There are now over 600 TED Talks available online at TED.com. Below are just a taste – a few of our favorite talks and performances from TEDs past.
Grab yourself a drink, sit back and enjoy.
At TEDxCanberra, we’re excited to be getting involved in finding unique Australian talent that can rank up there with these.
Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds
Temple Grandin, diagnosed with autism as a child, talks about how her mind works — sharing her ability to “think in pictures,” which helps her solve problems that neurotypical brains might miss. She makes the case that the world needs people on the autism spectrum: visual thinkers, pattern thinkers, verbal thinkers, and all kinds of smart geeky kids.
Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food
Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.
Barry Schwartz on our loss of wisdom
Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world.
Ben Dunlap talks about a passionate life
Wofford College president Ben Dunlap tells the story of Sandor Teszler, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who taught him about passionate living and lifelong learning.
Sir Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
Liz Coleman’s call to reinvent liberal arts education
Bennington president Liz Coleman delivers a call-to-arms for radical reform in higher education. Bucking the trend to push students toward increasingly narrow areas of study, she proposes a truly cross-disciplinary education — one that dynamically combines all areas of study to address the great problems of our day.
Venezuelan Youth Orchestra
The Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra contains the best high school musicians from Venezuela’s life-changing music program, El Sistema. Led here by Gustavo Dudamel, they play Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez’ Danzón No. 2.
Al Gore on averting climate change
With the same humor and humanity he exuded in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter “brand name” for global warming.
The best stats you’ve ever seen
You’ve never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sportscaster, Swedish statistics guru Hans Rosling debunks myths about the so-called “developing world” by looking at the bigger picture of social and economic development using some remarkable software.
Benjamin Zander on music and passion
Since 1979, Benjamin Zander has been the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic. Ben has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realise our untapped love for it — and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences and new connections.
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