December 12, 2012

Learn About J.R.R. Tolkien’s Life & Works with 5 Free Audio & Video Resources

The film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens just about everywhere in the World this week. It is the first part in a three-part film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit which preceded his epic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Today we are featuring five free audio & video resources covering the life and work of author J.R.R. Tolkien. Learn about what fueled his amazing works of fanatasy.

1. J.R.R. Tolkien Wikipedia Entry on Audio Download

We’ll start off with J.R.R. Tolkien’s Wikipedia article that we recorded on audio many years ago. Download this 25-minute article on MP3. You’ll learn about Tolkien’s eventful early life and many the life experiences that were later incorporated into his fantasy novels. You’ll also get learn about his education and his work as a University of Oxford professor which helped him with creating the language of his books.

2. Lewis & Tolkien: Scholars and Friends

In this streaming video released by UCTV, we are given a glimpse of the friendship between renowned authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Using diary entries, letters among friends and other direct sources as a basis, speaker Christopher Mitchell illustrates how a mutual religious faith between the two men formed the crux of their creatively fruitful relationship. A study first and foremost in how friendship can change lives, this is a must for anyone that wishes to learn more about two authors that have remained enduringly popular.

3. J.R.R. Tolkien: Father of Modern Fantasy Literature

Along with Lord of the Rings being one of the most popular books in the English language, J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy can also be read as a narrative example of faith in action. In this video lecture presented by the Veritas Forum, Dr. Christopher Mitchell makes claims for Tolkien’s legacy as not only a giant in popular literature, but also as a disguised evangelist. Here you will be made privy to Tolkien’s thoughts on the reception he anticipated for the books, and how the religious subtext may be worth further exploration on the part of the Christian community.

4. The True King: Tolkien and the Medieval

This lecture released by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute serves as a wonderful way you can learn more about Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. Lecturer Bradley J. Birzer discusses the major themes in Tolkien’s work including the onslaught of modernity, the true value of good in the world and the gift of loyalty. Birzer ends with a beautiful description of the character Samwise Gamgee, and how his role in the book serves as a symbol of Tolkien’s belief system in action. Note: You’ll need to log in on the Intercollegiate Studies Institute website to access this lecture.

5. Escape to the Middle Ages: The Resurgence of Tolkien

Medieval Studies Professor Kathryn Lynch examines the current popularity of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien especially among her students. She gives a brief bio of Tolkien and his works and how they connect to the Middle Ages and mythology. She attempts to connect the popularity of Tolkien with our particular place in history. And she takes a look at the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, and the response that these movies have had.

And if you want to learn even more about Tolkien we’ve got a few audio books about him (not free):

The Gospel According to Tolkien: Visions of the Kingdom in Middle-Earth by Ralph C. Wood

Tolkien’s Ordinary Virtues by Mark Eddy Smith

And if you want to get audio books by J.R.R. Tolkien check out our J.R.R. Tolkien author page:

J.R.R. Tolkien’s Works on Audio

And you can get the BBC Dramatization of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien for only $13.75 on audio download!

The Hobbit (BBC Dramatization) on Audio Download

May 30, 2012

TED Talks Top 10 Business & Economics Talks

For your viewing pleasure TED Talks Top 10 Business & Economics Talks. The first two here are great to watch together:

1. Malcolm Gladwell: What We Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce

In this interesting talk delivered by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, he explores how the food industry went from looking for the perfect single spaghetti sauce recipe to a more diverse approach of creating a variety of spaghetti sauces to suit the desires of shoppers. He examines this trend through one of its main proponents Howard Moskowitz who used the field of psychophysics to create a variety of original sauces for Prego in the 1980s. Once this variability was proven to be successful it spread to the rest of the food industry, and Gladwell feels we are all happier for this increase in choices.

2. Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice

Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, discusses some of the observations he makes in his book in this talk from the TED conference. He argues that the vast explosion of choices in advanced capitalist societies has led to increased paralysis in terms of decision making and ultimately decreased satisfaction. He provides a number of examples to back up his thesis that more choice and individual freedom is not always best.

3. Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work

37signals co-founder and Rework author Jason Fried makes some provocative suggestions regarding why work doesn’t get done in the workplace. He suggests that interruptions are the key component contributing to the lack work accomplished in the workplace and that managers and meetings are to blame. He relates the stage of work to the stages of sleep and in order to get the best work done one needs to go through these stages without interruption. This talk was delivered at the TEDxMidwest Conference.

4. Seth Godin on Standing Out

Seth Godin feels that days of status quo marketing through the television industrial complex are coming to an end. People are too busy to pay attention to the nonstop advertising of average products for average people. What grabs people’s attention is something remarkable, or rather something worth making a remark about. And their remarks spread the ideas or products to the world and make it a success. Learn about the cutting edge of spreading ideas with this talk by Seth Godin.

5. Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons from an Ad Man

Ad man Rory Sutherland takes a look at his profession and shows how advertising makes regular things valuable and that this perceived value is often just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value. He makes many telling jokes about this matter such as why don’t we sell placebos as medication if they’re actually shown to work in the perception of the ailing person. Throughout the talk he makes his point that advertising can often do a better job at spreading an idea or a product than rational problem solving.

6. Johanna Blakley: Lessons from Fashion’s Free Culture

Johanna Blakley delivers an eye-opening talk on copyrights in the world of fashion. Because the courts have deemed garments as too utilitarian to be copyrighted, the fashion industry has a complete lack of copyrights when it comes to their designs. They do have trademarks over their brands, but when it comes to the design anyone can copy it. This has led to the fashion imitations we are familiar with, but Blakley points out this hasn’t really hurt the industry because the customers who are buying the fakes are not the same as the customers who buy the real thing. If anything Blakley feels this has spawned creativity in fashion as designers are able to mix and match with any designs throughout history and they increasingly try to make designs that can’t easily be copied. Blakley points to other industries where items can’t be copyrighted and she feels that the struggling industries of movies, books, and music might need to update their ideas on copyright in this new digital age.

