TED Talks Daily
Episodes
The unheard story of David and Goliath | Malcolm Gladwell
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
It's a classic underdog tale: David, a young shepherd armed only with a sling, beats Goliath, the mighty warrior. The story has transcended its biblic...
Why I love a country that once betrayed me | George Takei
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When he was a child, George Takei and his family were forced into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans, as a "security" measure during World War ...
The danger of a single story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
28 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural...
Why some of us don't have one true calling | Emilie Wapnick
27 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What do you want to be when you grow up? Well, if you're not sure you want to do just one thing for the rest of your life, you're not alone. In this i...
The boiling river of the Amazon | Andrés Ruzo
26 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Andrés Ruzo was a young boy in Peru, his grandfather told him a story with an odd detail: There is a river, deep in the Amazon, which boils as i...
Don't feel sorry for refugees -- believe in them | Luma Mufleh
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We have seen advances in every aspect of our lives -- except our humanity," says Luma Mufleh, a Jordanian immigrant and Muslim of Syrian descent who f...
A celebration of natural hair | Cheyenne Cochrane
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Cheyenne Cochrane explores the role that hair texture has played in the history of being black in America -- from the heat straightening products of t...
Why design should include everyone | Sinéad Burke
21 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sinéad Burke is acutely aware of details that are practically invisible to many of us. At 105 centimeters (or 3’ 5”) tall, the designed world -- ...
The refugee crisis is a test of our character | David Miliband
20 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sixty-five million people were displaced from their homes by conflict and disaster in 2016. It's not just a crisis; it's a test of who we are and what...
Why we need to imagine different futures | Anab Jain
19 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Anab Jain brings the future to life, creating experiences where people can touch, see and feel the potential of the world we're creating. Do we want a...
Doesn't everyone deserve a chance at a good life? | Jim Yong Kim
16 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Aspirations are rising as never before across the world, thanks in large part to smartphones and the internet -- will they be met with opportunity or ...
"Awoo" | Sofi Tukker
16 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Electro-pop duo Sofi Tukker dance it out with the TED audience in a performance of their upbeat, rhythmic song "Awoo," featuring Betta Lemme.For a cha...
Science didn't understand my kids' rare disease until I decided to study it | Sharon Terry
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Meet Sharon Terry, a former college chaplain and stay-at-home mom who took the medical research world by storm when her two young children were diagno...
When I die, recompose me | Katrina Spade
14 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What if our bodies could help grow new life after we die, instead of being embalmed and buried or turned to ash? Join Katrina Spade as she discusses "...
How I built a jet suit | Richard Browning
13 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We've all dreamed of flying -- but for Richard Browning, flight is an obsession. He's built an Iron Man-like suit that leans on an elegant collaborati...
What happens in your brain when you pay attention? | Mehdi Ordikhani-Seyedlar
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Attention isn't just about what we focus on -- it's also about what our brains filter out. By investigating patterns in the brain as people try to foc...
Why glass towers are bad for city life -- and what we need instead | Justin Davidson
06 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
There's a creepy transformation taking over our cities, says architecture critic Justin Davidson. From Houston, Texas to Guangzhou, China, shiny tower...
How to see past your own perspective and find truth | Michael Patrick Lynch
05 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The more we read and watch online, the harder it becomes to tell the difference between what's real and what's fake. It's as if we know more but under...
How to design a library that makes kids want to read | Michael Bierut
02 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
When Michael Bierut was tapped to design a logo for public school libraries, he had no idea that he was embarking on a years-long passion project. In ...
Songs that bring history to life | Rhiannon Giddens
02 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Rhiannon Giddens pours the emotional weight of American history into her music. Listen as she performs traditional folk ballads -- including "Waterboy...
No one should die because they live too far from a doctor | Raj Panjabi
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Illness is universal -- but access to care is not. Physician Raj Panjabi has a bold vision to bring health care to everyone, everywhere. With the 2017...
How pollution is changing the ocean's chemistry | Triona McGrath
29 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
As we keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, more of it is dissolving in the oceans, leading to drastic changes in the water's chemistry. Tr...
