Mitchell: Dangerous times call for dangerous women
Pat Mitchell has nothing left to prove and much less to lose -- she's become a "dangerous woman." Not dangerous as in feared, she says, but fearless: a force to be reckoned with. In this powerful call to action, Mitchell invites all...
TED Talks
Baratunde Thurston: How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time
Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally "living while black." In this profound, thought-provoking and often...
TED Talks
TED: Does money make you mean? | Paul Piff
It's amazing what a rigged game of Monopoly can reveal. In this entertaining but sobering talk, social psychologist Paul Piff shares his research into how people behave when they feel wealthy. (Hint: badly.) But while the problem of...
TED Talks
TED: A smarter, more precise way to think about public health | Sue Desmond-Hellmann
Sue Desmond-Hellmann is using precision public health -- an approach that incorporates big data, consumer monitoring, gene sequencing and other innovative tools -- to solve the world's most difficult medical problems. It's already helped...
TED Talks
Michael Tubbs: The political power of being a good neighbor
Michael Tubbs is the youngest mayor in American history to represent a city with more than 100,000 people -- and his policies are sparking national conversations. In this rousing talk, he shares how growing up amid poverty and violence...
TED Talks
Nick Hanauer: Beware, fellow plutocrats, the pitchforks are coming
Nick Hanauer is a rich guy, an unrepentant capitalist — and he has something to say to his fellow plutocrats: Wake up! Growing inequality is about to push our societies into conditions resembling pre-revolutionary France. Hear his...
TED Talks
Hans Rosling: New insights on poverty
Researcher Hans Rosling uses his cool data tools to show how countries are pulling themselves out of poverty. He demos Dollar Street, comparing households of varying income levels worldwide. Then he does something really amazing.
TED Talks
TED: Can beauty open our hearts to difficult conversations? | Titus Kaphar
An artwork's color or composition can pull you in -- and put you on the path to having important and difficult conversations, says artist Titus Kaphar. In this stunning talk, he reflects on his artistic evolution and takes us on a tour...