7. Steven Levitt Analyzes Crack Economics

In this humorous sketch provided by TED Talks, Steven Levitt analyzes what it takes to make a living selling drugs. Taking America’s crack epidemic as a template, Levitt discusses how inner city gangs developed a corporate structure that consolidated power, left little room for promotion, and was incredibly dangerous to boot. In the end Levitt argues that selling drugs on the street is about as lucrative as working at McDonald’s, but that this fact hasn’t diluted its mystique.

8. Chip Conley: Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile

While businesses are obsessed with measuring the tangible elements for their business, hotelier and author of Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow Chip Conley makes a strong case for businesses to measure the intangibles of business such as the feelings of customers or the whether the employees find their work meaningful. After studying the “hierarchy of needs” developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow, Conley realized that there was a lot more to his business than making sure his customer’s basic needs were met. He set out to measure and improve the metrics of intangible benefits to his customers and employees and his hotel business boomed to become the second largest boutique hotelier in the world.

9. William Ury: The Walk from “No” to “Yes”

Master negotiator and Getting to YES author William Ury tells stories of successful negotiations he has conducted throughout his life often in heated political arenas. He talks about the Abraham Path Initiative which he conducted as a way of getting to the root of the conflicts in the Middle East by having people walk the path Abraham walked and practice Abrahamic hospitality along the way. This talk was delivered at the TEDxMidwest Conference.

10. Richard Branson’s Life at 30,000 Feet

TED’s Chris Anderson sits down with multibillionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson to discuss his some of the over 400 companies he’s started in his Virgin Group. Branson gives some advice and tells of his adventures along the way. He talks about his Virgin Galactic which is now booking sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public. And he tells of his philanthropic efforts around the world.

February 23, 2012

Top 10 Charlie Rose Interviews of Film Directors and Actors

We have a confession to make that at LearnOutLoud.com we are huge movie buffs! And with the Oscars coming up on Sunday we had to feature some free videos on the movies. Recently we added over 350 of the best interviews from Charlie Rose show:

350 of the Best Charlie Rose Interviews on LearnOutLoud.com

Lucky for us Charlie Rose is a huge movie buff and he conducts the best interviews with film actors and directors. Charlie’s interviews go beyond the generic interviews that actors and directors usually do to promote their movies, and he asks the great questions that film aficionados want to hear. We’ve picked out 10 interviews of the most popular movie actors along with 10 interviews of the most popular film directors and have watched these interviews and given you the inside scoop on what they’re all about. Enjoy these interviews and Hooray for Hollywood! Here are the ten actor interviews we picked:

1. An Interview with Sylvester Stallone

In this interview with actor, writer, and director Sylvester Stallone, Charlie Rose traces the action icon’s career; from humble origins making Rocky to his peak as one of the highest paid actors of all time. This discussion catches Stallone at a point when he was seeking out work that went against the macho typecasting that came to dominate his screen persona for over 30 years. We also get insight on what attracted him to the arts at an early age, how luck played an instrumental role in his success, and why he can’t help controlling a set.

2. An Hour Remembrance of Actor Jack Lemmon

In this hour-long remembrance of Jack Lemmon, Charlie Rose shares two interviews he conducted with the beloved actor of stage and screen. Here Lemmon shares memories of films such as Some Like it Hot, The Apartment, and Days of Wine and Roses, and he reflects on his onscreen chemistry with real-life friend Walter Matthau. He also talks candidly about his acting method, the turbulent relationship he had with his father, his love of the piano, and what he learned from failure.

3. A Conversation with Meryl Streep

In this Charlie Rose special featuring Meryl Streep, she talks about her entire acting career. This special presentation features clips from many of the movies she has been in along with comments from interviews with director Mike Nichols and prominent film critics praising her roles. Streep discusses the many roles she has inhabited along with her thoughts on drama vs. comedy. It’s a very enjoyable interview with one of cinema’s most beloved and honored film actresses.

4. An Interview with Harrison Ford

Actor Harrison Ford talks for an hour about a lucrative screen career that blew up with Star Wars in the late 70s and made him one of the biggest box-office draws in film history. Hailing originally from Chicago, Ford flunked out of college and moved out West, where he meandered for a few years taking bit TV roles while moonlighting as a carpenter. After early key roles for George Lucas, he was catapulted to fame on the strength of a heroic mold that he later found hard to shake as he took on more complex pet projects.

5. A Conversation with Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington talks with Charlie Rose about his prolific movie acting career in this interview, from his winding path to become an actor all the way up to his 2000 Golden Globe win for the film The Hurricane. Washington talks about The Hurricane and what he put into the role. He also discusses the variety of roles he has picked and the many great directors he has worked with. His films have opened doors for him to become good friends with Nelson Mandela and many other prominent figures.

6. An Hour with Actor Sean Penn

Charlie Rose flies out to California to sit down with actor Sean Penn for an hour. Penn talks about his love/hate relationship with acting and why he prefers writing. He reveals some of the film artists he admires such as John Cassavetes, Marlon Brando, and Jack Nicholson. Penn expresses what he feels cinema should do as an art form and why he is frustrated with the state of commercial movies in America. He also talks about his disdain for paparazzi and the invasion of privacy they present for people in the public eye. Throughout the interview Charlie and Sean have some good laughs.

7. An Hour with Filmmaker Robert Redford

Actor, director, and activist Robert Redford rose to prominence in the 1970s as both a leading man and progressive advocate. Here he talks about his early origins in theatre, the key movies that led to his success, and how his acting career opened up other paths for him as a director and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. Throughout his career, Redford has been notable for leveraging his star-power to help raise visibility on a wide range of concerns, such as environmentalism, Native American rights, and political corruption.

8. A Conversation with Actor Bill Murray

Actor Bill Murray sits down with Charlie Rose and talks about his career in comedy films including the one he had just made Rushmore. Murray talks about his selection process for picking his next role and how certain scripts including Groundhog’s Day and Rushmore were so good that he had to do them. Bill Murray discusses how the great directors are usually soft spoken on set and the bad ones are loud and obnoxious yelling out things like, “Do it again and don’t scratch your noise this time!”

9. An Hour with Actor Michael Douglas

As part of an acting legacy, Michael Douglas found it hard at times to define himself outside of the long shadow cast by his father, screen legend Kirk Douglas. After achieving early Oscar recognition at age 30 for producing with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it wasn’t until a later, career-defining turn in Fatal Attraction that Douglas gained momentum as an actor. Here he talks about the different hats he’s worn on both sides of the camera, reflects on his changing relationship with his father, and digs into a hard period where he was admitted into rehab.

