What happens when your dog uses the internet | Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas
3 July 2025 - 15 minsImagine this: you walk into a room, and your dog is on a video call with their fellow canine friends. Computer scientist Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas thinks the notion of a social internet for animals is not far off. She explores what happens when animals control their own technology — from parrots making friends online to monkeys choosing their favorite audio tracks — and shows how this technology transforms our understanding of animal consciousness.
For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.
Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:
TEDNext: ted.com/futureyou
TEDSports: ted.com/sports
TEDAI Vienna: ted.c...
Why do you love your favorite songs? | Scarlet Keys (re-release)
Songs are the soundtrack of our lives. But why exactly do they make us feel the way they do? Songwriter Scarlet Keys sits down at a piano to deconstruct the tools musicians use to make a melody unforgettable — from tone and repetition to lyrics and chords — and sheds light on music's ability to transform moments into memories. This talk originally aired in 2024. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
21 mins
15 April Finished
What I got wrong about changing the world | Malala Yousafzai
Malala Yousafzai has spent her life advocating for girls' education — surviving an assassination attempt at 15, meeting with world leaders and then watching hard-won progress collapse when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in 2021. That moment of despair forced her to completely rethink what it means to create change, and what she discovered replaced her shattered optimism with something more powerful and more honest. Hear how to keep fighting for the future you want, even when hope feels lost. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
13 mins
14 April Finished
The accidental brilliance of makeshift signs | Kate Canales
What happens when the design of everyday things misses the mark? People fill in the blanks. Designer Kate Canales has spent more than 20 years photographing the handmade, improvised signs that appear when the original falls short. From perplexing bathroom directions to our struggles with doors and point-of-sale machines, her photos capture something technology can't replace: our instinct to look out for each other and leave a few instructions behind. If you've got a photo you've taken of a makeshift sign like the ones Kate discusses in her talk, she'd would love to see it! Please visit www.thereifixedit.design to learn more. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
15 mins
13 April Finished
Sunday Pick: Sci-fi writer Andy Weir doesn't love writing | from ReThinking with Adam Grant
Andy Weir is the bestselling author of The Martian and Project Hail Mary. He’s known for weaving deep, carefully researched science into his novels, building intricate sci-fi worlds that have captivated millions of readers. But here’s a plot twist: Andy doesn’t actually love the act of writing itself – so how does he motivate himself to do it anyway? Adam talks with Andy about the creative process, the skills involved in discarding bad ideas, finding joy in worldbuilding and research, and why you should never be writing with a sequel in mind. This episode originally aired on ReThinking in 2023. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
42 mins
12 April Finished
A whale’s-eye-view of the ocean | Eric Stackpole
A hand-built camera with suction cups captured something no one had ever seen: two sperm whales communicating and swimming together in the deep ocean. Engineer Eric Stackpole shares the story of how a scrappy, DIY tool revealed this intimate glimpse into the lives of these giants — and makes the case that the only limit to what we can discover is what we're curious enough to explore. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
26 mins
11 April Finished
Talks to Motivate You Playlist (1/10): My year of saying yes to everything | Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Rhimes, the titan behind Grey's Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, is responsible for some 70 hours of television per season, and she loves to work. "When I am hard at work, when I am deep in it, there is no other feeling," she says. She has a name for this feeling: The hum. The hum is a drug, the hum is music, the hum is God's whisper in her ear. But what happens when it stops? Is she anything besides the hum? In this moving talk, join Rhimes on a journey through her "year of yes" and find out how she got her hum back. Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
21 mins
10 April Finished