NPR/TED Staff

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Do We Need Humans?

About Sherry Turkle's TEDTalk

As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? Sherry Turkle looks at how devices and online personas are redefining human connection. She says we need to really ...

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Do We Need Humans?

About Andrew McAfee's TEDTalk

Robots and algorithms can now build cars, write articles, and translate texts — all work that once required a human. So what will we humans do for work? Andrew McAfee looks at ...

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Do We Need Humans?

About Abraham Verghese's TEDTalk

Modern medicine is in danger of losing a powerful, old-fashioned tool: human touch. Physician and writer Abraham Verghese describes our strange new world where patients are data points, and calls for a ...

A hacker is somebody who doesn't ask how something works – they just see what works. — Jay Silver

Science and technology now allow us to "hack" solutions to the biggest challenges of our time. But how far is too far? And what are the consequences of these ...

Part 1 of TED Radio Hour episode Peering Into Space.

Physicist Brian Greene explains how the prevailing theories about the fabric of space changed dramatically in the last century — twice. The most recent shift in thinking came about from a strange mistake, and revealed hidden truths ...

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Peering Into Space.

About Brian Greene's TED Talk

Is there more than one universe? Physicist Brian Greene shows how the unanswered questions of physics (starting with a big one: What caused the Big Bang?) have led to the theory that ...

About Jill Tarter's TED Talk

The SETI Institute's Jill Tarter wants to accelerate our search for cosmic company. Using a growing array of radio telescopes, she and her team listen for patterns that may be a sign of intelligence elsewhere in the universe.

About Jill Tarter

SETI's Jill Tarter has ...

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Peering Into Space.

About Phil Plait's TED Talk

What's six miles wide and can end civilization in an instant? An asteroid — and there are lots of them out there. With humor and great visuals, Phil Plait enthralls the TEDxBoulder ...

"Certainly to enter a world of terror, you should not be pushed by someone. You should be called. You should be curious. You should have the heart of an explorer." — Philippe Petit, high-wire artist

Some people might only dream of adventure, but for others, there's no option but ...

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

About Jon Ronson's Talk

Is there a definitive line that divides "crazy" from sane? With a hair-raising delivery, Jon Ronson, author of The Psychopath Test, illuminates the gray areas between the two. His talk includes ...

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

About Elyn Saks' TED Talk

"Is it OK if I totally trash your office?" It's a question Elyn Saks once asked her doctor, and it wasn't a joke. A legal scholar, Saks came forward in 2007 ...

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Unquiet Mind.

About Joshua Walters' TED Talk

Comedian Joshua Walters, who's bipolar, walks the line between mental illness and mental "skillness." He asks: What's the right balance between medicating craziness away, and riding the manic edge of ...

The Internet as a tool allows for really brilliant people to do things that they weren't really able to do in the past. — Jimmy Wales

"The world has over a trillion hours a year of free time to commit to shared projects," says professor Clay Shirky. But ...

Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Giving It Away.

About Mark Bezos' TEDTalk

Volunteer firefighter Mark Bezos tells a story of an act of heroism that didn't go quite as expected — but that taught him a big lesson: Don't wait to be a hero. Give ...

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Giving It Away.

About Dan Pallotta's TEDTalk

Activist and fundraiser Dan Pallotta calls out the double standard that drives our broken relationship to charities. Too many nonprofits, he says, are rewarded for how little they spend — not for what ...

"Anything can happen to you, things change, accidents happen. Something from childhood comes back to haunt you. You can be thrown off the track." — Sherwin Nuland

Our lives are often defined by turning points. They can happen gradually or in an instant. But how do we reconcile ...

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Sugata Mitra's TEDTalk

After years of offering children self-supervised access to the Web, Sugata Mitra says kids can teach themselves. Mitra continues the conversation from earlier this episode by arguing that self-organized classes are the ...

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Rita Pierson's TEDTalk

Veteran teacher Rita Pierson believes that relationships are crucial to education. She talks about how classrooms lack the kind of human connections kids need to feel inspired and to learn. Pierson gave her talk ...

Part 3 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Alison Gopnik's TEDTalk

Alison Gopnik's research explores the sophisticated intelligence-gathering and decision-making that babies are doing when they play. She offers a glimpse into the minds of babies and young children, to show ...

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Unstoppable Learning.

About Annie Murphy Paul's TED Talk

Science writer Annie Murphy Paul talks about how fetuses in the womb begin taking cues from the outside world, from the lilt of our native language to our favorite foods.