10. An Hour with Actor Michael J. Fox

This one isn’t much about acting but it’s a great interview. In 2002 Michael J. Fox sat down with Charlie Rose for an hour. Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 and went public with his condition in 1998. In this interview Fox talks about the whole process of accepting his disease to his eventual creation of the Michael J. Fox Foundation which is seeking a cure for Parkinson’s disease. He relays many stories that he wrote in his 2002 memoir Lucky Man including his acting attempts to cover up Parkinson’s which eventually he could no longer hide. He provides words of wisdom for people diagnosed with any disease and tells a truly inspirational story.

Next up we’re featuring 10 great interviews that Charlie Rose has conducted with film directors. A few interviews are conducted with people who knew the filmmaker closely for the great directors Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Enjoy these interviews with some of cinema’s great artists.

1. An Hour with Filmmaker George Lucas

George Lucas sits down for an hour long conversation with Charlie Rose in this interview and chronologically goes through his moviemaking career from his days at USC film school up to creating the Star Wars prequels. He talks about his financial and technological struggles to get his visions on the big screen and how he has finally attained financial independence as an artist to create the movies he wants to make without having to answer to anyone. George also passes on his wisdom about storytelling, education, artistry, and parenting.

2. A Conversation about Alfred Hitchcock

As the undisputed “Master of Suspense”, Alfred Hitchcock left behind a large body of work that continually explored the darker depths of the human heart. Here, Charlie Rose talks with the director’s daughter Patricia along with noted film director/historian Peter Bogdanovich on the centennial of his Hitchcock’s birth. Topics include Hitchcock’s dogged attention to detail, his writing methods, which films of his own he preferred best, and where he ranks with the great masters of cinema history.

3. An Hour with Filmmaker James Cameron

Known as “Iron Jim” to friends and critics alike, James Cameron rose from humble beginnings as a truck driver to become the “King of the World” with his mega-blockbuster Titanic. Here Charlie Rose talks with the director at length about what went into making the most expensive film ever made, and how he managed to balance historical fact with romantic fiction. Cameron’s talent for managing complex productions that still strike a chord with a broad audience has made him one of the most successful filmmakers in the modern era; a feat no less incredible when you consider how much his ambition grows from picture to picture.

4. A Discussion with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter

Capturing a key moment in history, this interview with Steve Jobs and John Lassetter catches both visionaries at the birth of what would become the most successful animation studio in recent history. After purchasing Pixar in 1986, shortly after his initial ouster from Apple, Jobs helped shepherd Lassetter and his team towards the first digitally animated movie, Toy Story, a box-office success that was followed by a string of hits that has not let up to date. Watch for an interesting moment near the end where Jobs tactfully dodges Charlie Rose’s question about a possible return to Apple; and even that actually did come to pass later that same year!

5. An Interview with Quentin Tarantino

Coming off the wild success of his independent film breakout hit Pulp Fiction, super cool film director Quentin Tarantino sits down with Charlie Rose and talks about his craft and where his career is going to go from here. Tarantino talks about his childhood watching movies and his days as a video store clerk. He discusses his unorthodox way of storytelling, his method of writing, and his love of following the careers of film directors of which he mentions his favorites. Finally he talks about his first two films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Watch film geek Tarantino enthusiastically riff on his love of movies.

6. An Hour about the Life and Work of Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick

With a photographer’s eye, a philosopher’s curiosity, and a searing intellect, Stanley Kubrick’s films have cut a distinctive path through cinematic history with a scope that is still hard to estimate. Here Charlie Rose talks with the late director’s widow Christiane, his lifelong friend Jan Harland, and adds modern master Martin Scorsese into the mix to round out the table. Christiane Kubrick provides heartwarming insight on their marriage, while Harland and Scorsese weigh in on why Kubrick’s films such as 2001, The Shining, and Dr. Strangelove continue to provoke, compel, and stimulate new generations of filmgoers.

7. A Conversation with Roman Polanski

In this interview, filmmaker Roman Polanski speaks about filmmaking, personal tragedy, and the legal trouble that has kept him from returning to the United States. Charlie Rose does not shy away from confronting the director of such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown on why he hasn’t faced the legal ramifications of a rape charge that made him flee for Europe in 1977. Polanski also reflects on the loss of his mother at Auschwitz, his lonely childhood in war-torn Poland, losing his wife in the Manson family murders, and his current life as a French citizen.

8. An Interview with Oliver Stone

Director Oliver Stone is known for his political and historical films and in this interview with Charlie Rose, Stone talks about his film Nixon. Stone gives us his interpretation of the man Nixon and covers some of the more controversial aspects of his film. He also gives us his philosophy on drama and its ability to convey the shadow side of history which is often not the version put into the history books. Get a history lesson from Oliver Stone with this hour long talk about Nixon.

9. A Talk with Director Tim Burton

Director Tim Burton talks with Charlie Rose about his recent film and art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. In the first 10 minutes MOMA’s exhibit curators talk about putting on the exhibition. Then Burton discusses some of his sketches and talks about how he went from being a weird and quiet teenager to a filmmaker extraordinaire. Burton talks about his love of masks and how they bring out new aspects in his performers such as with Jack Nicholson made up as the Joker in his film Batman or Johnny Depp in the wide variety of outfits he has suited up for in many Burton films. Burton feels that all kids are artists and doodlers up to about age 12, but then for various reason these creative instincts are suppressed as people get older, and both Tim and Charlie find this unfortunate.

10. A Conversation with German Film Director Werner Herzog

German film director Werner Herzog sits down with Charlie Rose in this 23 minute interview and discusses his prolific filmmaking career. Herzog gives some insight into the making of his film Fitzcarraldo about which he recently published his personal diaries in a book called Conquest of the Useless. He talks about his philosophy of filmmaking and his search for the “ecstatic truth” when it comes to the many documentaries that he has shot over the years. Herzog also addresses his talent for bringing out the best in actors such as his unique gift for harnessing the talent of German actor Klaus Kinski.

