The Best TED Talks

We've built a legal system that distrusts eyewitness memory — backed by cautionary science and high-profile exonerations. John Wixted, a leading psychology researcher, challenges this conventional…

Relationships were never meant to be efficient, says sextech expert Bryony Cole, and yet AI companions are increasingly designed to be exactly that. As intimate relationships between humans and AI become more common, Cole challenges us to think more deliberately about how we shape our connections to machines — and with each other. (This conversation, hosted by TED's Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)

Why do we celebrate appearance over ability in sports? Performance scientist Dominique Condo explores why so many elite female athletes — women with Olympic medals, world records and championship…

Where's the best free comedy show in town? Tom Sullam, cofounder of the annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, shares hilarious animal photos that dissolve the distance between humans and nature.…

What if the key to saving nature isn't just about science or policy, but love? Love for the land, for the people who depend on it, for the world we leave behind. Artist Elsaphan Njora has journeyed across Kenya witnessing ecosystems vanish, from Indigenous forests to sacred lakes. But he's also seen communities breathing life back into rivers, forests and coasts in creative, unexpected ways — showing that conservation can flourish alongside livelihoods, and that even the most threatened landscapes can be reborn.

Most of us blame our phones as the reason we can’t get anything done. But the real culprit often isn’t those shiny devices, which means we can stay focused simply by switching our perspective…

A handful of people working at a handful of tech companies steer the thoughts of billions of people every day, says design thinker Tristan Harris. From Facebook notifications to Snapstreaks to YouTube…

If you want to become a team leader or manager, you’ll have to demonstrate that you can lead without having an official role to point to. Here’s how you do that, from organizational psycholog…

«Too many people try to shift blame and make excuses, but great leaders take ownership of problems and work to find lessons and solutions.»

It’s all about developing what journalist Catherine Price calls a “fun mindset.” Here, she shares four ways that you can create — or appreciate — moments of fun in you…

«You never feel judged by them. • They make everyone feel included. • They’re considerate of others’ feelings. • They get excited with you.»

Many of us try to get a head start on our weekends by working less on Friday, if not earlier. But here’s how to get more from them and make the rest of your week — and life — easi…

«weekends by Friday afternoon if not earlier. However, if you’re going to work on Fridays, there’s no reaso»

For most of us, a major cause of overwhelm at work is the small stuff, or what authors Rob Cross PhD and Karen Dillon call “microstresses.” Good news: Your relationships can actually he…

«microstresses” — those countless small moments that occur in every workday and drain you of time, energy and enthusiasm»

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we're not as rational as we think when we make decisions.

We all know that when we make decisions in groups, they don't always go right -- and sometimes they go very wrong. How can groups make good decisions? With his colleague Dan Ariely, neuroscientist…

What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken.

Dan Gilbert, author of "Stumbling on Happiness," challenges the idea that we'll be miserable if we don't get what we want. Our "psychological immune system" lets us feel truly happy even when things…

Suspicious emails: unclaimed insurance bonds, diamond-encrusted safe deposit boxes, close friends marooned in a foreign country. They pop up in our inboxes, and standard procedure is to delete on sight. But what happens when you reply? Follow along as writer and comedian James Veitch narrates a hilarious, weeks-long exchange with a spammer who offered to cut him in on a hot deal.

Algorithms decide who gets a loan, who gets a job interview, who gets insurance and much more -- but they don't automatically make things fair, and they're often far from scientific. Mathematician and…

Every time you say that or its cousins “If I just had ____” or “When I get through ____”, what you’re really saying is “I can’t be happy now.” Author and designer Ingrid Fet…

«when I catch myself saying some version of “I’ll be happy when …” I try to imagine myself in the future, looking back on right now.»

Being incredibly talented doesn’t immunize you against anxiety, but Lionel Messi has mastered a coping mechanism that’s also a tactical weapon, says social psychologist Adam Alter PhD.

«he followed the RAIN steps — recognize, allow, investigate, note — and if he moved his body, the clock would reset, and he’d have to start again.»

The uncertainty of ghosting is not really what causes us pain. Instead, it hits us at an even greater point of human vulnerability: Our desire to belong and be loved. Behavioral scientist Michelle …

«Caring about what people think is a protective process, designed to help us build a net of belongingness and safeguard us against the loss of love.»

After more than two decades as an anchor for ABC News, an on-air panic attack sent Dan Harris's life in a new direction: he became a dedicated meditator and, to some, even a guru. But then an…

It’s all about being able to see the daily nerve-racking events in your life as challenges — instead of threats — and stress expert Elissa Epel PhD explains how we can all start t…

«Because we have more of a “predicting brain” than a “reality brain,” that means we may be responding to something we predict or believe will happen, rather than what is happening.»

Here’s how you can take control of your brain’s knee-jerk reactions to distressing situations, says psychology researcher Lisa Penney.

Simple advice to help you get more out of the books you read, from author Ryan Holiday.

«Life is too short to read books you don’t enjoy reading. My rule is 100 pages minus your age — so if you’re 30 years old and a book hasn’t captivated you by page 70, stop reading it.»

Overwhelm. That word doesn’t feel very pleasant hanging there, does it? It brings up feelings of failure and isolation. I’m a professional organizer, and it’s the word that I hear the most from new…

«if you keep making decisions and don’t postpone them, you’ll ultimately move from overwhelm towards something that all of us want — peace.»

Meditation is great for some people but not for everyone — including author and designer Ingrid Fetell Lee. Here, she shares some alternatives that can help expand your awareness, calm your m…

«The moral of this story isn’t “don’t meditate” but rather, that meditation is like many things — great for some people, but not necessarily for everyone.»

Your perfectionism won’t go away overnight, but author, podcast host and recovering perfectionist Morra Aarons-Mele shares tips that can help you take your first steps on the road to recovery…

Simon Sinek has a simple but powerful model for inspirational leadership -- starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers ...