As another year ends and a new one waits patiently in the wings, this talk made me think and laugh. Is there anything better?
A few days before she turned 61, writer Anne Lamott decided to write down everything she knew for sure. She dives into the nuances of being a human who lives in a confusing, beautiful, emotional world, offering her characteristic life-affirming wisdom and humor on family, writing, the meaning of God, death and more.
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Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TED. Show all posts
December 26, 2017
November 5, 2016
The art of being yourself | Caroline McHugh (Video)
Stumbled across this interesting talk the other day, and it gave me lots to think about.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
October 11, 2016
Bring on the female superheroes! | Christopher Bell (Video)
I found this TED talk educational and thought provoking, and I think you will too.
"Why is it so hard to find female superhero merchandise? In this passionate, sparkling talk, media studies scholar (and father of a Star Wars-obsessed daughter) Christopher Bell addresses the alarming lack of female superheroes in the toys and products marketed to kids -- and what it means for how we teach them about the world."
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
"Why is it so hard to find female superhero merchandise? In this passionate, sparkling talk, media studies scholar (and father of a Star Wars-obsessed daughter) Christopher Bell addresses the alarming lack of female superheroes in the toys and products marketed to kids -- and what it means for how we teach them about the world."
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
May 20, 2016
A taboo-free way to talk about periods | Aditi Gupta (Video)
Video Blurb: It's true: talking about menstruation makes many people uncomfortable. And that taboo has consequences: in India, three out of every 10 girls don't even know what menstruation is at the time of their first period, and restrictive customs related to periods inflict psychological damage on young girls. Growing up with this taboo herself, Aditi Gupta knew she wanted to help girls, parents and teachers talk about periods comfortably and without shame. She shares how she did it.
This is not just a problem in India, and not educating girls, and shaming them about their periods continues to this day. Watching this video gives me hope.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
This is not just a problem in India, and not educating girls, and shaming them about their periods continues to this day. Watching this video gives me hope.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
March 25, 2016
Tim Urban: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator (Video)
While having lunch the other day, watched this funny and really quite motivational TED talk. After watching it, do let me know if you don't suddenly see your life and time differently.
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March 12, 2016
10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee (Video)
I know I am not alone in thinking that all our ever present technology has had the downside of making people poor conversationalists, so this is a wonderful and timely talk.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
February 3, 2016
Why people believe they can’t draw - and how to prove they can | Graham Shaw (Video)
This just makes me happy. Pick up some paper and a pen and watch this entertaining TED talk.
Why is it that so many people think they can’t draw? Where did we learn to believe that? Graham Shaw will shatter this illusion – quite literally - in a very practical way. He’ll demonstrate how the simple act of drawing has the power to make a positive difference in the world.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
Why is it that so many people think they can’t draw? Where did we learn to believe that? Graham Shaw will shatter this illusion – quite literally - in a very practical way. He’ll demonstrate how the simple act of drawing has the power to make a positive difference in the world.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
January 30, 2016
Elizabeth Lev: The unheard story of the Sistine Chapel (Video)
This TED talk hits all my sweet spots - a fun combination of art, history, travel and passion. Pour yourself a hot (or cold) beverage and enjoy.
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings on earth — but there's a lot you probably don't know about it. In this tour-de-force talk, art historian Elizabeth Lev guides us across the famous building's ceiling and Michelangelo's vital depiction of traditional stories, showing how the painter reached beyond the religious iconography of the time to chart new artistic waters. Five hundred years after the artist painted it, says Lev, the Sistine Chapel forces us to look around as if it were a mirror and ask, "Who am I, and what role do I play in this great theater of life?"
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
The Sistine Chapel is one of the most iconic buildings on earth — but there's a lot you probably don't know about it. In this tour-de-force talk, art historian Elizabeth Lev guides us across the famous building's ceiling and Michelangelo's vital depiction of traditional stories, showing how the painter reached beyond the religious iconography of the time to chart new artistic waters. Five hundred years after the artist painted it, says Lev, the Sistine Chapel forces us to look around as if it were a mirror and ask, "Who am I, and what role do I play in this great theater of life?"
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
January 24, 2016
An Underwater Art Museum, Teeming with Life (Video)
So many things about these art installations make me happy.
For sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, the ocean is more than a muse — it's an exhibition space and museum. Taylor creates sculptures of human forms and mundane life on land and sinks them to the ocean floor, where they are subsumed by the sea and transformed from lifeless stone into vibrant habitats for corals, crustaceans and other creatures. The result: Enigmatic, haunting and colorful commentaries about our transient.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
For sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor, the ocean is more than a muse — it's an exhibition space and museum. Taylor creates sculptures of human forms and mundane life on land and sinks them to the ocean floor, where they are subsumed by the sea and transformed from lifeless stone into vibrant habitats for corals, crustaceans and other creatures. The result: Enigmatic, haunting and colorful commentaries about our transient.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
January 13, 2016
Chris Abani: On humanity (Video)
The power and value of a good storyteller is something we do not often appreciate. This talk moved me and made me cry. A heads up that while there is humor, there he also talks about tough things.
Chris Abani tells stories of people: People standing up to soldiers. People being compassionate. People being human and reclaiming their humanity. It's "ubuntu," he says: the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
Chris Abani tells stories of people: People standing up to soldiers. People being compassionate. People being human and reclaiming their humanity. It's "ubuntu," he says: the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity back at me.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
January 9, 2016
Robert Waldinger: What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness. (Video)
Something we all already know, and yet somehow forget again and again.
