The BEST episodes of TED Talks season 2019
Every episode of TED Talks season 2019, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of TED Talks season 2019!
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 - Jochen Wegner: What happened when we paired up thousands of strangers to talk politics
Season 2019 - Episode 186 - Aired 9/3/2019
In spring 2019, more than 17,000 Europeans from 33 countries signed up to have a political argument with a complete stranger. They were part of "Europe Talks," a project that organizes one-on-one conversations between people who disagree — sort of like a Tinder for politics. Editor Jochen Wegner shares the unexpected things that happened when people met up to talk — and shows how face-to-face discussions could get a divided world to rethink itself.
#2 - Gangadhar Patil: How we're helping local reporters turn important stories into national news
Season 2019 - Episode 220 - Aired 10/8/2019
Local reporters are on the front lines of important stories, but their work often goes unnoticed by national and international news outlets. TED Fellow and journalist Gangadhar Patil is working to change that. In this quick talk, he shows how he's connecting grassroots reporters in India with major news outlets worldwide — and helping elevate and expose stories that might never get covered otherwise.
#3 - David Brooks: The lies our culture tells us about what matters -- and a better way to live
Season 2019 - Episode 132 - Aired 6/5/2019
Our society is in the midst of a social crisis, says op-ed columnist and author David Brooks: we're trapped in a valley of isolation and fragmentation. How do we find our way out? Based on his travels across the United States — and his meetings with a range of exceptional people known as "weavers" — Brooks lays out his vision for a cultural revolution that empowers us all to lead lives of greater meaning, purpose and joy.
#4 - Julius Maada Bio: A vision for the future of Sierra Leone
Season 2019 - Episode 154 - Aired 7/3/2019
When Julius Maada Bio first seized political power in Sierra Leone in 1996, he did so to improve the lives of its citizens. But he soon realized that for democracy to flourish, its foundation needs to be built on the will of the people. After arranging an election, he voluntarily gave up power and left Africa. Twenty years later, after being democratically elected president of Sierra Leone, he reflects on the slow path to democracy, the importance of education for all and his focus on helping young Sierra Leoneans thrive.
#5 - Britt Wray: How climate change affects your mental health
Season 2019 - Episode 181 - Aired 8/27/2019
"For all that's ever been said about climate change, we haven't heard nearly enough about the psychological impacts of living in a warming world," says science writer Britt Wray. In this quick talk, she explores how climate change is threatening our well-being — mental, social and spiritual — and offers a starting point for what we can do about it.
#6 - Johann Hari: This could be why you're depressed or anxious
Season 2019 - Episode 201 - Aired 9/18/2019
In a moving talk, journalist Johann Hari shares fresh insights on the causes of depression and anxiety from experts around the world — as well as some exciting emerging solutions. "If you're depressed or anxious, you're not weak and you're not crazy — you're a human being with unmet needs," Hari says.
#7 - Becca McCharen-Tran: Fashion that celebrates all body types -- boldly and unapologetically
Season 2019 - Episode 237 - Aired 10/22/2019
Fashion designers have the power to change culture -- and Becca McCharen-Tran is using her platform to expand the industry's narrow definition of beauty. Sharing highlights of her work, McCharen-Tran discusses the inspiration behind her norm-shattering designs and shows how she's celebrating beauty in all forms. "I want the consumer to know that it's not your body that needs to change -- it's the clothes," she says.
#8 - Daniel Streicker: What vaccinating vampire bats can teach us about pandemics
Season 2019 - Episode 251 - Aired 10/31/2019
Could we anticipate the next big disease outbreak, stopping a virus like Ebola before it ever strikes? In this talk about frontline scientific research, ecologist Daniel Streicker takes us to the Amazon rainforest in Peru where he tracks the movement of vampire bats in order to forecast and prevent rabies outbreaks. By studying these disease patterns, Streicker shows how we could learn to cut off the next pandemic at its source.
#9 - Mitchell Katz: What the US health care system assumes about you
Season 2019 - Episode 215 - Aired 10/2/2019
The US health care system assumes many things about patients: that they can take off from work in the middle of the day, speak English, have a working telephone and a steady supply of food. Because of that, it's failing many of those who are most in need, says Mitchell Katz, CEO of the largest public health care system in the US. In this eye-opening talk, he shares stories of the challenges low-income patients face — and how we can build a better system for all.
#10 - Andrew Forrest: A radical plan to end plastic waste
Season 2019 - Episode 221 - Aired 10/8/2019
Plastic is an incredible substance for the economy — and the worst substance possible for the environment, says entrepreneur Andrew Forrest. In a conversation meant to spark debate, Forrest and head of TED Chris Anderson discuss an ambitious plan to get the world's biggest companies to fund an environmental revolution — and transition industry towards getting all of its plastic from recycled materials, not from fossil fuels.
#11 - Sandeep Jauhar: How your emotions change the shape of your heart
Season 2019 - Episode 193 - Aired 9/10/2019
"A record of our emotional life is written on our hearts," says cardiologist and author Sandeep Jauhar. In a stunning talk, he explores the mysterious ways our emotions impact the health of our hearts — causing them to change shape in response to grief or fear, to literally break in response to emotional heartbreak — and calls for a shift in how we care for our most vital organ.
#12 - Anthony Veneziale: "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk
Season 2019 - Episode 188 - Aired 9/4/2019
In a hilarious, completely improvised talk, improv master Anthony Veneziale takes to the TED stage for a truly one-of-a-kind performance. Armed with an audience-suggested topic ("stumbling towards intimacy") and a deck of slides he's never seen before, Veneziale crafts a meditation on the intersection of love, language and ... avocados?