How to find a wonderful idea | OK Go
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Where does OK Go come up with ideas like dancing in zero gravity, performing in ultra slow motion or constructing a warehouse-sized Rube Goldberg mach...
A secret weapon against Zika and other mosquito-borne diseases | Nina Fedoroff
25 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Where did Zika come from, and what can we do about it? Molecular biologist Nina Fedoroff takes us around the world to understand Zika's origins and ho...
This is what democracy looks like | Anthony D. Romero
24 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In a quest to make sense of the political environment in the United States in 2017, lawyer and ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero turned to a s...
Why school should start later for teens | Wendy Troxel
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Teens don't get enough sleep, and it's not because of Snapchat, social lives or hormones -- it's because of public policy, says Wendy Troxel. Drawing ...
What makes life worth living in the face of death | Lucy Kalanithi
16 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this deeply moving talk, Lucy Kalanithi reflects on life and purpose, sharing the story of her late husband, Paul, a young neurosurgeon who turned ...
3 principles for creating safer AI | Stuart Russell
15 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How can we harness the power of superintelligent AI while also preventing the catastrophe of robotic takeover? As we move closer toward creating all-k...
Thoughts on humanity, fame and love | Shah Rukh Khan
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
"I sell dreams, and I peddle love to millions of people," says Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood's biggest star. In this charming, funny talk, Khan traces the...
How human noise affects ocean habitats | Kate Stafford
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Oceanographer Kate Stafford lowers us into the sonically rich depths of the Arctic Ocean, where ice groans, whales sing to communicate over vast dista...
The biology of our best and worst selves | Robert Sapolsky
09 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How can humans be so compassionate and altruistic -- and also so brutal and violent? To understand why we do what we do, neuroscientist Robert Sapolsk...
The future we're building -- and boring | Elon Musk
30 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Elon Musk discusses his new project digging tunnels under LA, the latest from Tesla and SpaceX and his motivation for building a future on Mars in con...
Science in service to the public good | Siddhartha Roy
25 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
We give scientists and engineers great technical training, but we're not as good at teaching ethical decision-making or building character. Take, for ...
A simple birth kit for mothers in the developing world | Zubaida Bai
13 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
TED Fellow Zubaida Bai works with medical professionals, midwives and mothers to bring dignity and low-cost interventions to women's health care. In t...
An intergalactic guide to using a defibrillator | Todd Scott
12 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
If Yoda goes into cardiac arrest, will you know what to do? Artist and first-aid enthusiast Todd Scott breaks down what you need to know about using a...
In praise of conflict | Jonathan Marks
11 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Conflict is bad; compromise, consensus and collaboration are good -- or so we're told. Lawyer and bioethicist Jonathan Marks challenges this conventio...
How we can find ourselves in data | Giorgia Lupi
07 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Giorgia Lupi uses data to tell human stories, adding nuance to numbers. In this charming talk, she shares how we can bring personality to data, visual...
Political common ground in a polarized United States | Gretchen Carlson, David Brooks
03 Apr 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How can we bridge the gap between left and right to have a wiser, more connected political conversation? Journalist Gretchen Carlson and op-ed columni...
A young poet tells the story of Darfur | Emtithal Mahmoud
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Emtithal "Emi" Mahmoud writes poetry of resilience, confronting her experience of escaping the genocide in Darfur in verse. She shares two stirring or...
"Music for Wood and Strings" | Sō Percussion
31 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sō Percussion creates adventurous compositions with new, unconventional instruments. Performing "Music for Wood and Strings" by Bryce Dessner of The ...
How early life experience is written into DNA | Moshe Szyf
30 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Moshe Szyf is a pioneer in the field of epigenetics, the study of how living things reprogram their genome in response to social factors like stress a...
What we don't know about mother's milk | Katie Hinde
28 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Breast milk grows babies' bodies, fuels neurodevelopment, provides essential immunofactors and safeguards against famine and disease -- why, then, doe...
3 ways to spot a bad statistic | Mona Chalabi
24 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes it's hard to know what statistics are worthy of trust. But we shouldn't count out stats altogether ... instead, we should learn to look behi...
