TED: Ideas worth spreading TED Talks Daily Audio Selection

TED Talks Daily Audio Selection

Want TED Talks on the go? Every weekday, this feed brings you our latest talks in audio format. Hear thought-provoking ideas on every subject imaginable -- from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between -- given by the world's leading thinkers and doers. This collection of talks, given at TED and TEDx conferences around the globe, is also available in video format.
Daily English South Africa Education · Science
1,097 Episodes
960 – 980

How we can teach computers to make sense of our emotions | Raphael Arar

How can we make AI that people actually want to interact with? Raphael Arar suggests we start by making art. He shares interactive projects that help AI explore complex ideas like nostalgia, intuition and conversation -- all working towards the goal of making our future technology just as much human…
2 Apr 2018 10AM 11 min

Our fight for disability rights -- and why we're not done yet | Judith Heumann

Four decades ago, Judith Heumann helped to lead a groundbreaking protest called the Section 504 sit-in -- in which disabled-rights activists occupied a federal building for almost a month, demanding greater accessibility for all. In this personal, inspiring talk, Heumann tells the stories behind the protest -- and reminds us…
30 Mar 2018 9AM 18 min

Why I choose humanism over faith | Leo Igwe

As a humanist, Leo Igwe doesn't believe in divine intervention -- but he does believe in the power of human beings to alleviate suffering, cure disease, preserve the planet and turn situations of poverty into prosperity. In this bold talk, Igwe shares how humanism can free Africans from damaging superstitions…
29 Mar 2018 3PM 10 min

The role of faith and belief in modern Africa | Ndidi Nwuneli

Ndidi Nwuneli has advice for Africans who believe in God -- and Africans who don't. To the religious, she advises against using God to outsource responsibility for what happens in their lives. To the non-religious, she asks that they keep an open mind and work with faith-based organizations, especially on…
29 Mar 2018 10AM 13 min

How fungi recognize (and infect) plants | Mennat El Ghalid

Each year, the world loses enough food to feed half a billion people to fungi, the most destructive pathogens of plants. Mycologist and TED Fellow Mennat El Ghalid explains how a breakthrough in our understanding of the molecular signals fungi use to attack plants could disrupt this interaction -- and…
27 Mar 2018 3PM 5 min

How quantum physics can make encryption stronger | Vikram Sharma

As quantum computing matures, it's going to bring unimaginable increases in computational power along with it -- and the systems we use to protect our data (and our democratic processes) will become even more vulnerable. But there's still time to plan against the impending data apocalypse, says encryption expert Vikram…
27 Mar 2018 10AM 12 min

What if we paid doctors to keep people healthy? | Matthias Müllenbeck

What if we incentivized doctors to keep us healthy instead of paying them only when we're already sick? Matthias Müllenbeck explains how this radical shift from a sick care system to a true health care system could save us from unnecessary costs and risky procedures -- and keep us healthier…
26 Mar 2018 10AM 10 min

How to tame your wandering mind | Amishi Jha

Amishi Jha studies how we pay attention: the process by which our brain decides what's important out of the constant stream of information it receives. Both external distractions (like stress) and internal ones (like mind-wandering) diminish our attention's power, Jha says -- but some simple techniques can boost it. "Pay…
23 Mar 2018 11AM 19 min

How to love criticism | WorkLife with Adam Grant

What if you could tell your co-workers what you really think of them? At the world's most successful hedge fund, everyone is rated and ranked constantly -- in front of everyone. They've figured out how to embrace negative feedback, and they swear it's essential to their success. Adam Grant shows…
22 Mar 2018 4PM 35 min

The human stories behind mass incarceration | Eve Abrams

The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, says documentarian Eve Abrams, and somewhere between one and four percent of those in prison are likely innocent. That's 87,000 brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers -- predominantly African American -- unnecessarily separated from their families, their…
22 Mar 2018 3PM 14 min

Need a new idea? Start at the edge of what is known | Vittorio Loreto

"Where do great ideas come from?" Starting with this question in mind, Vittorio Loreto takes us on a journey to explore a possible mathematical scheme that explains the birth of the new. Learn more about the "adjacent possible" -- the crossroads of what's actual and what's possible -- and how…
22 Mar 2018 10AM 16 min

For survivors of Ebola, the crisis isn't over | Soka Moses

In 2014, as a newly trained physician, Soka Moses took on one of the toughest jobs in the world: treating highly contagious patients at the height of Liberia's Ebola outbreak. In this intense, emotional talk, he details what he saw on the frontlines of the crisis -- and reveals the…
21 Mar 2018 10AM 14 min

A rite of passage for late life | Bob Stein

We use rituals to mark the early stages of our lives, like birthdays and graduations -- but what about our later years? In this meditative talk about looking both backward and forward, Bob Stein proposes a new tradition of giving away your things (and sharing the stories behind them) as…
20 Mar 2018 3PM 6 min

How I use art to bridge misunderstanding | Adong Judith

Director and playwright Adong Judith creates provocative art that sparks dialogue on issues from LGBTQ rights to war crimes. In this quick but powerful talk, the TED Fellow details her work -- including the play "Silent Voices," which brought victims of the Northern Ugandan war against Joseph Kony's rebel group…
19 Mar 2018 4PM 5 min

Can I have your brain? The quest for truth on concussions and CTE | Chris Nowinski

Something strange and deadly is happening inside the brains of top athletes -- a degenerative condition, possibly linked to concussions, that causes dementia, psychosis and far-too-early death. It's called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, and it's the medical mystery that Chris Nowinski wants to solve by analyzing brains after death…
19 Mar 2018 11AM 11 min

What we can do about the culture of hate | Sally Kohn

We're all against hate, right? We agree it's a problem -- their problem, not our problem, that is. But as Sally Kohn discovered, we all hate -- some of us in subtle ways, others in obvious ones. As she confronts a hard story from her own life, she shares ideas…
16 Mar 2018 10AM 17 min

Why must artists be poor? | Hadi Eldebek

The arts bring meaning to our lives and spirit to our culture -- so why do we expect artists to struggle to make a living? Hadi Eldebek is working to create a society where artists are valued through an online platform that matches artists with grants and funding opportunities --…
15 Mar 2018 3PM 6 min
960 – 980