TED Talks Daily
Episodes
How to reduce the wealth gap between Black and white Americans | Kedra Newsom Reeves
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The racial wealth gap in the United States is shocking: white families have a median wealth nearly 10 times greater than that of Black families. How d...
Apple's promise to be carbon neutral by 2030 | Lisa Jackson and Liz Ogbu
21 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Under the leadership of Lisa Jackson, Apple's environment and social VP and former head of the EPA, the company is already carbon neutral within their...
How businesses can serve everyone, not just shareholders | Dame Vivian Hunt
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Companies worldwide are pledging to play a more meaningful role in the well-being of their employees, customers and the environment. How can they turn...
Amazon's climate pledge: to be net-zero by 2040 | Dave Clark and Kara Hurst
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, Amazon signed the Climate Pledge, a commitment to become a net-zero carbon business by 2040. Dave Clark, Amazon's chief of consumer retail, a...
The race to a zero-emission world starts now | António Guterres
18 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"If we don't act now on climate change, this coming century may be one of humanity's last," says António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Na...
The global movement to restore nature's biodiversity | Thomas Crowther
17 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Biodiversity is the key to life on Earth and reviving our damaged planet, says ecologist Thomas Crowther. Sharing the inside story of his headline-mak...
Make your actions on climate reflect your words | Severn Cullis-Suzuki
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"History has shown us that in moments of crisis, society can truly transform," says environmental educator Severn Cullis-Suzuki. Nearly 30 years ago, ...
10 years to transform the future of humanity -- or destabilize the planet | Johan Rockström
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"For the first time, we are forced to consider the real risk of destabilizing the entire planet," says climate impact scholar Johan Rockström. In a t...
Europe's plan to become the first carbon-neutral continent | Ursula von der Leyen
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the ambitious goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050, the European Union has committed to creating a greener world for futur...
Environmental justice is racial justice | David Lammy
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Why has there been so little mention of saving Black lives from the climate emergency? For too long, racial justice efforts have been distinguished fr...
How cities are detoxing transportation | Monica Araya
12 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
People around the world are demanding clean air -- and cities are starting to respond, says electrification advocate Monica Araya. She takes us on a w...
Our moral imperative to act on climate change -- and 3 steps we can take | His Holiness Pope Francis
11 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The global climate crisis will require us to transform the way we act, says His Holiness Pope Francis. Delivering a visionary TED Talk from Vatican Ci...
This decade calls for Earthshots to repair our planet | Prince William
10 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"We start this new decade knowing that it is the most consequential period in history," says Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge. Inspired by Presid...
Climate Mindset | TED Radio Hour
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Taking on the climate crisis can seem like an insurmountable feat. On part one of TED Radio Hour episode -- Climate Mindset -- climate scientist Tom R...
Civilization on the Moon -- and what it means for life on Earth | Jessy Kate Schingler
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We could realistically see people starting to live and work on the Moon in the next decade -- and how we do it matters, says space policy researcher J...
What kids can teach adults about asking for help | YeYoon Kim
07 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do you need some help? It’s OK to ask, says YeYoon Kim, a former kindergarten teacher who learned from her students how powerful and courageous it c...
We need to track the world's water like we track the weather | Sonaar Luthra
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We need a global weather service for water, says entrepreneur and TED Fellow Sonaar Luthra. In a talk about environmental accountability, Luthra shows...
Gerrymandering: How drawing jagged lines can impact an election | Christina Greer
05 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
District lines, and the groups of voters within them, may seem arbitrary, but a lot of thought (and political bickering) is put into these carefully d...
Racism thrives on silence — speak up! | Dexter Dias
02 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Racism thrives on your silence and apathy, says human rights lawyer Dexter Dias. Telling the story of a harrowing UK court case that spotlights the co...
Can seaweed help curb global warming? | Tim Flannery
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's time for planetary-scale interventions to combat climate change -- and environmentalist Tim Flannery thinks seaweed can help. In a bold talk, he ...
The lie that invented racism | John Biewen
30 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To understand and eradicate racist thinking, start at the beginning. That's what journalist and documentarian John Biewen did, leading to a trove of s...
A global movement to solve global problems | Colombe Cahen-Salvador
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We need to think beyond national borders to solve global problems, says activist Colombe Cahen-Salvador. Reimagining the world's fractured systems of ...
The ancient, earth-friendly wisdom of Mongolian nomads | Khulan Batkhuyag
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a lot we can learn from Mongolian nomads about how to survive in the years to come, says environmental activist Khulan Batkhuyag. Taking us ...
3 secrets to Netflix’s success | Reed Hastings
25 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What does it take to cultivate a culture of innovation and reinvention at work? Tracing his journey from math teacher to honesty-seeking executive, Ne...
