TED Talks
Chris Bliss: Comedy is translation
Every act of communication is, in some way, an act of translation. Writer Chris Bliss talks about the way that great comedy can translate deep truths for a mass audience.
TED Talks
TED: The awful logic of land mines -- and an app that helps people avoid them | Carlos Bautista
Fifty years of armed conflict in Colombia has left the countryside riddled with land mines that maim and kill innocent people who happen across them. To help keep communities safe from harm, TED Resident Carlos Bautista is developing an...
TED Talks
TED: 4 lessons I learned from taking a stand against drugs and gun violence | Ilona Szabó de Carvalho
Throughout her career in banking Ilona Szabó de Carvalho never imagined she'd someday start a social movement. But living in her native Brazil, which leads the world in homicidal violence, she realized she couldn't just stand by and...
TED Talks
TED: Let's prepare for our new climate | Vicki Arroyo
As Vicki Arroyo says, it's time to prepare our homes and cities for our changing climate, with its increased risk of flooding, drought and uncertainty. She illustrates this inspiring talk with bold projects from cities all over the world...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rebel radio that brought down a war criminal | Diana Sierra Becerra
Since the 1800s, a handful of oligarchs had controlled nearly all of El Salvador's land, forcing laborers to work for almost nothing. But in 1980, farmers and urban workers formed guerrilla groups to overthrow the US-backed dictatorship....
TED Talks
Peter Haas: When bad engineering makes a natural disaster even worse
What did the world learn from the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010? That shoddy buildings and bad planning can make a terrible situation even worse. "Haiti was not a natural disaster," says TED Fellow Peter Haas. "It was...
TED Talks
TED: Let's crowdsource the world's goals | Jamie Drummond
In 2000, the UN laid out 8 goals to make the world better by reducing poverty and disease -- with a deadline of 2015. As that deadline approaches, Jamie Drummond of ONE.org runs down the surprising successes of the 8 Millennium...
TED Talks
TED: Making peace is a marathon | May El-Khalil
In Lebanon there is one gunshot a year that isn’t part of a scene of routine violence: The opening sound of the Beirut International Marathon. In a moving talk, marathon founder May El-Khalil explains why she believed a 26.2-mile running...
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...
Crash Course
Plessy v Ferguson and Segregation Crash Course Black American History
The United States' Constitution is not a very detailed document. It lays out the basic structure of government, and the details are filled in with legislation, and clarified and reinforced by court decisions. One of the most...
TED Talks
Julius Maada Bio: A vision for the future of Sierra Leone
When Julius Maada Bio first seized political power in Sierra Leone in 1996, he did so to improve the lives of its citizens. But he soon realized that for democracy to flourish, its foundation needs to be built on the will of the people....
SciShow
How Much Humanity Weighs
Hank gives us a summary of a strange new calculation, which estimates the total body mass of all the humans on earth.
TED Talks
Bill Clinton: My wish: Rebuilding Rwanda
Accepting the 2007 TED Prize, Bill Clinton asks for help in bringing health care to Rwanda -- and the rest of the world.
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...
TED Talks
TED: The mothers who found forgiveness, friendship | Aicha el-Wafi + Phyllis Rodriguez
Phyllis Rodriguez and Aicha el-Wafi have a powerful friendship born of unthinkable loss. Rodriguez' son was killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001; el-Wafi's son Zacarias Moussaoui was convicted of a role in those...
SciShow
Earth, Two Degrees Warmer
A new report on climate change is pretty grim, but there is still a little hope.
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: How marijuana reform could repair, reclaim and restore communities | Khadijah Tribble
Khadijah Tribble eloquently describes how marijuana reform is necessary to end the destructive war on drugs. Differential enforcement of marijuana drug laws have led to ongoing, systemic social and economic inequity. Tribble suggests...
TED Talks
TED: Dance vs. powerpoint, a modest proposal | John Bohannon
Instead of a boring slide deck at your next presentation, how about bringing in a troupe of dancers? That's science writer John Bohannon's "modest proposal" in this spellbinding choreographed talk. He makes his case by example, in...
TED Talks
TED: The crime-fighting power of cross-border investigative journalism | Bektour Iskender
Organized crime operates across national borders -- to keep up, investigative journalists need to do the same. TED Fellow Bektour Iskender gives the inside scoop on his efforts to unveil secret, insidious operations in his home country...
TED Talks
TED: A few ways to fix a government | Charity Wayua
Charity Wayua put her skills as a cancer researcher to use on an unlikely patient: the government of her native Kenya. She shares how she helped her government drastically improve its process for opening up new businesses, a crucial part...
TED Talks
TED: Inventing is the easy part. Marketing takes work | Daniel Schnitzer
Solar-powered LED lightbulbs could transform the lives of rural Haitians, but as Daniel Schnitzer found, they don't simply sell themselves. At TEDxPittsburgh, he shows how smart health and energy products for the developing world are...
TED Talks
TED: Africa's great carbon valley -- and how to end energy poverty | James Irungu Mwangi
Our lives depend on curbing climate change, but so many priorities seem to be in competition. What's the most urgent thing humanity can do right now? Social entrepreneur James Irungu Mwangi tells us why Africa could be the ideal home for...