Ted Talks Daily

In this stunning spoken-word performance, poet and "freedom-forging futurist" Naima Penniman celebrates the wonders of the natural world and humanity's connection to it. "I wonder if the sun debates dawn some mornings," she says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Without the internet, how would you have coped with the pandemic -- from work and school, to maintaining your closest relationships? In the digital age, reliance on the internet is so common and seems ubiquitous, yet billions of people worldwide still go without it. Digital transformation strategist Priscilla Chomba-Kinywa advocates for collective access to the opportunities and potential the internet provides, underscoring the necessity of free and fair digital rights for all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As chairman of the world's largest maritime shipping company, Jim Hagemann Snabe thinks a lot about how goods get where they need to go and the impact their journey has on the planet. Leading the effort to decarbonize shipping by 2050, he shares a plan to convert green electricity into green liquid fuel to power vessels in a process called "power-to-X" -- and urges global leaders to join the voyage towards an innovative, sustainable and fast-approaching future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recently back from the COP26 UN climate conference in Scotland, former Icelandic presidential candidate Halla Tómasdóttir sums up the outcomes of the gathering, the progress she saw and the work that’s left to be done this way: “The most difficult work of our lifetimes has to happen in the next few years.” In conversation with TEDWomen curator Pat Mitchell, Tómasdóttir urges us all to recognize our power and to use our voice, vote and wallet to catalyze meaningful climate action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Less than seven percent of people worldwide have a bachelor's degree -- and for many, this is simply because the cost of university is too high, says higher education executive Adrian K. Haugabrook. In this barrier-breaking talk, he introduces an innovative approach to expanding access to higher education by driving down costs and rethinking three key things: time, place and how we learn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From village to metropolis, global flooding is on the rise, and traditional approaches to managing the swells won't cut it, says water resource engineer Virginia Smith. Giving an overview of the dynamic shift needed to stymie the flow of future storm waters, she explains how each of us can help ensure a sustainable future despite the rising tides. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Siri to Alexa to Google, virtual assistants already permeate our lives. What will the next generation of these digital helpers look and sound like? Customer experience professional Karen Lellouche Tordjman gives us a glimpse of where they’re headed -- and breaks down the two key challenges engineers need to crack in order to usher in a new age of truly smart voice assistants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TED Fellow Tom Osborn wants more young people to have access to the mental health support they need. With the Shamiri Institute, he and his team are training 18- to 22-year-olds to deliver evidence-based mental health care to their peers in Kenya -- which has only two clinicians for every million people. Hear how their community-first, youth-oriented model could become a template to help kids across the world lead successful, independent lives. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By 2100, the UN estimates that the world’s population will grow to just over 11 billion people. Architect Vishaan Chakrabarti wants us to start thinking about how we’ll house all these people -- and how new construction can fight climate change rather than make it worse. In this visionary talk, Chakrabarti proposes a “Goldilocks” solution to sustainable housing that exists in the sweet spot between single-family homes and towering skyscrapers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if we treated the risk of pandemics the same way we treat the risk of fires? In this eye-opening talk, infectious disease epidemiologist Jennifer B. Nuzzo unpacks how the Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 sparked a cultural shift in how we defend against fires -- and explains why pandemics demand the same sort of reaction. She breaks down the data we need to gather when facing possible danger, the drills we need to ready ourselves and the defenses that could keep future threats at bay -- so next time, we're prepared. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many companies have made strides when it comes to prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), but one group remains largely left out: people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Social impact investor Nyra Jordan introduces us to "fair chance hiring" -- the practice of hiring people with criminal justice records -- and shares four steps companies can take to make sure everyone has a shot at getting a job. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For children growing up in refugee camps, education is a powerful tool of liberation. In this inspiring talk, Makhtoum Abdalla, displaced as a child in Sudan and now living with his family in the Otash camp in Darfur, shares his biggest dream: to ensure all children are educated and taught the skills needed to become “captains of their destiny.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Memory foam, air purifiers, scratch-resistant lenses: these are just a few of the everyday items originally developed for space missions. Aerospace engineer Eric Hinterman invites us to dream big and imagine what technological advancements could come next, explaining why establishing a human presence on Mars is a big step for life on Earth -- and a giant leap toward becoming a space-faring species. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting people’s right to have an abortion in the United States, will be overturned within a year, says reproductive rights attorney Kathryn Kolbert. In this electrifying call to action, she breaks down the systematic attack against reproductive freedom in the US and envisions what a post-Roe world could look like. “First, we’ve got to build a badass social justice movement,” she says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We will get out of this pandemic, says Maria Van Kerkhove, the COVID-19 Technical Lead of the World Health Organization (WHO). The question is how fast -- and if we’ll take what we’ve learned from the past two years and apply it to the next emerging pathogen. In conversation with TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Van Kerkhove provides insights on the Omicron variant, details a pandemic preparedness protocol under development at WHO and shares what we all can do to bring the pandemic to a speedy end. “Remain vigilant,” Van Kerkhove says. “Everything you do ... will either get us closer to ending this pandemic -- or it will prolong it.” (This conversation was recorded on December 3, 2021.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s been explosive investment in new technologies aimed at decarbonizing the planet. But climate investor Dawn Lippert says something key is missing from this strategy: investment in the local people these solutions would most affect. She shares how she’s bridging the gap between investment in new tech and local communities -- by getting closer to the places where these ideas are being put into action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this deeply moving talk, educator Shabana Basij-Rasikh shares the harrowing story of evacuating more than 250 students, staff and family members from the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA) -- the country’s first and only all-girls boarding school -- to Rwanda after the Taliban took power in 2021. An exceptional story of hope, resilience and dreaming big for future generations of Afghan girls -- and a challenge for the world to not look away. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kindness can go a long way when it comes to reshaping a business. Having saved a fashion company from the brink of bankruptcy, entrepreneur James Rhee shares the value of investing in a culture of compassion at work -- and shows why we should all lead with our hearts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to big problems like climate change, we tend to focus on big solutions -- but many of the best ideas come from people on the ground, facing day-to-day conservation battles. Sharing her effort to protect the Leseur ecosystem in Indonesia (the last place on Earth where the Sumatran rhino, tiger, elephant and orangutan still roam together in the wild), TED Fellow and conservationist Farwiza Farhan explains the challenges women face on the front lines of forest preservation within patriarchal societies -- and the resilient, world-changing power they hold. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The doctrine of “first, do no harm” is the basis of the Hippocratic Oath, one of the world’s oldest codes of ethics. It governs the work of physicians -- but climate and health campaigner Shweta Narayan says it should go further. In this essential talk, she highlights the interdependence of environmental and human health and emphasizes the necessity of placing health at the heart of all climate solutions. “It’s impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet,” she says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.