The BEST episodes of TED Talks season 2018
Every episode of TED Talks season 2018, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of TED Talks season 2018!
TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. TEDTalks began as a simple attempt to share what happens at TED with the world. Under the moniker "ideas worth spreading," talks were released online. They rapidly attracted a global audience in the millions. Indeed, the reaction was so enthusiastic that the entire TED website has been reengineered around TEDTalks, with the goal of giving everyone on-demand access to the world's most inspiring voices. [TED-Ed and TEDx are separate TVDB series and should NOT be listed here. Episode ordering and dates are sourced from YouTube.]
#1 - Cleo Wade: Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care
Season 2018 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/19/2018
Artist and poet Cleo Wade recites a moving poem about being an advocate for love and acceptance in a time when both seem in short supply. Woven between stories of people at the beginning and end of their lives, she shares some truths about growing up (and speaking up) and reflects on the wisdom of a life well-lived, leaving us with a simple yet enduring takeaway: be good to yourself, be good to others, be good to the earth. "The world will say to you, 'Be a better person,'" Wade says. "Do not be afraid to say, 'Yes.'"
Watch Now:Amazon
#2 - George Steinmetz: Photos of Africa, taken from a flying lawn chair
Season 2018 - Episode 25 - Aired 1/24/2018
George Steinmetz's spectacular photos show Africa from the air, taken from the world's slowest, lightest aircraft. Join Steinmetz to discover the surprising historical, ecological and sociopolitical patterns that emerge when you go low and slow in a flying lawn chair.
Watch Now:Amazon
#3 - Fredros Okumu: Why I study the most dangerous animal on earth -- mosquitoes
Season 2018 - Episode 29 - Aired 1/29/2018
What do we really know about mosquitoes? Fredros Okumu catches and studies these disease-carrying insects for a living -- with the hope of crashing their populations. Join Okumu for a tour of the frontlines of mosquito research, as he details some of the unconventional methods his team at the Ifakara Health Institute in Tanzania have developed to target what has been described as the most dangerous animal on earth.
Watch Now:Amazon
#4 - Anna Rosling Rönnlund: See how the rest of the world lives, organized by income
Season 2018 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/18/2018
What does it look like when someone in Sweden brushes their teeth or when someone in Rwanda makes their bed? Anna Rosling Rönnlund wants all of us to find out, so she sent photographers to 264 homes in 50 countries (and counting!) to document the stoves, bed, toilets, toys and more in households from every income bracket around the world. See how families live in Latvia or Burkina Faso or Peru as Rosling Rönnlund explains the power of data visualization to help us better understand the world.
Watch Now:Amazon
#5 - Naoko Ishii: An economic case for protecting the planet
Season 2018 - Episode 22 - Aired 1/22/2018
We all share one planet -- we breathe the same air, drink the same water and depend on the same oceans, forests and biodiversity. Economist Naoko Ishii is on a mission to protect these shared resources, known as the global commons, that are vital for our survival. In an eye-opening talk about the wellness of the planet, Ishii outlines four economic systems we need to change to safeguard the global commons, making the case for a new kind of social contract with the earth.
Watch Now:Amazon
#6 - Gene Luen Yang: Comics belong in the classroom
Season 2018 - Episode 161 - Aired 5/25/2018
Comic books and graphic novels belong in every teacher's toolkit, says cartoonist and educator Gene Luen Yang. Set against the backdrop of his own witty, colorful drawings, Yang explores the history of comics in American education — and reveals some unexpected insights about their potential for helping kids learn.
Watch Now:Amazon
#7 - Prosanta Chakrabarty: Four billion years of evolution in six minutes
Season 2018 - Episode 186 - Aired 6/15/2018
Did humans evolve from monkeys or from fish? In this enlightening talk, ichthyologist and TED Fellow Prosanta Chakrabarty dispels some hardwired myths about evolution, encouraging us to remember that we're a small part of a complex, four-billion-year process — and not the end of the line. "We're not the goal of evolution," Chakrabarty says. "Think of us all as young leaves on this ancient and gigantic tree of life — connected by invisible branches not just to each other, but to our extinct relatives and our evolutionary ancestors."
