TED Talks

1,777–1,824 of 2,913 films, free to watch, from the world's open archives.

Where these films come from, and who sees what

Every film here plays from the archive that keeps it: the Internet Archive, Wikimedia Commons, the NASA Image and Video Library, the Library of Congress and Open Images (the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision). Nothing is copied to this site. Each film's page names its archive, links to its page there, and states its licence or status as the archive does.

Archive films carry no age ratings, so each is placed from the collections it sits in and the subjects the archive gives it, cautiously. Sexual content and nudity are left out altogether.

Little OnesFilms for young children by name: nursery rhymes, lullabies, preschool.
KidsCartoons and animation, children's and family films, and educational films, unless they deal with war, propaganda, crime, horror or drugs, or carry racial caricature.
TweensDocumentaries, science, nature and space, classic comedies, newsreels, commercials and lectures.
TeensEverything else, including anything we cannot tell about; war, crime, horror and westerns go no lower.
AdultSexual themes (such as the old "sex hygiene" films), gore, surgery, slaughter, atrocity footage.
Internet Archive Christina Wallace: How to stop swiping and find your person on dating apps 2018 · Talk Let's face it, online dating can suck. So many potential people, so much time wasted — is it even worth it? Podcaster and entrepreneur Christina Wallace… Internet Archive Hannah Bürckstümmer: A printable, flexible, organic solar cell 2017 · Talk Unlike the solar cells you're used to seeing, organic photovoltaics are made of compounds that are dissolved in ink and can be printed and molded using simple… Internet Archive Rajiv Maheswaran: The math behind basketball's wildest moves 2015 · Talk · 12 min Basketball is a fast-moving game of improvisation, contact and, ahem, spatio-temporal pattern recognition. Rajiv Maheswaran and his colleagues are analyzing… Internet Archive Ramona Pierson: An unexpected place of healing 2011 · Talk · 11 min When Ramona Pierson was 22, she was hit by a drunk driver and spent 18 months in a coma. At TEDxDU she tells the remarkable story of her recovery -- drawing… Internet Archive Richard Preston on the giant trees 2008 · Talk · 19 min Science writer Richard Preston talks about some of the most enormous living beings on the planet, the giant trees of the US Pacific Northwest. Growing from a… Internet Archive Sunni Brown: Doodlers, unite! 2011 · Talk · 5 min Studies show that sketching and doodling improve our comprehension -- and our creative thinking. So why do we still feel embarrassed when we're caught… Internet Archive William McDonough on cradle to cradle design 2007 · Talk · 20 min Green-minded architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account "all children, all… Internet Archive Asher Hasan's message of peace from Pakistan 2009 · Talk · 4 min One of a dozen Pakistanis who came to TEDIndia despite security hassles entering the country, TED Fellow Asher Hasan shows photos of ordinary Pakistanis that… Internet Archive Aubrey de Grey says we can avoid aging 2006 · Talk · 22 min Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey argues that aging is merely a disease -- and a curable one at that. Humans age in seven basic ways, he says, all of which… Internet Archive Benedetta Berti: The surprising way groups like ISIS stay in power 2015 · Talk · 5 min ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas. These three very different groups are known for violence — but that’s only a portion of what they do, says policy analyst Benedetti… Internet Archive Bruce Feiler: The council of dads 2011 · Talk · 20 min Diagnosed with cancer, Bruce Feiler worried first about his young family. So -- as he shares in this funny, rambling and ultimately thoughtful talk -- he… Internet Archive Chip Colwell: Why museums are returning cultural treasures 2017 · Talk Archaeologist and curator Chip Colwell collects artifacts for his museum, but he also returns them to where they came from. In a thought-provoking talk, he… Internet Archive Katherine Fulton: You are the future of philanthropy 2009 · Talk · 12 min In this uplifting talk, Katherine Fulton