TED Speakers & TED Talks

Douglas Rushkoff

One of the World's 10 Most Influential Intellectuals (MIT) | Bestselling Author, Team Human and Program or Be Programmed | Co-Founder, Andus Labs

In the age of AI, learning how to be human is the only thing that matters.

Angela Duckworth

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Grit and Situated | Pioneering Researcher on Grit, Perseverance, and the Power of Situation

Grit gets you started, but your situation determines how far you go. Learn to make it work for you.

Salman Khan

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Khan Academy | Vision Steward at TED

AI won't destroy education. It'll save it.

Nita Farahany

Author of The Battle for Your Brain and Cognitive Extinction | The World's Leading Voice on Thinking Freely and the Rights of the Mind | Duke Professor of Law & Philosophy

We are the last generation that gets to decide whether our thoughts remain our own.

Andrew Marantz

New Yorker Staff Writer | Author of Antisocial

Our digital lives shape our democracy—here's how we can leverage that to create a better world.

Martin Ford

New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Robots and Rule of the Robots

To adapt to machine learning, we'll need to come up with unprecedented solutions.

Adam Alter

NYU Marketing Professor | New York Times Bestselling Author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough

In an era of irresistible products and experiences, you can use the psychology of choice to command attention and stand out from the crowd.

David Eagleman

One of the World's Foremost Neuroscientists | Host of PBS’s The Brain | Host of the #1 Science Podcast Inner Cosmos

In an increasingly technological world, we must tap into the uniqueness of the human brain to set us apart.

Steven Pinker

One of the world's top public intellectuals | Author of Rationality, Enlightenment Now, and When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows . . . | Harvard Professor

Common knowledge—what we assume everyone knows—can help us make sense of life's biggest social, political, and economic questions.

Susan Pinker

Psychologist and Author of The Village Effect and The Sexual Paradox

Even in our digital world, human connection is the key to learning, happiness, resilience, and longevity.

Titus Kaphar

Award-Winning Painter and Sculptor | Writer and Director of Exhibiting Forgiveness | MacArthur "Genius" | Author of Redaction

Art has the power to reframe our history—revealing the past we've lost and the future we're working towards.

Tom Wujec

World Renowned Expert on Innovation | Former Chief Disruptor at Autodesk | Author of The Future of Making

An era of continuous disruption is changing, forever, how we design, manufacture, and consume.

Ashton Applewhite

Anti-Ageism Activist | Author of This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism | Co-Founder of the Old School Hub

Ageism is prejudice against our future selves. What if we were free of it?

Emily Esfahani Smith

Bestselling author of The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters | Journalist

In times of great challenge, search for meaning, not happiness.

Bill Strickland

An Extraordinary Business and Community Leader | MacArthur Genius | Founder, Bidwell Training Center | Subject, PBS Documentary Pursuing Light

Give people the tools they need, treat them with respect, and they will perform miraculous deeds.

Jer Thorp

Author of Living in Data | Former Library of Congress Innovator in Residence | Former NYT Data Artist-in-Residence

The future of data is about to be written—and it’s up to us to imagine a more just data democracy.

Edward Burtynsky

World-renowned photographer | Winner of the TED Prize

Photographs are the reflecting pools of our time.

Jared Diamond

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel and Profits, Prophets, Coaches and Kings

Great leaders make history—but the right conditions make great leaders.

Candy Chang

Urban space artist behind the "Before I Die" walls

Creative ways of engaging communities can help us foster hope and belonging together.

Isabel Allende

Most Widely Read Spanish-Language Author Ever | Author of The House of the Spirits and The Wind Knows My Name | Winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Write what should not be forgotten.

Eman Mohammed

Award-winning photojournalist | TED Senior Fellow

We need to bring the other’s side into focus to recognize our shared humanity.

Every year, David Lavin attends the TED conference, bearing witness to the latest ideas worth spreading. This is a selection of TED speakers, including two TED Prize winners, who have made a big impact on the TED stage.