The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You're welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know. TED's videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: https://www.ted.com/about/our-organization/our-policies-terms/ted-talks-usage-policy. For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at https://media-requests.ted.com
This TED event explores how unstructured play and imagination are essential human capacities under threat from modern efficiency culture and AI dependency, arguing that reclaiming 'creative play' across work, home, and public life is necessary for societal resilience and innovation.
Comedian Chris Duffy explains that humor is less about performing and more about cultivating presence by noticing small absurdities, maintaining a 'laugh list' to train awareness, and prioritizing laughing with others rather than demanding they laugh at you.
Political scientist Ian Bremmer reveals his methodology for navigating geopolitical information, emphasizing diversified international media consumption, long-term trust-building with world leaders, and using a matrix of sources to avoid spin while prioritizing macro analysis over breaking news.
This TED event featuring Jason Momoa, psychologist Kina Bajage, and teenage artist Joe Whale reframes play as essential biological infrastructure rather than luxury, revealing that 70% of adults suffer from play deprivation while AI technology threatens to atrophy the imagination muscles necessary for human adaptation and creative health.
Emily Esfahani Smith explains that directly pursuing happiness often leads to dissatisfaction, while cultivating meaning through values and connection creates lasting resilience. She outlines how reframing goals around underlying values and prioritizing authentic belonging can help navigate life's inevitable transitions and suffering.
Actor and producer Yara Shahidi shares how she navigated the collision of her acting career and Harvard education by rejecting binary choices, instead embracing optimism as an active practice and defining her 'highest order' priorities to find purpose amidst uncertainty.
The TED Idea Search culminates in Amman, Jordan, where four finalists from the Middle East share powerful ideas about brain training, risk-taking, global inequality, and mental health, competing for a spot on the main TED stage in a 6,000-year-old Roman theater.
Anu Gupta shares his journey from a suicide attempt driven by racial trauma to developing 'Breaking Bias,' a framework that treats prejudice as a learned somatic habit curable through mindfulness and inner development rather than intellectual DEI training alone.
At the TED Idea Search in Buenos Aires, four Argentine speakers compete for a spot on the main TED stage by presenting ambitious six-minute talks on topics ranging from Gen Z "brain rot" as political diplomacy to the benefits of polarization, while navigating intense coaching, language barriers, and the pressure of the iconic red circle.
The TED Idea Search in Chicago follows diverse speakers as they rehearse and deliver six-minute talks vying for a single spot on the main TED stage in Vancouver, revealing the rigorous coaching and vulnerable preparation required to transform personal passion into global impact.
Former Wall Street trader Vivian Tu shares her journey from living paycheck to paycheck to becoming a financial educator, outlining three essential strategies for modern wealth-building: demystifying financial jargon, fostering open money conversations, and adopting technology-driven solutions.
The TED Idea Search in Lagos brings together African innovators competing for the main stage in Vancouver, showcasing how the platform amplifies underrepresented voices while providing rigorous coaching to transform raw ideas into global movements.