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. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
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. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
December 19, 2015
Marina Abramović: An art made of trust, vulnerability and connection (Video)
Here is something that moved me this week. What moved you?
Marina Abramović's art pushes the boundary between audience and artist in pursuit of heightened consciousness and personal change.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
Marina Abramović's art pushes the boundary between audience and artist in pursuit of heightened consciousness and personal change.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
December 5, 2015
Ann Morgan: My year reading a book from every country in the world (Video)
This TED talk is right up my alley.
Ann Morgan considered herself well read — until she discovered the "massive blindspot" on her bookshelf. Amid a multitude of English and American authors, there were very few books from beyond the English-speaking world. So she set an ambitious goal: to read one book from every country in the world over the course of a year. Now she's urging other Anglophiles to read translated works so that publishers will work harder to bring foreign literary gems back to their shores.
November 11, 2015
Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols: This is what LGBT life is like around the world (Video)
As a gay couple in San Francisco, Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols had a relatively easy time living the way they wanted. But outside the bubble of the Bay Area, what was life like for people still lacking basic rights? They set off on a world tour in search of "Supergays," LGBT people who were doing something extraordinary in the world. In 15 countries across Africa, Asia and South America — from India, recently home to the world's first openly gay prince, to Argentina, the first country in Latin America to grant marriage equality — they found the inspiring stories and the courageous, resilient and proud Supergays they had been looking for.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
October 7, 2015
Taiye Selasi: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local (Video)
You know how things all align sometimes? Well, look at what I found while listening to my current fave book.
When someone asks you where you're from … do you sometimes not know how to answer? Writer Taiye Selasi speaks on behalf of "multi-local" people, who feel at home in the town where they grew up, the city they live now and maybe another place or two. "How can I come from a country?" she asks. "How can a human being come from a concept?"
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
When someone asks you where you're from … do you sometimes not know how to answer? Writer Taiye Selasi speaks on behalf of "multi-local" people, who feel at home in the town where they grew up, the city they live now and maybe another place or two. "How can I come from a country?" she asks. "How can a human being come from a concept?"
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
October 3, 2015
BJ Miller: What really matters at the end of life (Video)
Here is a talk I found both moving and inspiring this week.
At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it’s simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician at Zen Hospice Project who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients. Take the time to savor this moving talk, which asks big questions about how we think on death and honor life.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
At the end of our lives, what do we most wish for? For many, it’s simply comfort, respect, love. BJ Miller is a palliative care physician at Zen Hospice Project who thinks deeply about how to create a dignified, graceful end of life for his patients. Take the time to savor this moving talk, which asks big questions about how we think on death and honor life.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
September 26, 2015
Why Humans Run the World | Yuval Noah Harari | TED Talks (Video)
I am currently reading a book that is blowing my mind, so went in search of finding out more about the author. Listen to his TED talk, and see if it does not whet your appetite to pick up and read the book too. This one is great on audio.
"Seventy thousand years ago, our human ancestors were insignificant animals, just minding their own business in a corner of Africa with all the other animals. But now, few would disagree that humans dominate planet Earth; we've spread to every continent, and our actions determine the fate of other animals (and possibly Earth itself). How did we get from there to here? Historian Yuval Noah Harari suggests a surprising reason for the rise of humanity."
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
"Seventy thousand years ago, our human ancestors were insignificant animals, just minding their own business in a corner of Africa with all the other animals. But now, few would disagree that humans dominate planet Earth; we've spread to every continent, and our actions determine the fate of other animals (and possibly Earth itself). How did we get from there to here? Historian Yuval Noah Harari suggests a surprising reason for the rise of humanity."
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
July 10, 2015
Roxane Gay: Confessions of a bad feminist (Video)
Have you read Bad Feminist yet? The author reads the title essay from that collection.
When writer Roxane Gay dubbed herself a "bad feminist," she was making a joke, acknowledging that she couldn't possibly live up to the demands for perfection of the feminist movement. But she's realized that the joke rang hollow. In a thoughtful and provocative talk, she asks us to embrace all flavors of feminism — and make the small choices that, en masse, might lead to actual change.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
When writer Roxane Gay dubbed herself a "bad feminist," she was making a joke, acknowledging that she couldn't possibly live up to the demands for perfection of the feminist movement. But she's realized that the joke rang hollow. In a thoughtful and provocative talk, she asks us to embrace all flavors of feminism — and make the small choices that, en masse, might lead to actual change.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
April 11, 2015
Dame Stephanie Shirley: Why do ambitious women have flat heads?
It is not often that I feel the urge to courtesy, but if I was in this woman's presence I would.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
April 3, 2015
Harry Baker: A love poem for lonely prime numbers
In celebration of April, which is National Poetry Month.
Performance poet (and math student) Harry Baker spins a love poem about his favorite kind of numbers — the lonely, love-lorn prime. Stay on for two more lively, inspiring poems from this charming performer.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
Performance poet (and math student) Harry Baker spins a love poem about his favorite kind of numbers — the lonely, love-lorn prime. Stay on for two more lively, inspiring poems from this charming performer.
If the embedded video does not work, click here.
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