TED Talks News and Politics

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News & Politics

What's TED Talks News and Politics about?

Seeing the world beyond news headlines: politicians, journalists and researchers share their insights onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also download these and many other videos free on TED.com, with an interactive English transcript and subtitles in up to 80 languages. TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading.

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What it was like to grow up...

07.31.2019

China's one-child policy ended in 2015, but we're just beginning to understand what it was like to live under the program, says TED Fellow and documentary filmmaker Nanfu Wang. With footage from her film "One Child Nation," she shares untold ...

TED Talks News and Politics episodes:

07.31.2019 What it was like to grow up under China's one-child policy \| Nanfu Wang China's one-child policy ended in 2015, but we're just beginning to understand what it was like to live under the program, says TED Fellow and documentary filmmaker Nanfu Wang. With footage from her film "One Child Nation," she shares untold ...
07.30.2019 How policewomen make communities safer \| Ivonne Roman Less than 13 percent of police officers in the United States are women -- despite their proven effectiveness in diffusing violent situations and reducing the use of force. Drawing on more than two decades of experience as a police officer ...
07.29.2019 Why governments should prioritize well-being \| Nicola Sturgeon In 2018, Scotland, Iceland and New Zealand established the network of Wellbeing Economy Governments to challenge the acceptance of GDP as the ultimate measure of a country's success. In this visionary talk, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon explains the ...
07.26.2019 The new political story that could change everything \| George Monbiot To get out of the mess we're in, we need a new story that explains the present and guides the future, says author George Monbiot. Drawing on findings from psychology, neuroscience and evolutionary biology, he offers a new vision for ...
07.16.2019 The fundamental right to seek asylum \| Melanie Nezer Refugee and immigrants rights attorney Melanie Nezer shares an urgently needed historical perspective on the crisis at the southern US border, showing how citizens can hold their governments accountable for protecting the vulnerable. "A country shows strength through compassion and ...
07.03.2019 A vision for the future of Sierra Leone \| Julius Maada Bio 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 ...
06.14.2019 The political power of being a good neighbor \| Michael Tubbs 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 ...
05.29.2019 How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time \| Baratunde Thurston Baratunde Thurston explores the phenomenon of white Americans calling the police on black Americans who have committed the crimes of ... eating, walking or generally "living while black." In this profound, thought-provoking and often hilarious talk, he reveals the power ...
05.24.2019 What prosecutors and incarcerated people can learn from each other \| Jarrell Daniels A few weeks before his release from prison, Jarrell Daniels took a class where incarcerated men learned alongside prosecutors. By simply sitting together and talking, they uncovered surprising truths about the criminal justice system and ideas for how real change ...
05.07.2019 How to revive your belief in democracy \| Eric Liu Civic evangelist Eric Liu shares a powerful way to rekindle the spirit of citizenship and the belief that democracy still works. Join him for a trip to "Civic Saturday" and learn more about how making civic engagement a weekly habit ...
05.01.2019 Why we ignore obvious problems -- and how to act on them \| Michele Wucker Why do we often neglect big problems, like the financial crisis and climate change, until it's too late? Policy strategist Michele Wucker urges us to replace the myth of the "black swan" -- that rare, unforeseeable, unavoidable catastrophe -- with ...
04.16.2019 Facebook's role in Brexit -- and the threat to democracy \| Carole Cadwalladr In an unmissable talk, journalist Carole Cadwalladr digs into one of the most perplexing events in recent times: the UK's super-close 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Tracking the result to a barrage of misleading Facebook ads targeted at ...
04.04.2019 What refugees need to start new lives \| Muhammed Idris Every minute, 20 people are newly displaced by climate change, economic crisis and political instability, according to the UNHCR. How can we help them overcome the barriers to starting new lives? TED Resident Muhammed Idris is leading a team of ...
03.05.2019 A bold idea to replace politicians \| César Hidalgo César Hidalgo has a radical suggestion for fixing our broken political system: automate it! In this provocative talk, he outlines a bold idea to bypass politicians by empowering citizens to create personalized AI representatives that participate directly in democratic decisions. ...
03.04.2019 How I'm making bricks out of ashes and rubble in Gaza \| Majd Mashharawi Majd Mashharawi was walking through her war-torn neighborhood in Gaza when an idea flashed in her mind: What if she could take the rubble and transform it into building materials? See how she designed a brick made out of ashes ...