Enjoy these and many, many more great shows from the modern master of interviews, Mr. Charlie Rose:

350 of the Best Charlie Rose Interviews on LearnOutLoud.com

January 9, 2012

Top 25 Science & Technology TED Talks

Yesterday was theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s 70th birthday! We’re celebrating this amazing scientific mind by featuring his 2008 TED talk in which he addresses some of the big questions about the universe such as: How did the universe begin? How did life begin? Are we alone? Along with this TED talk we’ve selected 24 other outstanding TED talks on science and technology to expand you mind. There are talks from science giants like James D. Watson, E.O. Wilson, Richard Dawkins, Craig Venter, along with talks from technology leaders like Jeff Bezos, Jimmy Wales, and Bill Gates. Here are our “Top 25 Science & Technology TED Talks” complete with LearnOutLoud reviews.

1. Stephen Hawking Asks Big Questions About the Universe

Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking takes a look at the big questions of the universe and gives the best answers that science has produced to date. He gives insight into how the universe began and how we discovered the universe is still expanding. Hawking also discusses the search for intelligent life and how we haven’t found anything yet in the nearest 100 light years. He cautions about the threats of destruction to life on Earth and feels man needs to keep venturing out into space in the future. He then answers a question about whether he thinks there is life outside of Earth in the Milky Way galaxy.

2. Debunking Third-World Myths with the Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen

Professor of global health Hans Rosling brings data to life in his first TED talk which dispels common myths about the so-called developing world. While many people assume that there is a large gap between technologically advanced western world and the rest of the developing world in terms of health and wealth, Rosling shows some tremendous animated graphs which show that from 1960 to the present day the so-called developing world has made enormous strides in terms of life expectancy, particularly in Asia. He presents a lot of other interesting data showing the rise of a global middle class and how diverse the statistics are in Africa. He hopes that by making data interesting and accessible to the average person it will give us a clearer picture of the way we view the world. And if you liked this one watch all of Hans Rosling’s TED talks.

3. Earth in Its Final Century?

British cosmologist Sir Martin Rees gives a wise talk on the history and future of Earth in this TED Talk. Viewed as a whole the Earth has seen very gradual change in its 4 billion year history. Since the dawn of man though there has been some quite rapid change on the planet particularly in the last 2000 years. And in just the past 50 years the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has begun to rise abruptly, the planet has been emitting radio waves, and small metallic objects have begun orbiting the Earth and some have journeyed out of that orbit. With 6 billion years yet to come on Earth it remains to be seen what sort of life will inhabit it, and we will need the humane wisdom of the elder Albert Einstein to prevent catastrophe.

4. Brian Greene on String Theory

Try wrapping your mind around string theory with this TED talk delivered by physicist Brian Greene. He starts the talk with the story of the German mathematician and physicist Theodor Kaluza who proposed that the universe might have more dimensions than the three-dimensional space apparent in of the physical world. This led much later to the attempt at discovering a unified theory through string theory and superstring theory which proposes 10 dimensions. Brian Greene ends the talk with describing some experiments which are being conducted that could lead to proving the existence of other dimensions.

5. James Watson on How He Discovered DNA

Legendary scientist James D. Watson tells the story of how he and Francis Crick co-discoverered the structure of DNA in 1953. As detailed in his bestselling book The Double Helix, Watson gives an entertaining account of how scientific discoveries are made in the modern world. He goes into some talks on genetics and DNA which may require some basic genetic knowledge to understand, but even without this knowledge one gets a taste for the excitement of scientific discovery. At the end of the talk he looks at the more recent discoveries of the genes that are thought to give predisposition to autism, schizophrenia, and more.

6. Debate: Does the World Need Nuclear Energy?

Listen to this brief debate at the TED conference over nuclear energy between environmentalist and Whole Earth Catalog editor Stewart Brand who argues in favor of nuclear energy in the face of global warming and Stanford University environmental engineering professor Mark Z. Jacobson who argues for using renewable energy sources of energy instead of resorting to nuclear power. Brand sees nuclear power as the best way to reduce the massive amount of carbon dioxide that coal plants emit. Jacobson provides stats on wind and solar power and warns of the dangers of countries secretly developing nuclear weapons in conjunction with establishing nuclear power.

7. E.O. Wilson on Saving Life on Earth

In this 2007 TED Prize talk biologist E.O. Wilson takes a look at the vastness of the biosphere and points out that the majority of species on Earth we’ve yet to discover. From his studies of insects he has come to understand immense beauty and variation in the smallest living things. Yet he cautions that humanity’s actions are set to destroy over half of the surviving animal and plant species on the planet by the end of the century along with destroying many species of living things before they are even discovered. He sums up these extinctions as being caused by H.I.P.P.O.: habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population expansion, and over-harvesting by excessive hunting and fishing. With this destruction of life, we will lose a vast amount of knowledge, along with the potentials of what this life can provide for the world. He wishes for an online encyclopedia of life to be created that researchers all over the world can contribute to in order to catalog our ever-expanding knowledge of life on Earth and value you it enough to avoid its destruction.

8. Richard Dawkins: The Universe is Queerer Than We Can Suppose

In this mind-bending lecture from TED.com, biologist Richard Dawkins examines the universe from the standpoint of contemporary science and finds that our universe is much stranger than we are capable of supposing. He provides many examples in the biological world about how assumptions such as a rock being solid and our bodies being the same throughout our life are incorrect. Stretch your perspective with Dawkin’s case for “thinking the improbable”.

9. Craig Venter is on the Verge of Creating Synthetic Life

Craig Venter is famous for his role in the Human Genome Project and their accomplishment in being the first group to sequence the human genome. In this TED talk he talks about his attempts to create life with a synthetic genome, and in 2010 Venter announced the creation of first self-replicating semi-synthetic bacterial cell. This talk from 2008 describes what they were doing in their attempts to create synthetic life and more importantly why they attempting to create synthetic life. Venter argues that synthetic life can create new forms of energy that convert carbon dioxide to fuel and replace the entire petrol-chemical industry. It’s an ambitious goal from one of the leading figures in genetics.