Why we must confront hard historical truths | Hasan Kwame Jeffries
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To move forward in the United States, we must look back and confront the difficult history that shaped widespread injustice. Revisiting a significant ...
How do US Supreme Court justices get appointed | Peter Paccone
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There's a job out there with a great deal of power, pay, prestige, and near-perfect job-security. And there's only one way to be hired: get appointed ...
How your personality shapes your politics | Dannagal G. Young
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Social psychologist Dannagal Young breaks down the link between our psychology and politics, showing how personality types largely fall into people wh...
Why I fight for climate justice | Xiye Bastida
21 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a deeply moving letter to her grandmother, Xiye Bastida reflects on what led her to become a leading voice for global climate activism -- from mobi...
Does your vote count? The Electoral College explained | Christina Greer
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You vote but then what? Discover how your individual vote contributes to the popular vote and your state's electoral vote in different ways--and see h...
Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | Tim Ferriss
17 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The hard choices -- what we most fear doing, asking, saying -- are very often exactly what we need to do. How can we overcome self-paralysis and take ...
Why do we blame individuals for economic crises? | Liene Ozoliņa
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In 2008, the global financial crisis decimated Latvia. As unemployment skyrocketed, the government slashed public funding and raised taxes, while prov...
What if lifesaving prescriptions were affordable for all? | Kiah Williams
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As prescription drug costs skyrocket in the US, thousands of people are forced to forgo lifesaving medications -- all while manufacturers and health c...
How social inequality fuels political division | Keith Payne
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"If we want to fix our politics, we have to do something about inequality," says social psychologist Keith Payne. Showing how economic inequality chan...
How to win an argument (at the US Supreme Court, or anywhere) | Neal Katyal
11 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The secret to winning an argument isn’t grand rhetoric or elegant style, says US Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal -- it takes more than that. Wit...
A lesson in turning adversaries into allies | Leah Garcés
10 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When you’re on opposite sides of an issue, how do you broker peace with your adversaries and work together to solve a problem? Follow along as anima...
What it takes to make change | Jacqueline Novogratz
09 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What can you do to build a better world? Sharing stories from her pioneering career dedicated to tackling poverty, Jacqueline Novogratz offers three p...
How Facebook profits from polarization | Yaël Eisenstat
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Lies are more engaging online than truth," says former CIA analyst and diplomat Yaël Eisenstat. "As long as [social media] algorithms' goals are to ...
The new political story that could change everything | George Monbiot
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
To get out of the mess we're in, we need a new story that explains the present and guides the future, says author George Monbiot. Drawing on findings ...
4 steps for ending extreme poverty | Shameran Abed
04 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At least 400 million people worldwide live in ultra-poverty: a state of severe financial and social vulnerability that robs many of hope and dignity. ...
How do daily habits lead to political violence? | Christiane-Marie Abu Sarah
03 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What drives someone to commit politically motivated violence? The unsettling answer lies in daily habits. Behavioral historian Christiane-Marie Abu Sa...
Dignity isn't a privilege. It's a worker's right | Abigail Disney
02 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's the purpose of a company? In this bold talk, activist and filmmaker Abigail Disney imagines a world where companies have a moral obligation to ...
Why specializing early doesn't always mean career success | David Epstein
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A head start doesn't always ... well, help you get ahead. With examples from sports, technology and economics, journalist David Epstein shares how spe...
How to build your confidence -- and spark it in others | Brittany Packnett
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Confidence is the necessary spark before everything that follows," says educator and activist Brittany Packnett. In an inspiring talk, she shares thr...
What Saturn's most mysterious moon could teach us about the origins of life | Elizabeth "Zibi" Turtle
28 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
NASA's Dragonfly -- a robotic rotorcraft-lander that's designed to hop across the surface of an extraterrestrial body -- is set to voyage deep into th...
Do schools kill creativity | Sir Ken Robinson
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.F...
What it means to be intersex — and how the false sex binary harms us | Susannah Temko
26 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
For intersex people -- those born with sex characteristics outside the traditional definitions of female and male -- the stakes to appear "normal" are...
The tyranny of merit | Michael Sandel
25 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What accounts for our polarized public life, and how can we begin to heal it? Political philosopher Michael Sandel offers a surprising answer: those w...
How animals, bugs and plants are evolving in cities | Menno Schilthuizen
24 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In cities, evolution occurs constantly, as countless plants, animals and insects adapt to human-made habitats in spectacular ways. Evolutionary biolog...
Stop dancing to the sound of your oppression | Madame Gandhi
21 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Popular music is often riddled with misogynistic lyrics that objectify and demean women ... so why are we listening and dancing to it? Performing a sa...