02.28.2019 Is your country at risk of becoming a dictatorship? Here's how to know \| Farida Nabourema Farida Nabourema has dedicated her life to fighting the military regime in Togo, Africa's oldest autocracy. She's learned two truths along the way: no country is destined to be oppressed -- and no country is immune to dictatorship. But how ...
02.26.2019 A juror's reflections on the death penalty \| Lindy Lou Isonhood Lindy Lou Isonhood grew up in a town where the death penalty was a fact of life, part of the unspoken culture. But after she served as a juror in a capital murder trial -- and voted "yes" to sentencing ...
02.25.2019 An architect's subversive reimagining of the US-Mexico border wall \| Ronald Rael What is a border? It's a line on a map, a place where cultures mix and merge in beautiful, sometimes violent and occasionally ridiculous ways. And a border wall? An overly simplistic response to that complexity, says architect Ronald Rael. ...
02.11.2019 How women in Pakistan are creating political change \| Shad Begum Activist Shad Begum has spent her life empowering women to live up to their full potential. In a personal talk, she shares her determined struggle to improve the lives of women in her deeply religious and conservative community in northwest ...
02.01.2019 How we can start to heal the pain of racial division \| Ruby Sales "Where does it hurt?" It's a question that activist and educator Ruby Sales has traveled the US asking, looking deeply at the country's legacy of racism and searching for sources of healing. In this moving talk, she shares what she's ...
01.23.2019 What's needed to bring the US voting system into the 21st century \| Tiana Epps-Johnson The American election system is complicated, to say the least -- but voting is one of the most tangible ways that each of us can shape our communities. How can we make the system more modern, inclusive and secure? Civic ...
01.18.2019 The political progress women have made -- and what's next \| Cecile Richards Women have made enormous progress over the last century -- challenging the status quo, busting old taboos and changing business from the inside out. But when it comes to political representation, there's still a long way to go, says activist ...
12.04.2018 3 questions to ask yourself about everything you do \| Stacey Abrams How you respond after setbacks is what defines your character. Stacey Abrams was the first black woman in the history of the United States to be nominated by a major party for governor -- she lost that hotly contested race, ...
11.14.2018 Is civility a sham? \| Teresa Bejan What exactly is civility, and what does it require? In a talk packed with historical insights, political theorist Teresa Bejan explains how civility has been used as both the foundation of tolerant societies and as a way for political partisans ...
11.12.2018 What to trust in a "post-truth" world \| Alex Edmans Only if you are truly open to the possibility of being wrong can you ever learn, says researcher Alex Edmans. In an insightful talk, he explores how confirmation bias -- the tendency to only accept information that supports your personal ...
11.08.2018 The global goals we've made progress on -- and the ones we haven't \| Michael Green "We are living in a world that is tantalizingly close to ensuring that no one need die of hunger or malaria or diarrhea," says economist Michael Green. To help spur progress, back in 2015 the United Nations drew up a ...
10.30.2018 Is war between China and the US inevitable? \| Graham Allison Taking lessons from a historical pattern called "Thucydides's Trap," political scientist Graham Allison shows why a rising China and a dominant United States could be headed towards a violent collision no one wants -- and how we can summon the ...
10.12.2018 How whistle-blowers shape history \| Kelly Richmond Pope Fraud researcher and documentary filmmaker Kelly Richmond Pope shares lessons from some of the most high-profile whistle-blowers of the past, explaining how they've shared information that has shaped society -- and why they need our trust and protection.
09.25.2018 How police and the public can create safer neighborhoods together \| Tracie Keesee We all want to be safe, and our safety is intertwined, says Tracie Keesee, cofounder of the Center for Policing Equity. Sharing lessons she's learned from 25 years as a police officer, Keesee reflects on the public safety challenges faced ...
09.11.2018 Did the global response to 9/11 make us safer? \| Benedetta Berti If we want sustainable, long-term security to be the norm in the world, it's time to radically rethink how we can achieve it, says TED Fellow and conflict researcher Benedetta Berti. In an eye-opening talk, Berti explains how building a ...
07.18.2018 What the Russian Revolution would have looked like on social media \| Mikhail Zygar History is written by the victors, as the saying goes -- but what would it look like if it was written by everyone? Journalist and TED Fellow Mikhail Zygar is on a mission to show us with Project1917, a "social ...
07.03.2018 Why teens confess to crimes they didn't commit \| Lindsay Malloy Why do juveniles falsely confess to crimes? What makes them more vulnerable than adults to this shocking, counterintuitive phenomenon? Through the lens of Brendan Dassey's interrogation and confession (as featured in Netflix's "Making a Murderer" documentary), developmental psychology professor and ...
06.05.2018 What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people? \| Brett Hennig If you think democracy is broken, here's an idea: let's replace politicians with randomly selected people. Author and activist Brett Hennig presents a compelling case for sortition democracy, or random selection of government officials -- a system with roots in ...