10. Paul Root Wolpe: It’s Time to Question Bio-Engineering

Bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe shows some of the latest feats in bio-engineering from creating animal hybrids such as the zorse (a zebra-horse hybrid) to genetically creating bio-luminescent animals that glow in the dark. He also covers the advances in cloning, genetically modified foods, and animal-robots which can be controlled by computers. After presenting all these fascinating and sometimes terrifying bio-engineering advances, Wolpe asks some very important ethical questions about the future of bio-engineering.

11. Ray Kurzweil on How Technology Will Transform Us

Futurist Ray Kurzweil takes a look the exponential growth of many forms of technology and where these technologies will take us in the not to distant future. From the spread of the cell phones to the development of nanotechnology, Kurzweil feels this is all leading to a technological singularity. It’s an interesting glimpse into the future with a leading technological thinker.

12. An Inside Tour of the World’s Biggest Supercollider

Physicist Brian Cox talks about the Large Hadron Collider which is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. Cox talks about how it is hoped that it will explain many of the most fundamental questions in physics. He explains the creation story as know by physics starting with the theory of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago and taking us through time to the present day.

13. Jeff Bezos on the Next Web Innovation

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos takes a look at the history of internet and compares it to past historical developments. He starts off relating it to the gold rush of the mid 19th century. At first people were skeptical but by a certain point everyone wanted in on the gold rush and the internet riches that were arising the late 20th century. They both had a bust and their excesses led to some tragic losses, but the internet has continued to be resilient in its innovations. Bezos then compares the internet to the development of electricity. By the early 20th century the ground work had been laid for electricity to be delivered to houses in urban areas and immediately people started developing electrical appliances. These rudimentary appliances were a long way away from the ones we know of today and Bezos feels we are at that early stage with the internet where we haven’t even begun to think of all the things we are going to be able to use it for.

14. Jared Diamond on Why Societies Collapse

Scientist Jared Diamond takes a look at the many factors that go into the causes for societies that have collapsed throughout history in this TED talk. He analyzes the Greenland Norse and the many environmental and social factors that led to its societal demise, and then focuses on the modern US state of Montana which, as a society within the United States, is facing many of the same issues. Diamond then points out some ways we can learn from history in order to prevent the collapse of contemporary societies and lead us off our current path of unsustainability.

15. Aubrey de Grey Says We Can Avoid Aging

Theoretician in the field of gerontology Aubrey de Grey looks at how new medical technologies are going to increase the lifespan of humans to the point of “longevity escape velocity” where we will be able to essentially live forever. He addresses a number of the arguments against his theory and provides some projections how old we are going to live on average in the coming years. He quickly addresses some of the scientific research behind his ideas and fields a few questions.

16. Chris Anderson: Technology’s Long Tail

Chris Anderson of WIRED magazine gives his grand unified theory of technology in this TED talk. He points out the four stages of a technology: first they fall below a critical price, then they rise to a critical mass, then they often displace an existing technology, and finally they often become nearly free. He walks us through the stages with the rise of the DVD from the 1990s into the 2000s. This talk was delivered back in 2004 and he does make some predictions with the rise of hybrid cars, free phone calls (Skype), and other technologies that were rising at the time. For the most part Anderson’s theory of technology seems to still hold up.

17. Sam Harris: Science Can Answer Moral Questions

Sam Harris, author of the recent book The Moral Landscape, posits that just as there are scientific facts there are also moral facts and science can play a role in determining morality when in comes to the well-being of humanity. He sets up the idea of a moral spectrum of what is optimal for human well-being within a culture and argues that there are universal truths which contribute towards this well-being just as there are truths when it comes to the physical health of a human being. With humor and clarity he questions certain religious practices as being the best way to confront moral dilemmas.

18. The Vision Behind One Laptop Per Child

In this TED talk the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association, Nicholas Negroponte, shares his ambitious vision of distributing $100 laptops to the children of the world. To date his organization has delivered 2 million laptops worldwide. He delivered this talk in 2006 when they were just ramping up their distribution and he tells of the challenges they faced in making a $100 laptop. He also talks about some of the successes they’ve had in the program in aiding the education of children throughout the globe.

19. Jimmy Wales on the Birth of Wikipedia

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales separates fact from fiction regarding the founding of his super popular online encyclopedia and how it operates. He talks about the close knit community which is at the heart of developing Wikipedia and the team of volunteers which have helped it grow technologically and have keep the costs down. Wales discusses some of the controversies and criticisms that have arisen about the Wikipedia project. It’s an interesting look behind-the-scenes at one of the most popular websites on the world wide web.

20. Bill Gates on Energy: Innovating to Zero

In this TED Talk Bill Gates speaks on innovating our energy policy so we reach zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. In this talk Gates provides a simple equation for the increase in carbon dioxide globally and he sees that the only way to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce carbon emissions from the equation. He calls for innovation in all alternative methods of creating energy and says it will take a miracle of innovation to come up with a solution. He suggests one possible “miracle” which he is investing in is a new kind of nuclear power which generates power from what we currently designate as nuclear waste. Listen to this clear and concise talk about how one of America’s top business & technology leaders is looking at solving the climate crisis.

21. Michael Pollan Gives a Plant’s-Eye View

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, talks about how he came to the idea of viewing the world from other species points of view. And while humanity often assumes human consciousness is the end-all and be-all of evolution, he humorously suggests that humanity was maybe grass’s way of getting another species to mow the lawn so there are less trees to prevent its growth. He presents a way of farming that he has discovered in which viewing the farming process from the point of view of other species could produce a new world where it is not a zero sum game of humanity winning.

22. Julian Assange: Why the World Needs WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange sits down with TED’s Chris Anderson at TEDGlobal 2010 for a discussion of his controversial website. Assange talks about the purpose of WikiLeaks which takes highly classified documents and video from whistleblowers and other sources in order to alert the press and public and instigate political change. Assange provides many examples of leaks which his site has released that have had an impact on global politics.

23. Al Gore: 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crisis

Al Gore lays out 15 ways to avert climate crisis through our personal and professional lives. He plays a brief slide show and provides examples of many of the ways that these steps are being used in action. Speaking to a business audience at the TED conference he also points out important steps that businesses can take to influence climate change.

