Francis Fukuyama is a political scientist, a public intellectual, and progenitor of the famed "End of History" thesis. But his recent work is his most important yet.

Randy Pausch Lecture From 2007: Time Management

Alain de Botton is a philosopher who likes the best of religion, but doesn’t believe in God. He says that the most boring question you can ask of any religion is whether it is true.

Some scientists say we're in a new geological age where humans are having an unprecedented impact on Earth. This hour, TED speakers ask what this means for the future of our planet, and our species.

How (and Why) SpaceX Will Colonize Mars

Hugh Mackay has been examining how we live for six decades. So he's got some pretty great insights into what makes a good life. We loved our chat with him!

A story about someone who's desperately trying – against long odds – to make it to the United States and become an American. Abdi is a Somali refugee living in Kenya and gets the luckiest break of his life: he wins a lottery that puts him on a short list for a U.S. visa. This is his ticket out. But before he can cash in his golden ticket, the police start raiding his neighborhood, targeting refugees.

This is a special episode because it doesn't focus on the lessons of one particular person. Instead, I explore the tips, tricks, and framework I've used to learn just about any skill.

Pete Adeney, more commonly known as Mr. Money Mustache, retired at 30 after working as a software engineer for about ten years. He blogs at MrMoneyMustache.com about how he saved money, where he invested it, and how he achieved "financial freedom through badassity".

Technology companies have become a powerful way to build the future. Our goal with this series is to share advice about how you can do it, too.