sketches the new future of philanthropy -- one where collaboration and innovation allow regular people to do big… Internet Archive Lee Cronin: Making matter come alive 2011 · Talk · 15 min Before life existed on Earth, there was just matter, inorganic dead "stuff." How improbable is it that life arose? And -- could it use a different type of… Internet Archive Petter Johansson: Do you really know why you do what you do? 2016 · Talk Experimental psychologist Petter Johansson researches choice blindness — a phenomenon where we convince ourselves that we're getting what we want, even when… Internet Archive Robert Gordon: The death of innovation, the end of growth 2013 · Talk · 12 min The US economy has been expanding wildly for two centuries. Are we witnessing the end of growth? Economist Robert Gordon lays out 4 reasons US growth may be… Internet Archive Stephen Palumbi: Following the mercury trail 2010 · Talk · 15 min There's a tight and surprising link between the ocean's health and ours, says marine biologist Stephen Palumbi. He shows how toxins at the bottom of the ocean… Internet Archive Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental 'heresies' 2009 · Talk · 16 min The man who helped usher in the environmental movement in the 1960s and '70s has been rethinking his positions on cities, nuclear power, genetic modification… Internet Archive Amy Smith shares simple, lifesaving design 2006 · Talk · 15 min Fumes from indoor cooking fires kill more than 2 million children a year in the developing world. MIT engineer Amy Smith details an exciting but simple… Internet Archive Anab Jain: Why we need to imagine different futures 2017 · Talk · 14 min Anab Jain brings the future to life, creating experiences where people can touch, see and feel the potential of the world we're creating. Do we want a world… Internet Archive Boy Girl Banjo: "Dead Romance" 2017 · Talk Acoustic duo Anielle Reid and Matthew Brookshire (playing together as Boy Girl Banjo) take the TED stage to perform their original song "Dead Romance,"… Internet Archive Dao Nguyen: What makes something go viral? 2017 · Talk What's the secret to making content people love? Join BuzzFeed's Publisher Dao Nguyen for a glimpse at how her team creates their tempting quizzes, lists and… Internet Archive Pardis Sabeti: How we'll fight the next deadly virus 2016 · Talk · 9 min When Ebola broke out in March 2014, Pardis Sabeti and her team got to work sequencing the virus's genome, learning how it mutated and spread. Sabeti… Internet Archive Roman Mars: Why city flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed 2015 · Talk · 18 min Roman Mars is obsessed with flags — and after you watch this talk, you might be, too. These ubiquitous symbols of civic pride are often designed, well, pretty… Internet Archive Sherwin Nuland on electroshock therapy 2007 · Talk · 22 min Surgeon and author Sherwin Nuland discusses the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression -- including his own.… Internet Archive Tabetha Boyajian: The most mysterious star in the universe 2016 · Talk · 13 min Something massive, with roughly 1,000 times the area of Earth, is blocking the light coming from a distant star known as KIC 8462852, and nobody is quite sure… Internet Archive Adam Sadowsky engineers a viral music video 2010 · Talk · 11 min The band "OK Go" dreamed up the idea of a massive Rube Goldberg machine for their next music video -- and Adam Sadowsky's team was charged with building it.… Internet Archive Anne Madden: Meet the microscopic life in your home -- and on your face 2017 · Talk Behold the microscopic jungle in and around you: tiny organisms living on your cheeks, under your sofa and in the soil in your backyard. We have an… Internet Archive Avi Reichental: What’s next in 3D printing 2014 · Talk · 9 min Just like his beloved grandfather, Avi Reichental is a maker of things. The difference is, now he can use 3D printers to make almost anything, out of almost… Internet Archive Eric Mead: The magic of the placebo 2010 · Talk · 9 min Sugar pills, injections of nothing -- studies show that, more often than you'd expect, placebos really work. At TEDMED, magician Eric Mead does a trick to… Internet Archive Erik Brynjolfsson: The key to growth? Race with the machines 2013 · Talk · 11 min As machines take on more jobs, many find themselves out of work or with raises indefinitely postponed. Is this the end of growth? No, says Erik Brynjolfsson —… Internet Archive Hamish Jolly: A shark-deterrent wetsuit (and it's not what you think) 2014 · Talk · 12 min Hamish Jolly, an ocean swimmer in Australia, wanted a wetsuit that would deter a curious shark from mistaking him for a potential source of nourishment.