TED Talks

The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (18:49)

Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Novelist Chimamanda Adichie tells the story of how she found her authentic cultural voice — and warns that if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

Stereotypes, as Adichie explains, “are incomplete” and “make one story become the only story.”

What Fear Can Teach Us by novelist Karen Thompson Walker (11:30)

Imagine you're a shipwrecked sailor adrift in the enormous Pacific. You can choose one of three directions and save yourself and your shipmates — but each choice comes with a fearful consequence too. How do you choose? In telling the story of the whaleship Essex, novelist Karen Thompson Walker shows how fear propels imagination, as it forces us to imagine the possible futures and how to cope with them.

John Bolton: The power of imagination - Lessons from Shakespeare (9:29)

Why do teachers keep making students read Shakespeare?

Shakespeare boasted an uncanny understanding of human nature. Might the Bard be a helpful workplace consultant with tips on navigating the plot twists and characters taking stage in the modern world? Want to learn whom you can trust at work? Take a meeting with Othello. Need advice on creative problem solving? Check in with Hamlet. John Bolton walks us through five lessons from the Bard that still resonate today.

I am the son of a terrorist. Here's how I chose peace. by Zak Ebrahim (9:10)

If you’re raised on dogma and hate, can you choose a different path? Zak Ebrahim was just seven years old when his father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. His story is shocking, powerful and, ultimately, inspiring.

How to Raise a Black Son in America by Clint Smith (5:12)

We need to talk about an injustice by Bryan Stevenson (23:41)

Is Education Killing Creativity? (19:24)

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.