Big data, small farms and a tale of two tomatoes | Erin Baumgartner
20 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The path to better food is paved with data, says entrepreneur Erin Baumgartner. Drawing from her experience running a farm-to-table business, she outl...
Grief and love in the animal kingdom | Barbara J. King
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From mourning orcas to distressed elephants, biological anthropologist Barbara J. King has witnessed grief and love across the animal kingdom. In this...
How to use family dinner to teach politics | Hajer Sharief
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone should participate in decision-making and politics -- and it starts at home, says activist Hajer Sharief. She introduces a simple yet transfo...
How you can help map the world's most vulnerable places | Rebecca Firth
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Want to help map the world? Community builder Rebecca Firth explains how the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) is using open-source software power...
Love Letters To Strangers | Hannah Brencher
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hannah Brencher's mother always wrote her letters. So when she felt herself bottom into depression after college, she did what felt natural -- she wro...
When is a pandemic over? | Alex Rosenthal
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Consider the following scenario: a highly infectious, sometimes deadly respiratory virus infects humans for the first time. It spreads rapidly worldwi...
What silence can teach you about sound | Dallas Taylor
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What can you hear in silence? In this exploration of sound, host of the podcast "Twenty Thousand Hertz" Dallas Taylor tells the story of arguably the ...
3 questions to ask yourself about US citizenship | Jose Antonio Vargas
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At age 16, journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas found out he was in the United States illegally. Since then, he’s been thinking deeply about...
Let's scan the whole planet with LiDAR | Chris Fisher
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have archives of films, newspapers, even seeds -- what if we could make one for the entire surface of the earth? Drawing on his experience mapping ...
How every movie trailer gets made | Twenty Thousand Hertz
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"In a world" -- our world -- movie trailers have undergone a massive evolution. The booming voice-of-God narration of the '80s and '90s has been silen...
The difference between healthy and unhealthy love | Katie Hood
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a talk about understanding and practicing the art of healthy relationships, Katie Hood reveals the five signs you might be in an unhealthy relation...
The secrets of learning a new language | Lydia Machova
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Want to learn a new language but feel daunted or unsure where to begin? You don't need some special talent or a "language gene," says Lýdia Machová....
How to raise a black son in America | Clint Smith
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As kids, we all get advice from parents and teachers that seems strange, even confusing. This was crystallized one night for a young Clint Smith, who ...
A stock market for social justice | ZigZag
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of ZigZag, host Manoush Zomorodi is joined by Eric Ries, who went from writing Silicon Valley's bible to building a stock market for s...
Rewriting the script(ure) | Pindrop
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly 400 years ago, a tiny town in Germany made a bargain with God: spare its people from the Black Plague and we'll put on a play in your honor... ...
How your brain's executive function works -- and how to improve it | Sabine Doebel
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You use your brain's executive function every day -- it's how you do things like pay attention, plan ahead and control impulses. Can you improve it to...
How to overcome our biases? Walk boldly toward them | Vernā Myers
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our biases can be dangerous, even deadly — as we've seen in the cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner, in Staten Island, New...
How shocking events can spark positive change | Naomi Klein
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Things are pretty shocking out there right now -- record-breaking storms, deadly terror attacks, thousands of migrants disappearing beneath the waves ...
The secret soundtrack of the sea | TEDxSHORTS
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Marine biologist, fish ecologist and self-confessed ocean optimist Steve Simpson explains the intricate sounds that exist in our oceans -- and why lis...
Can light stop the coronavirus? | David Brenner
24 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Far-UVC light is a type of ultraviolet light that kills microbes and viruses and, crucially, seems to be safe to use around humans. Radiation scientis...
How to use love to repair social inequality | Chloé Valdary
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What does Kendrick Lamar have in common with Disney's "Moana"? They recognize our common humanity and show us how to love ourselves and one another, s...
A comprehensive, neighborhood-based response to COVID-19 | Kwame Owusu-Kesse
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Crisis interventions often focus on a single aspect of a big, complicated problem, failing to address the broader social and economic context. Kwame O...
Stop making mass shooters famous | Tom Teves
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting in a movie theater of Aurora, Colorado left the town, and the nation, reeling. To many -- including Tom Teves, who l...
How city mayors are taking action on climate change | Eric Garcetti
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"If you change your city, you're changing the world," says Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles and chair of C40 Cities, a network of the world's megac...
Activism, changemakers and hope for the future | Malala Yousafzai
18 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Education activist (and recent Oxford graduate) Malala Yousafzai reflects on the defining moments of her life, how she balances passion with personhoo...
Want a more just world? Be an unlikely ally | Nita Mosby Tyler
17 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A more equal world starts with you. Citing a formative moment from her own life, equity advocate Nita Mosby Tyler highlights why showing up and fighti...
What if you could help decide how the government spends public funds? | Shari Davis
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What if you could help decide how the government spends public funds in your community? That’s the idea behind participatory budgeting, a process th...
The colorful critter world of microbes in Antarctica | Ariel Waldman
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this tour of the microscopic world, explorer and artist Ariel Waldman introduces the charismatic creatures lurking beneath Antarctica's massive ice...
A blueprint for reparations in the US | William "Sandy" Darity
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With clarity and insight, economist and author William "Sandy" Darity discusses how the grievous injustice of slavery in the US led to the immense wea...
What happens when biology becomes technology? | Christina Agapakis
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"We've been promised a future of chrome -- but what if the future is fleshy?" asks biological designer Christina Agapakis. In this awe-inspiring talk,...
You Have the Rite" | Marc Bamuthi Joseph
10 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In a breathtaking, jazz-inflected spoken-word performance, TED Fellow Marc Bamuthi Joseph shares a Black father's tender and wrenching internal reflec...
Every day you live, you impact the planet | Jane Goodall + Chris Anderson
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary primatologist Jane Goodall says that humanity's survival depends on conservation of the natural world. In conversation with head of TED Chri...
A friendly, autonomous robot that delivers your food | Ali Kashani
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the friendly robot that could deliver your next burrito. Ali Kashani introduces us to Postmates' autonomous delivery robot and explains how it co...
How the pandemic will shape the near future | Bill Gates
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bill Gates talks best (and worst) case scenarios for the coronavirus pandemic in the months ahead, explaining the challenges of reducing virus transmi...
Africa is a sleeping giant -- I’m trying to wake it up | Adeola Fayehun
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“Africa is like a sleeping giant,” says journalist and satirist Adeola Fayehun at the beginning of this hilarious, incisive talk. “The truth is ...
The new urgency of climate change | Al Gore
03 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus brought much of the world to a standstill, dropping carbon emissions by five percent. Al Gore says keeping those rates down is now up ...
Scenes from a Black trans life | D-L Stewart
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the crossroads of life and livelihood, scholar D-L Stewart invites us into scenes from his own life as he resists and reflects on the dehumanizing ...
What foods did your ancestors love? | Aparna Pallavi
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Around the world, Indigenous food cultures vanish because of industrialized agriculture and a shifting, Western-influenced concept of the ideal diet. ...
Stop being a bystander in your own life | Tracy Edwards
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
"Life doesn't go from A to B -- it's messy," says sailing legend Tracy Edwards. In this inspiring talk, she tells how she went from teenage misfit to ...
How we can build sustainable, equitable cities after the pandemic | Vishaan Chakrabarti
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cities are engines of culture, commerce, knowledge and community, but they're also centers of inequality and poverty. As the world rebuilds from the c...
The case to infect volunteers with COVID-19 to accelerate vaccine testing | Nir Eyal
27 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conventional vaccine testing is a slow, years-long process. As thousands of people continue to die each day from COVID-19, bioethicist Nir Eyal propos...
How women will lead us to freedom, justice and peace | H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
26 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
“I was the first woman president of an African nation, and I do believe more countries ought to try that,” says H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel ...
How to support and celebrate living artists | Swizz Beatz
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz is on a mission to revolutionize the way artists do business. In this glorious talk, he shares some of the ways...
Why colonialist stereotypes persist — and how to stop romanticizing history | Farish Ahmad-Noor
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Colonialism remains as an inescapable blight on the present, lingering in the toxic, internalized mythologies and stereotypes that outlive the regimes...
How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time | Baratunde Thurston
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walki...
Hunting for dinosaurs showed me our place in the universe | Kennet Lacovara
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you discover a dinosaur? Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara details his unearthing of Dreadnoughtus -- a 77-million-year-old sauropod t...
My secret to staying focused under pressure | Russell Wilson
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Athletes train their bodies to run faster, jump higher, throw farther -- so why don’t they train their minds, too? Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russ...
3 secrets of resilient people | Lucy Hone
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone experiences loss, but how do you cope with the tough moments that follow? Resilience researcher Lucy Hone shares three hard-won strategies fo...
How to build an antiracist world | Ibram X. Kendi
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There is no such thing as being “not racist,” says author and historian Ibram X. Kendi. In this vital conversation, he defines the transformative ...
How drawing can set you free | Shantell Martin
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Who are you? To answer this question, artist Shantell Martin followed her pen. In this brilliantly visual talk featuring her signature freestyle line ...
What tech companies know about your kids | Veronica Barassi
12 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The digital platforms you and your family use every day -- from online games to education apps and medical portals -- may be collecting and selling yo...