Ted Talks Daily

India has a historic opportunity to power its industrialization with clean energy -- and its energy choices will make or break the world's fight against climate change, says clean energy executive, physicist and author Varun Sivaram. Bringing on-the-ground experience as CTO of India's largest renewable energy company, Sivaram proposes a plan for India to achieve three herculean feats, all at the same time -- and reimagine its economy with renewable energy at its heart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Activist and author Gloria Steinem is an icon of the global feminist movement. She's spent her life defying stereotypes, breaking social barriers and fighting for equality. In conversation with TEDWomen curator Pat Mitchell, Steinem reflects on the revolutionary roots of the feminist movement, the fundamental need for intersectionality to combat prejudice, and how she overcame her fears with the support of friends. Now she urges future generations of women to advocate for each other in solidarity -- and discover the freedom found in companionship and community. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do you stand up to authoritarianism? And what does it mean to be “fearless”? In this powerful talk, housewife-turned-politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya describes her unlikely bid to defeat Belarus’s long-time autocratic leader in the nation’s 2020 presidential election. Painting a vivid picture of how small acts of defiance flourished into massive, peaceful demonstrations, she shares a beautiful meditation on the link between fearlessness and freedom, reminding us that we all have what it takes to stand up to injustice -- we just need to do it together. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Business is screwed if we don't fix climate change," says economist Rebecca Henderson. In this bold talk, she describes how unchecked capitalism destabilizes the environment and harms human health -- and makes the case for companies to step up and help fix the climate crisis they're causing. Hear what a reimagined capitalism, in which companies pay for the climate damage they cause, could look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2014, Erika Cheung made a discovery that would ultimately help bring down her employer, Theranos, as well as its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who claimed to have invented technology that would transform medicine. The decision to become a whistleblower proved a hard lesson in figuring out how to do what's right in the face of both personal and professional obstacles. With candor and humility, Cheung shares her journey of speaking truth to power -- and offers a framework to encourage others to come forward and act in the service of all. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this perspective-shifting talk, energy researcher Rose M. Mutiso makes the case for prioritizing Africa's needs with what's left of the world's carbon budget, to foster growth and equitably achieve a smaller global carbon footprint. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After losing her mother in a house fire when she was just six years old, Danielle Torley saw two paths before her: a life full of fear, or one that promised healing and recovery. In this inspiring talk, she describes how she turned her grief into beauty in a most unexpected way -- by dancing with fire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sophie Howe is the world's only future generations commissioner, a new kind of government official tasked with advocating for the interests of generations to come and holding public institutions accountable for delivering long-term change. She describes some of the people-focused policies she's helped implement in Wales, aimed at cutting carbon emissions, increasing sustainability and promoting well-being as a national goal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The universe has already written the poem you were planning on writing," says Sarah Kay, quoting her friend, poet Kaveh Akbar. Performing "A Bird Made of Birds," she shares how and where she finds poetry. (Kay is also the host of TED's podcast "Sincerely, X." Listen on the Luminary podcast app at luminary.link/ted) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Most politicians choose their words carefully, to shape the reality they hope to create. But does it work? Etymologist Mark Forsyth shares a few entertaining word-origin stories from British and American history (for instance, did you ever wonder how George Washington became "president"?) and draws a surprising conclusion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To achieve lasting change sometimes requires the hard, even radical, choice of partnering with people you'd least expect. Justice reform advocate Nisha Anand shares her story of working with her ideological opposite to make history and save lives -- and urges us all to widen our circles in order to make progress with purpose. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"The good news is it's now clearly cheaper to save the planet than to ruin it," says engineer and investor John Doerr. "The bad news is: we are fast running out of time." In this conversation with climate policy expert Hal Harvey, the two sustainability leaders discuss why humanity has to act globally, at speed and at scale, to meet the staggering challenge of decarbonizing the global economy (which has only ever increased emissions throughout history) -- and share helpful examples of promising energy solutions from around the world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rituals for the dead span much of the natural world, seen in practices from humans and elephants to bees, dolphins and beyond. With charm and playful insight, animal behaviorist Kaeli Swift delves into the life (and death) habits of crows and shares what their responses could reveal about our own relationship to mortality. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The clash of ideas is fundamental to creativity and progress, but it can also be deeply destructive and create divisions within companies, communities and families. How do you foster productive debate while protecting against harmful speech and misinformation? Constitutional lawyer Ishan Bhabha lays out structures that organizations can use to navigate ideological disagreement and responsibly bring facts and context to a larger dialogue. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"This decade is a moment of choice unlike any we have ever lived," says Christiana Figueres, the architect of the historic 2015 Paris Agreement. The daughter of Costa Rica's beloved President José Figueres Ferrer, she shares how her father's unwillingness to lose the country he loved taught her how stubborn optimism can catalyze action and change. With an unshakeable determination to fight for the generations that will come after us, Figueres describes what stubborn optimism is (and isn't) -- and urges everyone to envision and work for the future they want for humanity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes, a single decision can change the course of history. Join journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson as she tells the story of the Great Migration, the outpouring of six million African Americans from the Jim Crow South to cities in the North and West between World War I and the 1970s. This was the first time in American history that the lowest caste people signaled they had options and were willing to take them -- and the first time they had a chance to choose for themselves what they would do with their innate talents, Wilkerson explains. "These people, by their actions, were able to do what the powers that be, North and South, could not or would not do," she says. "They freed themselves." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our food systems have not been designed to adapt to major disruptions like climate change, says environmental journalist Amanda Little. In this eye-opening talk, she shows how the climate crisis could devastate our food supply -- and introduces us to the farmers, entrepreneurs and engineers who are radically rethinking what we grow and how we eat, combining traditional agriculture with state-of-the-art technology to create a robust, resilient and sustainable food future. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If the 2020 US presidential election is close, the race could drag on in the courts and halls of Congress long after ballots are cast, says lawyer and political commentator Van Jones. Explaining why the customary concession speech is one of the most important safeguards for democracy, Jones exposes shocking legal loopholes that could enable a candidate to grab power even if they lose both the popular vote and the electoral college -- and shares what ordinary citizens can do if there's no peaceful transfer of power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sexual assault is never the victim's fault, says advocate Kristin Jones. In this courageous talk, she tells her story of overcoming the shame that followed sexual abuse as a teenager -- and shares how parents can foster an open conversation about abuse to empower kids and encourage them to ask for help. (This talk contains mature content) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our descendants own the future, but the decisions and actions we make now will tremendously impact generations to come, says philosopher Roman Krznaric. From a global campaign to grant legal personhood to nature to a groundbreaking lawsuit by a coalition of young activists, Krznaric shares examples of ways we can become good ancestors -- or, as he calls them, "Time Rebels" -- and join a movement redefining lifespans, pursuing intergenerational justice and practicing deep love for the planet. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.