… Internet Archive Mac Barnett: Why a good book is a secret door 2014 · Talk · 17 min Childhood is surreal. Why shouldn't children's books be? In this whimsical talk, award-winning author Mac Barnett speaks about writing that escapes the page,… Internet Archive Nina Tandon: Caring for engineered tissue 2011 · Talk · 4 min Tissue engineer and TED Fellow Nina Tandon is growing artificial hearts and bones. To do that, she needs new ways of caring for artificially grown cells --… Internet Archive Rupal Patel: Synthetic voices, as unique as fingerprints 2014 · Talk · 11 min Many of those with severe speech disorders use a computerized device to communicate. Yet they choose between only a few voice options. That's why Stephen… Internet Archive Yasheng Huang: Does democracy stifle economic growth? 2011 · Talk · 18 min Economist Yasheng Huang compares China to India, and asks how China's authoritarian rule contributed to its astonishing economic growth -- leading to a big… Internet Archive Andrew Youn: 3 reasons why we can win the fight against poverty 2016 · Talk · 13 min Half of the world's poorest people have something in common: they're small farmers. In this eye-opening talk, activist Andrew Youn shows how his group, One… Internet Archive Christopher Soghoian: A brief history of phone wiretapping -- and how to avoid it 2015 · Talk · 6 min Who is listening in on your phone calls? On a landline, it could be anyone, says privacy activist Christopher Soghoian, because surveillance backdoors are… Internet Archive Phil Hansen: Embrace the shake 2013 · Talk · 10 min In art school, Phil Hansen developed an unruly tremor in his hand that kept him from creating the pointillist drawings he loved. Hansen was devastated,… Internet Archive Ruby Sales: How we can start to heal the pain of racial division 2018 · Talk "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… Internet Archive Ash Beckham: When to take a stand -- and when to let it go 2015 · Talk · 15 min Ash Beckham recently found herself in a situation that made her ask: who am I? She felt pulled between two roles — as an aunt and as an advocate. Each of us… Internet Archive Dave Isay: Everyone around you has a story the world needs to hear 2015 · Talk · 21 min Dave Isay opened the first StoryCorps booth in New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 2003 with the intention of creating a quiet place where a person could… Internet Archive Fawn Qiu: Easy DIY projects for kid engineers 2016 · Talk · 7 min TED Resident Fawn Qiu designs fun, low-cost projects that use familiar materials like paper and fabric to introduce engineering to kids. In this quick, clever… Internet Archive Kevin Kelly on the next 5,000 days of the web 2008 · Talk · 19 min At the 2007 EG conference, Kevin Kelly shares a fun stat: The World Wide Web, as we know it, is only 5,000 days old. Now, Kelly asks, how can we predict… Internet Archive Laura Robinson: The secrets I find on the mysterious ocean floor 2016 · Talk · 11 min Hundreds of meters below the surface of the ocean, Laura Robinson probes the steep slopes of massive undersea mountains. She's on the hunt for… Internet Archive Raphael Arar: How we can teach computers to make sense of our emotions 2017 · Talk How can we make AI that people actually want to interact with? Raphael Arar suggests we start by making art. He shares interactive projects that help AI… Internet Archive Steve Silberman: The forgotten history of autism 2015 · Talk · 13 min Decades ago, few pediatricians had heard of autism. In 1975, 1 in 5,000 kids was estimated to have it. Today, 1 in 68 is on the autism spectrum. What caused… Internet Archive Vik Muniz makes art with wire, sugar 2007 · Talk · 14 min Vik Muniz makes art from pretty much anything, be it shredded paper, wire, clouds or diamonds. Here he describes the thinking behind his work and takes us on…