Inside America's dead shopping malls | Dan Bell
17 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a mall falls into ruin? Filmmaker Dan Bell guides us through abandoned monoliths of merchandise, providing a surprisingly funny and ...
"Turceasca" | Silk Road Ensemble
17 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Grammy-winning Silk Road Ensemble display their eclectic convergence of violin, clarinet, bass, drums and more in this energetic rendition of the trad...
Adventures of an asteroid hunter | Carrie Nugent
14 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
TED Fellow Carrie Nugent is an asteroid hunter -- part of a group of scientists working to discover and catalog our oldest and most numerous cosmic ne...
How I'm fighting bias in algorithms | Joy Buolamwini
09 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because t...
A scientific approach to the paranormal | Carrie Poppy
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What's haunting Carrie Poppy? Is it ghosts or something worse? In this talk, the investigative journalist narrates her encounter with a spooky feeling...
"Rollercoaster" | Sara Ramirez
03 Mar 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Singer, songwriter and actress Sara Ramirez is a woman of many talents. Joined by Michael Pemberton on guitar, Ramirez sings of opportunity, wisdom an...
Smelfies, and other experiments in synthetic biology | Ani Liu
27 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What if you could take a smell selfie, a smelfie? What if you had a lipstick that caused plants to grow where you kiss? Ani Liu explores the intersect...
A robot that eats pollution | Jonathan Rossiter
22 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the "Row-bot," a robot that cleans up pollution and generates the electricity needed to power itself by swallowing dirty water. Roboticist Jonath...
An electrifying acoustic guitar performance | Rodrigo y Gabriela
14 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela combine furiously fast riffs and dazzling rhythms to create a style that draws on both flamenco guitar and heavy metal i...
New nanotech to detect cancer early | Joshua Smith
08 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What if every home had an early-warning cancer detection system? Researcher Joshua Smith is developing a nanobiotechnology "cancer alarm" that scans f...
The incredible inventions of intuitive AI | Maurice Conti
06 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What do you get when you give a design tool a digital nervous system? Computers that improve our ability to think and imagine, and robotic systems tha...
What time is it on Mars? | Nagin Cox
03 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nagin Cox is a first-generation Martian. As a spacecraft engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Cox works on the team that manages the United S...
How to get better at the things you care about | Eduardo Briceño
01 Feb 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Working hard but not improving? You're not alone. Eduardo Briceño reveals a simple way to think about getting better at the things you do, whether th...
Why you should love statistics | Alan Smith
31 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Think you're good at guessing stats? Guess again. Whether we consider ourselves math people or not, our ability to understand and work with numbers is...
A young scientist's quest for clean water | Deepika Kurup
27 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Deepika Kurup has been determined to solve the global water crisis since she was 14 years old, after she saw kids outside her grandparents' house in I...
The ethical dilemma of designer babies | Paul Knoepfler
23 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Creating genetically modified people is no longer a science fiction fantasy; it's a likely future scenario. Biologist Paul Knoepfler estimates that wi...
How online abuse of women has spiraled out of control | Ashley Judd
18 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Enough with online hate speech, sexual harassment and threats of violence against women and marginalized groups. It's time to take the global crisis o...
What happens when you have a disease doctors can't diagnose | Jennifer Brea
17 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Five years ago, TED Fellow Jennifer Brea became progressively ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis, commonly known as chronic fatigue syndrome, a debili...
To solve old problems, study new species | Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
12 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nature is wonderfully abundant, diverse and mysterious -- but biological research today tends to focus on only seven species, including rats, chickens...
Meet the inventor of the electronic spreadsheet | Dan Bricklin
11 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Bricklin changed the world forever when he codeveloped VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet and grandfather of programs you probably use eve...
The next step in nanotechnology | George Tulevski
10 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Nearly every other year the transistors that power silicon computer chip shrink in size by half and double in performance, enabling our devices to bec...
Are you a giver or a taker? | Adam Grant
03 Jan 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In every workplace, there are three basic kinds of people: givers, takers and matchers. Organizational psychologist Adam Grant breaks down these perso...