24. Leonard Susskind: My Friend Richard Feynman

Physicist Leonard Susskind talks about his friendship with the legendary Richard Feynman. Feynman made many contributions to various areas of physics and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. Susskind tells stories of Feynman and his scientific method which sought to eliminate the “baloney” and make physics explainable. Through the many stories Susskind portrays the complexity of this brilliant 20th century physicist.

25. Jane Goodall on What Separates Us From the Apes

In this TED Talk from primatologist Jane Goodall, she discusses her many years spent with chimpanzees in Tanzania and the many ways in which she and other researchers have discovered that chimpanzees are similar to humans. From their ability to make tools to their emotional lives Goodall lays out the characteristics of chimps that may make us second guess how they are treated. She then talks about how chimpanzees are being endangered and she connects this to the many ways in which life and our environment are being threatened. At the end of the talk she gives reasons for hope with telling of some of the courageous acts of young people throughout the world that participate in the Roots & Shoots program she started.

Happy birthday Stephen Hawking!

December 5, 2011

Top Authors at Google Talks

The Authors@Google program features authors of recently published books who visit Google’s Mountain View headquarters or other Google offices and give a talk about their book along with fielding questions from Google employees. We’ve recently added over 100 of the best Authors@Google talks to our site, along with adding Google Tech Talks and other talks delivered at Google such as their Health@Google series, Women@Google series, and their Personal Growth Series. All these talks are available to stream on YouTube. And if you’ve got a smart phone, they’re great to cue up on YouTube in the car to listen to while you’re driving. We now have over 250 Google Talks and you can browse through them all right here:

Browse Over 250 Google Talks

Their author talks cover a wide variety of books, but the focus tends to be more on business, technology, leadership, and other topics that pertain to Google employees. We’ve compiled this list of Google talks for which we also offer the book being discussed on audio download. So if you enjoy one of these talks, you might want to download the audio book to get the full knowledge of the book the author is talking about. Watch some author talks from the Authors@Google program:

Chris Anderson on Free

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book for FREE!: Free: The Future of a Radical Price)

Christopher Hitchens on God Is Not Great

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything)

Dave Logan on Tribal Leadership

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book for FREE!: Tribal Leadership)

Don Tapscott on Wikinomics

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything)

Dr. John Ratey on Spark

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain)

Dr. Mark Hyman on The UltraMind Solution

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The UltraMind Solution)

Fred Kofman on Conscious Business

(If you like this talk, you can get the Sounds True course on the book: Conscious Business)

Ian Ayres on Super Crunchers

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart)

J. Craig Venter on A Life Decoded

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: A Life Decoded: My Genome – My Life)

Jon Meacham on American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: American Lion)

Lama Surya Das on Buddha Is as Buddha Does

(If you like this talk, you can get the Sounds True course on the book: Buddha Is As Buddha Does)

Lauren Weber on In Cheap We Trust

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue)

Leading at Google: Andrew Bernstein on The Myth of Stress

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The Myth of Stress)

Leading at Google: Jim Kouzes on The Leadership Challenge

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The Leadership Challenge)

Leading at Google: Michael Carroll on The Mindful Leader

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The Mindful Leader: Ten Principles for Bringing Out the Best in Ourselves and Others)

Louann Brizendine on The Female Brain

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The Female Brain)

Michael Lewis on The Blind Side

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The Blind Side)

Noah Goldstein on Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive)

Richard Brookhiser on George Washington on Leadership

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: George Washington on Leadership)

Richard Thaler on Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness)

Rob Walker on Buying In

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are)

Steve Wozniak on iWoz

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way)

Tim Ferriss on The 4-Hour Body

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: The 4-Hour Body)

Tina Fey on Bossypants

(If you like this talk, you can get the audio book: Bossypants)

And there are many more great Google Talks to choose from:

Browse Over 250 Google Talks

November 10, 2011

100 Best TED Talks

After watching or listening to hundreds of the most popular and highest rated TED talks, we’ve compiled this list of the 100 Best TED Talks of All Time! For over five years now the Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference has been releasing talks from their conference on video featuring leading thinkers not only in technology, entertainment, and design, but also science, psychology, personal growth, and numerous other areas. They now offer over 900 talks on their website and numerous other TED conferences have popped up including TED Global, TED India, TED Women, and 100s of TEDx Events which have produced almost 10,000 TEDx videos on YouTube.

For this top 100 list we’ve selected mostly videos from the main TED conferences but have also added some talks from these special TED events. We’ve divided the top 100 list up by categories and ranked the TED talks within each category according to the ones we enjoyed the most. We’ve generally left out the really short TED talks and the ones that are more entertainment rather than educational.

If you watch or listen to all these TED Talks, we guarantee that they will change the way you view the world! The TED Talks give you a global outlook in a way that few other resources can provide. And at 20 minutes or less you can get through a lot of them and gain a lot of condensed knowledge very quickly. Expand your mind and inspire yourself to learn more with these amazing TED talks!

Here are the categories we’ve featured below with the number of TED talks that we featured for each category:

ART & DESIGN (5 talks)
BUSINESS & ECONOMICS (10 talks)
EDUCATION (5 talks)
HEALTH & PERSONAL GROWTH (10 talks)
PSYCHOLOGY (15 talks)
RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY (10 talks)
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (25 talks)
SOCIAL SCIENCES & GLOBAL ISSUES (15 talks)
MISCELLANEOUS (5 talks)

And here are all of the 100 Best TED Talks with in depth write ups of why they’re so great. Start your TED education right now!

ART & DESIGN:

1. Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion

Conductor Benjamin Zander shares his passion for classical music in this TED talk. While the statistics say 3% of the population are classical music lovers, Zander attempts to prove that we are all lovers of classical music. He takes listeners on a journey of what he calls one-buttock playing where the pianist is moved with the music and in turn moves the audience. He then plays a Chopin prelude and proves that nobody is tone deaf.

2. Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie talks about the danger of only knowing a single story about a particular culture and relates it to events that have happened throughout her life. Growing up in Nigeria she started reading only European literature and she began writing stories only about whites. When she moved to the United States for college her roommate had been told only one story about Africa and was shocked by the similar middle class upbringing that Adichie had had. Adichie tells the story of going to Mexico while the media was reporting on the immigration crisis and she embarrassed by her cultural bias and at the diversity of Mexican culture she saw. She encourages us all to seek out a variety of stories about cultures and not just adhere to the one definitive story that is often told by the powerful of one’s own culture.