Watch Now:Amazon
#8 - Vishaan Chakrabarti: How we can design timeless cities for our collective future
Season 2018 - Episode 194 - Aired 6/25/2018
There's a creeping sameness in many of our newest urban buildings and streetscapes, says architect Vishaan Chakrabarti. And this physical homogeneity — the result of regulations, mass production, safety issues and cost considerations, among other factors — has blanketed our planet in a social and psychological homogeneity, too. In this visionary talk, Chakrabarti calls for a return to designing magnetic, lyrical cities that embody their local cultures and adapt to the needs of our changing world and climate.
Watch Now:Amazon
#9 - Aparna Mehta: Where do your online returns go?
Season 2018 - Episode 333 - Aired 11/21/2018
Do you ever order clothes online in different sizes and colors, just to try them on and then send back what doesn't work? Aparna Mehta used to do this all time, until she one day asked herself: Where do all these returned clothes go? In an eye-opening talk, she reveals the unseen world of "free" online returns — which, instead of ending up back on the shelf, are sent to landfills by the billions of pounds each year — and shares a plan to help put an end to this growing environmental catastrophe.
#10 - Jennifer Wilcox: A new way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere
Season 2018 - Episode 205 - Aired 7/5/2018
Our planet has a carbon problem — if we don't start removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we'll grow hotter, faster. Chemical engineer Jennifer Wilcox previews some amazing technology to scrub carbon from the air, using chemical reactions that capture and reuse CO2 in much the same way trees do ... but at a vast scale. This detailed talk reviews both the promise and the pitfalls.
#11 - Poppy Crum: Technology that knows what you're feeling
Season 2018 - Episode 189 - Aired 6/19/2018
What happens when technology knows more about us than we do? Poppy Crum studies how we express emotions — and she suggests the end of the poker face is near, as new tech makes it easy to see the signals that give away how we're feeling. In a talk and demo, she shows how "empathetic technology" can read physical signals like body temperature and the chemical composition of our breath to inform on our emotional state. For better or for worse. "If we recognize the power of becoming technological empaths, we get this opportunity where technology can help us bridge the emotional and cognitive divide," Crum says.
#12 - Mike Gil: Could fish social networks help us save coral reefs?
Season 2018 - Episode 31 - Aired 1/30/2018
Mike Gil spies on fish: using novel multi-camera systems and computer vision technology, the TED Fellow and his colleagues explore how coral reef fish behave, socialize and affect their ecosystems. Learn more about how fish of different species communicate via social networks -- and what disrupting these networks might mean to the delicate ecology of reefs, which help feed millions of us and support the global economy.
#13 - Amar Inamdar: The thrilling potential for off-grid solar energy
Season 2018 - Episode 28 - Aired 1/26/2018
There's an energy revolution happening in villages and towns across Africa -- off-grid solar energy is becoming a viable alternative to traditional electricity systems. In a bold talk about a true leapfrog moment, Amar Inamdar introduces us to proud owners of off-grid solar kits -- and explains how this technology has the opportunity to meet two extraordinary goals: energy access for all and a low-carbon future. "Every household a proud producer as well as consumer of energy," Inamdar says. "That's the democracy of energy." (Followed by a brief Q&A with TED Curator Chris Anderson)
#14 - Alexis Charpentier: How record collectors find lost music and preserve our cultural heritage
Season 2018 - Episode 11 - Aired 1/11/2018
For generations, record collectors have played a vital role in the preservation of musical and cultural heritage by "digging" for obscure music created by overlooked artists. Alexis Charpentier shares his love of records -- and stories of how collectors have given forgotten music a second chance at being heard. Learn more about the culture of record digging (and, maybe, pick up a new hobby) with this fun, refreshing talk.
#15 - Lana Mazahreh: 3 thoughtful ways to conserve water
Season 2018 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/3/2018
According to the UN, nearly one in three people worldwide live in a country facing a water crisis, and less than five percent of the world lives in a country that has more water today than it did 20 years ago. Lana Mazahreh grew up in Jordan, a state that has experienced absolute water scarcity since 1973, where she learned how to conserve water as soon as she was old enough to learn how to write her name. In this practical talk, she shares three lessons from water-poor countries on how to save water and address what's fast becoming a global crisis.
