Ted Talks Daily

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.

For thousands of years, the Amazon rainforest has provided food, water and spiritual connection for its Indigenous inhabitants and the world. But the endless extraction of its natural resources by oil companies and others is destroying the lives of those who live there, says Waorani leader Nemonte Nenquimo, and threatening the overall stability of Earth's biosphere. In this powerful talk, she reminds us of the destruction that continues to happen to the world's largest tropical rainforest -- and demands respect for Mother Nature. "The forest is our teacher," she says. (Filmed in Ecuador by director Tom Laffay and associate producer Emily Wright, in collaboration with Amazon Frontlines. In Spanish with subtitles.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"How much more damage do we have to endure before we realize that it's cheaper to save this planet than to ruin it?" asks engineer and investor John Doerr. In conversation with Countdown cofounder Lindsay Levin, Doerr and systems innovator Ryan Panchadsaram lay out six big objectives that -- if pursued with speed and scale -- could transform society and get us to net-zero emissions by 2050. An action plan to solve the world's climate crisis, backed up by a proven system for setting goals for success. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As you get older, your eyes worsen and become susceptible to a disease called age-related macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness, with no cure in sight. Sharing the science of how your vision works, researcher Joshua Chu-Tan offers breakthrough insights on a lesser-known protein that could change the treatment for this disease, preserving the gift of sight for longer and improving the quality of life for millions of people. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve been hearing about self-driving cars for years, but autonomous vehicle entrepreneur Aicha Evans thinks we need to dream more daringly. In this exciting talk, she introduces us to robotaxis: fully autonomous, eco-friendly shuttles that would take you from place to place and take up less space on the streets than personal cars. Learn how this new technology works -- and what a future where we hail robotaxis would look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

TED Fellow and education innovator Larry Irvin envisions a world where every child can see themselves reflected in their teachers. With his team at Brothers Empowered to Teach, Irvin is providing pathways to careers in education for Black men, who currently make up less than three percent of all teachers in the US -- offering training, personal and professional development and job placement. He shares how their holistic, people-centered approach is changing education. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if we had a map of ... everything? Jack Dangermond, a visionary behind the geographic information system (GIS) technology used to map and analyze all kinds of complex data, walks us through the interconnected technologies gathering information about every crack and corner of the Earth. Learn how this "living atlas" and "geospatial nervous system" can help us better understand our changing planet -- and let nature guide our actions towards a more sustainable future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The financial sector often talks of decarbonizing investment portfolios as a way to fight climate change. But portfolios can be “cleaned” without having any real impact on the problem, says investment expert Nili Gilbert. Bringing science to finance, she unpacks how investors can actually help decarbonize the world -- a costly endeavor, estimated at three to five trillion dollars per year between now and 2050 -- and ensure the climate transition is just, global and interconnected. “Changing the markets can be a way to change the world,” she says. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if your hour-long commute was reduced to just minutes? That's the promise of the hyperloop: a transit system designed around a pod that zooms through a vacuum-sealed space (roughly the size of a subway tunnel) at hyper-speed, powered by next-generation batteries and state-of-the-art magnetic levitation. In the visionary talk, Josh Giegel, the hyperloop's very first passenger, shares how this zipping innovation could launch us into a faster, cleaner future of transportation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What we know today about global greenhouse gas emissions is mostly self-reported by countries, and those numbers (sometimes tallied manually on paper!) are often inaccurate and prone to manipulation. If we really want to get serious about fighting climate change, we need a way to track carbon pollution in real-time and identify the worst culprits, says high-tech environmental activist Gavin McCormick. Enter Climate TRACE: a coalition of scientists, activists and tech companies using satellite imagery, big data and AI to monitor and transparently report on all of the world’s emissions as they happen -- and speed up meaningful climate action. A powerful, free, global tool to match the scale of a civilization-threatening crisis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Questionable phone calls, concerning emails, heart-rending stories from a sudden new friend in need of endless financial support: elder abuse can take many forms, says lawyer Jane Walsh. And as technology becomes more sophisticated, susceptibility to tricks and scams will increase -- no matter a person's age or intellect. Walsh spotlights the rise of this predatory crime, why it goes undetected and how you can protect your loved ones' kindness, dignity and self-respect from being manipulated. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who are you, really? Neuroscientist Anil Seth lays out his fascinating new theory of consciousness and self, centered on the notion that we “predict” the world into existence. From sleep to memory and everything in between, Seth explores the reality we experience in our brains -- versus the world as it objectively might be. (This talk and conversation, hosted by TED science curator David Biello, was part of a TED Membership event. Visit ted.com/membership to become a TED Member.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When it comes to tackling climate change, the size of a country doesn't matter -- it's their ambition that counts, says First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. In a rousing talk, she shares examples of small nations -- from Bhutan and Fiji to her own Scotland -- whose leadership and climate action are galvanizing change on the international stage. (Followed by a brief Q&A with TED's global curator Bruno Giussani about the Cambo oil field project) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all have bias -- especially the unconscious kind -- and it's preventing us from doing our best work. Gone unchecked, bias can make employees feel resentful, frustrated and silenced, and it can even lead to outright discrimination and harassment. Check out three key ways to reduce bias at work, according to Just Work cofounders Kim Scott and Trier Bryant. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.