TED Talks

TED is a non-profit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out as an annual conference on Technology, Entertainment and Design, but it has since evolved into an extensive set of events and activities crafted to inspire and spread great ideas for changing the world. The annual TED conference in Long Beach, CA is the main event -- an invite-only meeting with influential and impactful speakers like Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, Sergey Brin, JJ Abrams, Bill Clinton, Tim Berners-Lee, James Cameron, Murray Gellman and Bill Gates. To spread the best ideas, TED freely distributes videos of the TED Talks (never exceeding 18 minutes).

For those who wish to sample what happens at TED, or want a road map to the many great TED Talks, I have tried to document the last four years of TED. Over the years, I've invested more detail and ratings into my reviews. By doing so, I hope to contribute to ideas worth spreading.

TED 2013

I described and rated most of the 2012 TED Talks, from best to worst. The highlights were Lawrence Lessig on US political reform, Adam Spencer on fun math facts, and several teenage inventors.

TED 2012

The highlights were attorney Bryan Stevenson on criminal injustice, Regina Dugan on defying the fear of failure at ARPA, the poet Billy Collins, Vijay Kumar's autonomous flying robots, and Sex Ed teacher Al Vernacchio on why sex is like pizza.

TED 2011

With the help of fellow TEDster Nina Khosla, I've rated every TED 2011 TED Talk here. The top rated talks were General Stanley McChrystal, Kathryn Schulz, Egyptian Googler/rabblerouser Wael Ghonim, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and fourth-grade teacher John Hunter.

TED 2010: What the World Needs Now
An overview of TED 2010. Read reviews and ratings of the TED Talks from:

Wednesday: Good Food Choices
Friday PM: Music and Comedy




An overview of TED'09 and TED University. Read detailed TED Talk reviews and ratings at:

Wednesday: Reboot
Wednesday: Reframe






An overview of TED'08 and the TED Prize. Read about the TED Talks at:

Wednesday: Literally, A Stroke of Luck

Highlights: Dr Jill Taylor-- Brain scientists decvonstructs her own stroke; Stephen Hawking
Thursday Morning: Life Origami
Highlights: Craig Venter and Paul Rothemund on developing CAD tools for synthesizing complex life forms.

Thursday Afternoon: Helpful Tips to Survive a Nuclear Explosion

Highlight: Author Dave Eggers
Friday Morning: Music, Shrooms and Crows
Highlight: Josh Klein on how smart crows really are. Definitely worth watching.
Friday Afternoon: Shining Eyes
Highlight of the Week: Ben Zander leads TED in German choral singing
Saturday: Thank You For Being Here
Highlight: Al Gore with more inconvenient slides.


My first impression of a TED conference.

Resources for those who wish to follow up on my TED University talk.