#16 - Jacob Collier: A one-man musical phenomenon
Season 2018 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/12/2018
Jacob Collier is a one-man band and force of nature. In a dynamic, colorful performance, he recreates the magical room at his home in London where he produces music, performing three songs in which he sings every part and plays every instrument -- accompanied by kaleidoscopic visuals that take cues from the music and grow in real time.
#17 - Sunni Patterson: "Wild Women"
Season 2018 - Episode 247 - Aired 8/31/2018
With lightning on her tongue, Sunni Patterson performs her powerful poem, "Wild Women," accompanied by the entrancing moves of dancer Chanice Holmes.
#18 - Supasorn Suwajanakorn: Fake videos of real people -- and how to spot them
Season 2018 - Episode 227 - Aired 7/25/2018
Do you think you're good at spotting fake videos, where famous people say things they've never said in real life? See how they're made in this astonishing talk and tech demo. Computer scientist Supasorn Suwajanakorn shows how, as a grad student, he used AI and 3D modeling to create photorealistic fake videos of people synced to audio. Learn more about both the ethical implications and the creative possibilities of this tech — and the steps being taken to fight against its misuse.
#19 - Alexandra Sacks: A new way to think about the transition to motherhood
Season 2018 - Episode 246 - Aired 8/30/2018
When a baby is born, so is a mother — but the natural (and sometimes unsteady) process of transition to motherhood is often silenced by shame or misdiagnosed as postpartum depression. In this quick, informative talk, reproductive psychiatrist Alexandra Sacks breaks down the emotional tug-of-war of becoming a new mother — and shares a term that could help describe it: matrescence.
#20 - Angel Hsu: How China is (and isn't) fighting pollution and climate change
Season 2018 - Episode 245 - Aired 8/29/2018
China is the world's biggest polluter — and now one of its largest producers of clean energy. Which way will China go in the future, and how will it affect the global environment? Data scientist Angel Hsu describes how the most populous country on earth is creating a future based on alternative energy — and facing up to the environmental catastrophe it created as it rapidly industrialized.
#21 - Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil: A rare galaxy that's challenging our understanding of the universe
Season 2018 - Episode 244 - Aired 8/28/2018
What's it like to discover a galaxy — and have it named after you? Astrophysicist and TED Fellow Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil lets us know in this quick talk about her team's surprising discovery of a mysterious new galaxy type.
#22 - Nora Atkinson: Why art thrives at Burning Man
Season 2018 - Episode 243 - Aired 8/28/2018
Craft curator Nora Atkinson takes us on a trip to Nevada's Black Rock Desert to see the beautifully designed and participatory art of Burning Man, revealing how she discovered there what's often missing from museums: curiosity and engagement. "What is art for in our contemporary world if not this?" she asks.
#23 - Dread Scott: How art can shape America's conversation about freedom
Season 2018 - Episode 242 - Aired 8/27/2018
In this quick talk, visual artist Dread Scott tells the story of one of his most transgressive art installations, which drew national attention for its controversial use of the American flag and led to a landmark First Amendment case in the US Supreme Court.
#24 - Mary Lou Jepsen: How we can use light to see deep inside our bodies and brains
Season 2018 - Episode 241 - Aired 8/24/2018
In a series of mind-bending demos, inventor Mary Lou Jepsen shows how we can use red light to see and potentially stimulate what's inside our bodies and brains. Taking us to the edge of optical physics, Jepsen unveils new technologies that utilize light and sound to track tumors, measure neural activity and could possibly replace the MRI machine with a cheaper, more efficient and wearable system.
#25 - Leticia Gasca: Don't fail fast -- fail mindfully
Season 2018 - Episode 240 - Aired 8/23/2018
We celebrate bold entrepreneurs whose ingenuity led them to success, but what happens to those who fail? Far too often, they bury their stories out of shame or humiliation — and miss out on a valuable opportunity for growth, says author and entrepreneur Leticia Gasca. In this thoughtful talk, Gasca calls for business owners to open up about their failures and makes the case for replacing the idea of "failing fast" with a new mantra: fail mindfully.