TED Global Issues

TED: Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world. The annual TED conferences, in Long Beach/Palm Springs and Edinburgh, bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). This section contains talks generally related to global issues.
Weekly English United States Society & Culture
197 Episodes
1 – 20

The refugee crisis is a test of our character | David Miliband

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 we stand for, says David Miliband -- and each of us has a personal responsibility to help solve it. In this must-watch…
18 Jul 2017 18 min

A doctor's case for medical marijuana : David Casarett

Physician David Casarett was tired of hearing hype and half-truths around medical marijuana, so he put on his skeptic's hat and investigated on his own. He comes back with a fascinating report on what we know and what we don't — and what mainstream medicine could learn from the modern…
25 Apr 2017 15 min

My son was a Columbine shooter. This is my story: Sue Klebold

Sue Klebold is the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the two shooters who committed the Columbine High School massacre, murdering 12 students and a teacher. She's spent years excavating every detail of her family life, trying to understand what she could have done to prevent her son's violence. In…
7 Feb 2017 15 min

A boat carrying 500 refugees sunk at sea. The story of two survivors

Melissa Fleming: A boat carrying 500 refugees sunk at sea. The story of two survivors: Aboard an overloaded ship carrying more than 500 refugees, a young woman becomes an unlikely hero. This single, powerful story, told by Melissa Fleming of the UN's refugee agency, gives a human face to the…
4 Oct 2016 19 min

How to raise successful kids - without over-parenting : Julie Lythcott-Haims

By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren't actually helping. At least, that's how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it. With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success via grades…
14 Sep 2016 14 min

Why Brexit happened -- and what to do next : Alexander Betts

We are embarrassingly unaware of how divided our societies are, and Brexit grew out of a deep, unexamined divide between those that fear globalization and those that embrace it, says social scientist Alexander Betts. How do we now address that fear as well as growing disillusionment with the political establishment,…
31 Jul 2016 17 min

The Future of News? Virtual Reality - Nonny de la Peña

What if you could experience a story with your entire body, not just with your mind? Nonny de la Peña is working on a new form of journalism that combines traditional reporting with emerging virtual reality technology to put the audience inside the story. The result is an evocative experience…
22 Jun 2016 9 min

3 reasons why we can win the fight against poverty: Andrew Youn

Half of the world's poorest people have something in common: they're small farmers. In this eye-opening talk, activist Andrew Youn shows how his group, One Acre Fund, is helping these farmers lift themselves out of poverty by delivering to them life-sustaining farm services that are already in use all over…
20 Jun 2016 13 min

The laws that sex workers really want : Toni Mac

Everyone has an opinion about how to legislate sex work (whether to legalize it, ban it or even tax it) ... but what do workers themselves think would work best? Activist Toni Mac explains four legal models that are being used around the world and shows us the model that…
27 May 2016 17 min

How free is our freedom of the press: Trevor Timm

In the US, the press has a right to publish secret information the public needs to know, protected by the First Amendment. Government surveillance has made it increasingly more dangerous for whistleblowers, the source of virtually every important story about national security since 9/11, to share information. In this concise,…
24 May 2016 5 min

What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? - Hugh Evans

Hugh Evans started a movement that mobilizes "global citizens," people who self-identify first and foremost not as members of a state, nation or tribe but as members of the human race. In this uplifting and personal talk, learn more about how this new understanding of our place in the world…
14 Apr 2016 17 min

How megacities are changing the map of the world: Parag Khanna

"I want you to reimagine how life is organized on earth," says global strategist Parag Khanna. As our expanding cities grow ever more connected through transportation, energy and communications networks, we evolve from geography to what he calls "connectography." This emerging global network civilization holds the promise of reducing pollution…
5 Apr 2016 20 min

Jessica Ladd The reporting system that sexual assault survivors want

We don't have to live in a world where 99 percent of rapists get away with it, says TED Fellow Jessica Ladd. With Callisto, a new platform for college students to confidentially report sexual assault, Ladd is helping survivors get the support and justice they deserve while respecting their privacy…
15 Mar 2016 6 min

Tshering Tobgay: This country isn't just carbon neutral -- it's carbon negative

Deep in the Himalayas, on the border between China and India, lies the Kingdom of Bhutan, which has pledged to remain carbon neutral for all time. In this illuminating talk, Bhutan's Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay shares his country's mission to put happiness before economic growth and set a world standard…
15 Mar 2016 19 min

Alexander Betts: Our refugee system is failing. Here's how we can fix it

A million refugees arrived in Europe this year, says Alexander Betts, and "our response, frankly, has been pathetic." Betts studies forced migration, the impossible choice for families between the camps, urban poverty and dangerous illegal journeys to safety. In this insightful talk, he offers four ways to change the way…
8 Mar 2016 18 min

David Sedlak: 4 ways we can avoid a catastrophic drought

As the world's climate patterns continue to shift unpredictably, places where drinking water was once abundant may soon find reservoirs dry and groundwater aquifers depleted. In this talk, civil and environmental engineer David Sedlak shares four practical solutions to the ongoing urban water crisis. His goal: to shift our water…
8 Jan 2016 14 min

Will Potter The secret US prisons you've never heard of before

Investigative journalist Will Potter is the only reporter who has been inside a Communications Management Unit, or CMU, within a US prison. These units were opened secretly, and radically alter how prisoners are treated — even preventing them from hugging their children. Potter, a TED Fellow, shows us who is…
26 Oct 2015 14 min
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