#13 - Asmeret Asefaw Berhe: A climate change solution that's right under our feet
Season 2019 - Episode 185 - Aired 9/3/2019
There's two times more carbon in the earth's soil than in all of its vegetation and the atmosphere — combined. Biogeochemist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe dives into the science of soil and shares how we could use its awesome carbon-trapping power to offset climate change. "[Soil] represents the difference between life and lifelessness in the earth system, and it can also help us combat climate change — if we can only stop treating it like dirt," she says.
#14 - Victor Vescovo: What's at the bottom of the ocean -- and how we're getting there
Season 2019 - Episode 175 - Aired 8/2/2019
Victor Vescovo is leading the first-ever manned expedition to the deepest point of each of the world's five oceans. In conversation with TED science curator David Biello, Vescovo discusses the technology that's powering the explorations — a titanium submersible designed to withstand extraordinary conditions — and shows footage of a never-before-seen creature taken during his journey to the bottom of the Indian Ocean.
#15 - Bjarke Ingels: Floating cities, the LEGO House and other architectural forms of the future
Season 2019 - Episode 130 - Aired 6/3/2019
Design gives form to the future, says architect Bjarke Ingels. In this worldwide tour of his team's projects, journey to a waste-to-energy power plant (that doubles as an alpine ski slope) and the LEGO Home of the Brick in Denmark — and catch a glimpse of cutting-edge flood resilience infrastructure in New York City as well as an ambitious plan to create floating, sustainable cities that are adapted to climate change.
#16 - Michael Tubbs: The political power of being a good neighbor
Season 2019 - Episode 141 - Aired 6/14/2019
Michael Tubbs is the youngest mayor in American history to represent a city with more than 100,000 people — and his policies are sparking national conversations. In this rousing talk, he shares how growing up amid poverty and violence in Stockton, California shaped his bold vision for change and his commitment to govern as a neighbor, not a politician. "When we see someone different from us, they should not reflect our fears, our anxieties, our insecurities," he says. "We should see our common humanity."
#17 - Ane Brun: "It All Starts With One" / "You Light My Fire"
Season 2019 - Episode 114 - Aired 5/28/2019
Multi-instrumentalist Ane Brun joins the Lyris Quartet to perform two haunting, mesmerizing songs: the cabaret-inspired "It All Starts With One" and folk-infused "You Light My Fire," with backing vocals from Rebecca Lichtenfeld.
#18 - David Deutsch: After billions of years of monotony, the universe is waking up
Season 2019 - Episode 229 - Aired 10/14/2019
Theoretical physicist David Deutsch delivers a mind-bending meditation on the "great monotony" -- the idea that nothing novel has appeared in the universe for billions of years -- and shows how humanity's capacity to create explanatory knowledge could be the thing that bucks this trend. "Humans are not playthings of cosmic forces," he says. "We are users of cosmic forces."
#19 - Kate E. Brandt: A world without waste
Season 2019 - Episode 113 - Aired 5/24/2019
Every Google search or YouTube upload costs the global network both energy and resources. As Google's head of sustainability, it's Kate E. Brandt's job to strategize solutions that cut the cost on our environment and our economy. In an innovative talk, she dives into her plan to green up Google by creating a circular economy which reuses, recycles and eliminates waste altogether.
#20 - Dropbox: How one team turned a sprint project into a marathon success
Season 2019 - Episode 51 - Aired 2/12/2019
TED Resident Keith Kirkland and his team at WearWorks use haptic technology to develop products and experiences that communicate information through touch. In 2017, they were faced with a seemingly impossible challenge: quickly develop a device for a blind ultra-marathon runner to compete -- unaided and unassisted -- in the New York City Marathon. Jennifer Brook, a design researcher at Dropbox, explains how the team at WearWorks navigated the challenges and tensions of designing this groundbreaking new technology.
#21 - Dan Clay: Why you should bring your whole self to work
Season 2019 - Episode 38 - Aired 2/5/2019
Dan Clay was worried about being dismissed as "too gay" at work, so he dialed down his personality. But then his alter ego, Carrie Dragshaw, went viral online. Here's what happened next.
#22 - Scott Williams: The impact of a TED Talk -- one year later
Season 2019 - Episode 20 - Aired 1/14/2019
In 2017, Scott Williams highlighted the invaluable role of informal caregivers within society on the TED@Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany stage. Since then, over a million have seen his talk. Williams joins curator Bruno Giussani to discuss the influence of his talk both within Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and on the general public.
#23 - Renzo Vitale: "Drottning Kristina"
Season 2019 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/14/2019
Composer and pianist Renzo Vitale performs his piece "Drottning Kristina," bringing the audience along on a warm, meditative yet energetic instrumental journey that closely reflects the tempos of life.
#24 - Kathy Vinokurov: Challenging the perception of belonging
Season 2019 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/14/2019
What happens when you're Russian, grow up in Israel and work for an international pharmaceutical company in Germany? You end up with a multinational background that may be difficult for your peers to understand or relate to on a personal level. Materials scientist Kathy Vinokurov believes that we can break down these cultural barriers — using something as simple as a homemade cake.
#25 - Daniel Sherling: How we use a shipping container to spark scientific curiosity
Season 2019 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/14/2019
"How can students get excited about science if they don't have access to the resources?" asks science education promoter Daniel Sherling. Answer? Bring the fun science to schools — with a mobile science lab meant to encourage engaged, dynamic learning! Sherling explains how he, his team and a bright yellow shipping container tour North America with a single goal: to spark curiosity in the next generation of scientists.