05.22.2018 What it's like to be the child of immigrants \| Michael Rain Michael Rain is on a mission to tell the stories of first-generation immigrants, who have strong ties both to the countries they grew up in and their countries of origin. In a personal talk, he breaks down the mischaracterizations and ...
05.08.2018 How Baltimore called a ceasefire \| Erricka Bridgeford In one day, in one city, in one neighborhood -- what if everyone put their guns down? Erricka Bridgeford is a peacemaker who wants to stop the murders and violence in her hometown of Baltimore. So she helped organize the ...
05.02.2018 It's time for the law to protect victims of gender violence \| Laura L. Dunn To make accountability the norm after gender violence in the United States, we need to change tactics, says victims' rights attorney and TED Fellow Laura L. Dunn. Instead of going institution by institution, fighting for reform, we need to go ...
04.30.2018 Is the world getting better or worse? A look at the numbers \| Steven Pinker Was 2017 really the "worst year ever," as some would have us believe? In his analysis of recent data on homicide, war, poverty, pollution and more, psychologist Steven Pinker finds that we're doing better now in every one of them ...
04.25.2018 A woman's fury holds lifetimes of wisdom \| Tracee Ellis Ross The global collection of women's experiences can no longer be ignored, says actress and activist Tracee Ellis Ross. In a candid, fearless talk, she delivers invitations to a better future to both men and women.
04.24.2018 War and what comes after \| Clemantine Wamariya Clemantine Wamariya was six years old when the Rwandan Civil War forced her and her sister to flee their home in Kigali, leaving their parents and everything they knew behind. In this deeply personal talk, she tells the story of ...
04.20.2018 A Parkland teacher's homework for us all \| Diane Wolk-Rogers Diane Wolk-Rogers teaches history at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, site of a horrific school shooting on Valentine's Day 2018. How can we end this senseless violence? In a stirring talk, Wolk-Rogers offers three ways Americans can ...
04.16.2018 What's missing in the global debate over refugees \| Yasin Kakande In the ongoing debate over refugees, we hear from everyone -- from politicians who pledge border controls to citizens who fear they'll lose their jobs -- everyone, that is, except migrants themselves. Why are they coming? Journalist and TED Fellow ...
04.13.2018 What if we ended the injustice of bail? \| Robin Steinberg On any given night, more than 450,000 people in the United States are locked up in jail simply because they don't have enough money to pay bail. The sums in question are often around $500: easy for some to pay, ...
04.01.2018 My descent into America's neo-Nazi movement -- and how I got out \| Christian Picciolini At 14, Christian Picciolini went from naïve teenager to white supremacist -- and soon, the leader of the first neo-Nazi skinhead gang in the United States. How was he radicalized, and how did he ultimately get out of the movement? ...
03.22.2018 The human stories behind mass incarceration \| Eve Abrams The United States locks up more people than any other country in the world, says documentarian Eve Abrams, and somewhere between one and four percent of those in prison are likely innocent. That's 87,000 brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers -- ...
03.07.2018 How shocking events can spark positive change \| Naomi Klein Things are pretty shocking out there right now -- record-breaking storms, deadly terror attacks, thousands of migrants disappearing beneath the waves and openly supremacist movements rising. Are we responding with the urgency that these overlapping crises demand from us? Journalist ...
02.24.2018 How to resolve racially stressful situations \| Howard C. Stevenson If we hope to heal the racial tensions that threaten to tear the fabric of society apart, we're going to need the skills to openly express ourselves in racially stressful situations. Through racial literacy -- the ability to read, recast ...
02.22.2018 Refugees want empowerment, not handouts \| Robert Hakiza The prevailing image of where refugees live is of temporary camps in isolated areas -- but in reality, nearly 60 percent of them worldwide end up in urban areas. TED Fellow Robert Hakiza takes us inside the lives of urban ...
02.12.2018 Capitalism isn't an ideology -- it's an operating system \| Bhu Srinivasan Bhu Srinivasan researches the intersection of capitalism and technological progress. Instead of thinking about capitalism as a firm, unchanging ideology, he suggests that we should think of it as an operating system -- one that needs upgrades to keep up ...
02.09.2018 3 lessons of revolutionary love in a time of rage \| Valarie Kaur What's the antidote to rising nationalism, polarization and hate? In this inspiring, poetic talk, Valarie Kaur asks us to reclaim love as a revolutionary act. As she journeys from the birthing room to tragic sites of bloodshed, Kaur shows us ...
02.08.2018 How protest is redefining democracy around the world \| Zachariah Mampilly The democratic process is messy, complicated and often inefficient -- but across Africa, activists are redefining democracy by putting protest at its center. In an illuminating talk, political scientist Zachariah Mampilly gives us a primer on the current wave of ...

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