3. Amy Tan on Creativity

In this TED Talk author Amy Tan probes into the roots of creativity or how “out of nothing comes something”. She examines her own life and the many influences that have fed into her novels. She also tells of the many fascinating coincidences that have happened to her over the years at key moments of creativity. It’s an intriguing and often humorous talk from a beloved author.

4. The Wisdom of Designing Cradle to Cradle

Green-minded architect and designer William McDonough presents many of his ideas for creating sustainable businesses which he introduced in his book Cradle to Cradle. By creating products, buildings, and more that are non-toxic and reusable he shows how they can not only have a positive environmental affect but also how they can be profitable for companies in the long run. He presents many of the designs that his architectural firm has created for companies around the world.

5. Elizabeth Gilbert: A Different Way to Think About Creative Genius

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert examines the way society looks at artists and the way artists look at themselves in this TED talk. She feels that the creative people should view their work as channeling God’s creative gift to them rather than as their own personal creative genius. And she hopes such a shift might prevent some of the madness and self-destruction that occurs in so many of our modern artists.

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS:

1. Malcolm Gladwell: What We Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce

In this interesting talk delivered by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, he explores how the food industry went from looking for the perfect single spaghetti sauce recipe to a more diverse approach of creating a variety of spaghetti sauces to suit the desires of shoppers. He examines this trend through one of its main proponents Howard Moskowitz who used the field of psychophysics to create a variety of original sauces for Prego in the 1980s. Once this variability was proven to be successful it spread to the rest of the food industry, and Gladwell feels we are all happier for this increase in choices.

2. Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice

Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, discusses some of the observations he makes in his book in this talk from the TED conference. He argues that the vast explosion of choices in advanced capitalist societies has led to increased paralysis in terms of decision making and ultimately decreased satisfaction. He provides a number of examples to back up his thesis that more choice and individual freedom is not always best.

3. Jason Fried: Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work

37signals co-founder and Rework author Jason Fried makes some provocative suggestions regarding why work doesn’t get done in the workplace. He suggests that interruptions are the key component contributing to the lack work accomplished in the workplace and that managers and meetings are to blame. He relates the stage of work to the stages of sleep and in order to get the best work done one needs to go through these stages without interruption. This talk was delivered at the TEDxMidwest Conference.

4. Seth Godin on Standing Out

Seth Godin feels that days of status quo marketing through the television industrial complex are coming to an end. People are too busy to pay attention to the nonstop advertising of average products for average people. What grabs people’s attention is something remarkable, or rather something worth making a remark about. And their remarks spread the ideas or products to the world and make it a success. Learn about the cutting edge of spreading ideas with this talk by Seth Godin.

5. Rory Sutherland: Life Lessons from an Ad Man

Ad man Rory Sutherland takes a look at his profession and shows how advertising makes regular things valuable and that this perceived value is often just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value. He makes many telling jokes about this matter such as why don’t we sell placebos as medication if they’re actually shown to work in the perception of the ailing person. Throughout the talk he makes his point that advertising can often do a better job at spreading an idea or a product than rational problem solving.

6. Johanna Blakley: Lessons from Fashion’s Free Culture

Johanna Blakley delivers an eye-opening talk on copyrights in the world of fashion. Because the courts have deemed garments as too utilitarian to be copyrighted, the fashion industry has a complete lack of copyrights when it comes to their designs. They do have trademarks over their brands, but when it comes to the design anyone can copy it. This has led to the fashion imitations we are familiar with, but Blakley points out this hasn’t really hurt the industry because the customers who are buying the fakes are not the same as the customers who buy the real thing. If anything Blakley feels this has spawned creativity in fashion as designers are able to mix and match with any designs throughout history and they increasingly try to make designs that can’t easily be copied. Blakley points to other industries where items can’t be copyrighted and she feels that the struggling industries of movies, books, and music might need to update their ideas on copyright in this new digital age.

7. Steven Levitt Analyzes Crack Economics

In this humorous sketch provided by TED Talks, Steven Levitt analyzes what it takes to make a living selling drugs. Taking America’s crack epidemic as a template, Levitt discusses how inner city gangs developed a corporate structure that consolidated power, left little room for promotion, and was incredibly dangerous to boot. In the end Levitt argues that selling drugs on the street is about as lucrative as working at McDonald’s, but that this fact hasn’t diluted its mystique.

8. Chip Conley: Measuring What Makes Life Worthwhile

While businesses are obsessed with measuring the tangible elements for their business, hotelier and author of Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow Chip Conley makes a strong case for businesses to measure the intangibles of business such as the feelings of customers or the whether the employees find their work meaningful. After studying the “hierarchy of needs” developed by psychologist Abraham Maslow, Conley realized that there was a lot more to his business than making sure his customer’s basic needs were met. He set out to measure and improve the metrics of intangible benefits to his customers and employees and his hotel business boomed to become the second largest boutique hotelier in the world.

9. William Ury: The Walk from “No” to “Yes”

Master negotiator and Getting to YES author William Ury tells stories of successful negotiations he has conducted throughout his life often in heated political arenas. He talks about the Abraham Path Initiative which he conducted as a way of getting to the root of the conflicts in the Middle East by having people walk the path Abraham walked and practice Abrahamic hospitality along the way. This talk was delivered at the TEDxMidwest Conference.

10. Richard Branson’s Life at 30,000 Feet

TED’s Chris Anderson sits down with multibillionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson to discuss his some of the over 400 companies he’s started in his Virgin Group. Branson gives some advice and tells of his adventures along the way. He talks about his Virgin Galactic which is now booking sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public. And he tells of his philanthropic efforts around the world.

EDUCATION:

1. Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize Wish: Teach Every Child About Food

Chef Jamie Oliver gets serious of food education in this impassioned TED Talk that confronts the preventable obesity epidemic. He shows that diet-related disease is the leading cause of death in America and that 10% of our national health care costs goes towards treating these diseases. He then discusses childhood obesity and his campaign to reform school lunches along with his call for all children to be educated about food so that we can prevent the growing obesity crisis.

2. Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson gives a humorous and inspiring talk on rethinking education and its relation to creativity. He feels that education becomes increasingly narrow as students proceed through it leaving many forms of intelligence and creativity behind. In order to confront the unknown future, Robinson sees creativity as the essential component as future generations face new challenges with new ideas.

3. Salman Khan: Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education

In 2004 Salman Khan began posting math tutorials on YouTube and now he has created Khan Academy which features over 2,000 educational videos. In this talk at the 2011 TED Conference Khan describes how using video can help students learn at their pace and reduce the lecturing time a teacher needs to take which will allow for more one on one interaction with students. These video lectures can also become the homework that students do, and their actual “homework” can be done in the classroom with the teacher their to help. Watch this video on Salman Khan’s innovative use of educational video available on TED.com. And if you want to check out Salman Khan’s videos you can check them all out here: Khan Academy Videos.

4. Dave Eggers’ Wish: Once Upon a School

This entertaining and amusing talk was delivered by writer Dave Eggers at the TED conference. In the talk he tells about his founding of the literacy project 826 Valencia in San Francisco which brings together creative people with kids in the community for one-to-one tutoring. Instead of making it a non-profit they instead made the storefront a shop which sells pirate supplies and they actually ended up making a profit. Since then similar literacy projects have opened in major cities serving neighborhoods throughout the United States.

5. Jon Bischke on The Learning and Reputation Graph

In this TEDx talk, our very own founder and CEO of LearnOutLoud.com Jon Bischke talks about the future of education and how data on the progress of learning can transform our education system. Through adapting one’s education based on the progress of one’s learning schools can possibly do away with the idea of teaching the exact same things at the same time to every student and they might even be able to get rid of standardized testing. Jon also looks at how to achieve reputational data on people so that employers can make better decisions on hiring employees based on how they are rated in different areas by the people around them, such as who could be the best leader for a job and other areas where it is difficult for people to currently make judgments. Watch our LearnOutLoud.com CEO speak at this TED event!

HEALTH & PERSONAL GROWTH:

1. John Wooden on True Success

Hear some wisdom from a man who is often considered the greatest college basketball coach of all time: John Wooden. The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden passed away last year at the age of 99. Under Coach Wooden, UCLA won a record ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period. John Wooden left a legacy of leadership wisdom through his numerous books including his conception of “The Pyramid of Success”. In this talk delivered at the TED conference a few years ago, Wooden talks about true success being the satisfaction of knowing you that put forth your utmost effort in the game despite whether you win or lose. He readily quotes poetry and other sources of his inspiration throughout his life. This 20-minute talk is loaded with wisdom from a lifetime of success.

2. Dan Buettner: How to Live to Be 100+

Dan Buettner talks about the findings of his team as they studied the world’s “Blue Zones,” communities whose elders live with vim and vigor to record-setting age. He talks about a culture in Okinawa where the elderly were seen as the peak of society and they don’t have a concept such as retirement. There they stay in a close knit communities and have a strong sense of purpose, they make it a rule to eat only up to the point that they are 80% full, and they have physical activity built into their everyday lives. In America one of the communities that lives the longest are the Seventh Day Adventists who take a whole day every week to worship God, to be in nature, and to socialize within their faith based communities. For more tips on living to 100 definitely listen to this talk from TEDxTC.

3. Tony Robbins Asks Why We Do What We Do

Self development expert Anthony Robbins speaks at the TED Conference on what motivates people. Robbins insists that he isn’t a motivator, but instead he is out to find what motivates people and what is it that makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives. He discusses briefly the core human needs that drive people.

4. Dr. Dean Ornish on Healing

In this talk from the TED conference, holistic healing physician Dr. Dean Ornish prescribes easy and effective ways that you can prevent heart disease and other illnesses through changes in lifestyle and diet. He also points to the numerous ways in which diet and exercise can actually help to treat existing illnesses including cancer. Dr. Ornish addresses carbohydrates and fats and their relation to the obesity epidemic in America, along with ways people can lose weight and still be healthy. This talk is full of great pointers for improving your health.

5. Christopher McDougall: Are We Born to Run?

Christopher McDougall lays out the endurance running hypothesis that not only can all human beings run long distances but that in our early evolution humanity developed in hunting packs that ran long distances for food. By tying together insights from the world of running to the Tarahumara Indian tribe in the Mexican Copper Canyons who are capable of running great distances to some facts from evolutionary history, McDougall argues that all humans are born to run. After numerous running injuries, McDougall looked at the world’s best long distances runners such as the Tarahumara Indian tribe, and concludes that modern cushioned running shoes are a major cause of running injury.

6. William Li: Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?

In this talk William Li teaches TEDsters about angiogenesis, which is the growth of blood vessels, and how it relates to cancer. When a cancer develops angiogenesis feeds the tumor through blood vessel growth. Many medical breakthroughs have been made in treating cancer through anti-angiogenesis and some of these have been very effective at treating certain types of cancers. William Li and his Angiogenesis Foundation have looked beyond treatment of cancer and looked at how certain foods are naturally anti-angiogenesis and can “starve cancer”. He goes over a number of these foods and some of the studies that they’ve conducted around diet and nutrition. Li gives us an interesting glimpse into an area of cancer prevention and treatment that we might not have heard of before.

7. Slowing Down in a World Built for Speed

Journalist and author of the book In Praise of Slowness, Carl Honore talks about the rise of speed in almost every imaginable area of human life from fast food and instant gratification, to even such things as speed yoga and the 1-minute bedtime story. It was the 1-minute bedtime story which caused Carl Honore to take pause. A reformed speedaholic, Honore would rush through bedtime stories with his son and initially thought a 1-minute bedtime story was a great idea, but then realized how crazy his speed addiction had become. He tells the story of how he slowed down and also points out to slow movements happening throughout the world and the benefits that slowing down can have in many aspects of life.

8. Mark Hyman at TEDMED 2010

In this talk delivered at TEDMED, Dr. Mark Hyman presents his functional view medicine which focuses on the underlying causes of symptoms people experience rather than diagnosing them with a disease and putting them on medication. His holistic views of medicine started with himself when his health began to collapse earlier in his life. By studying many aspects in his life from stress to diet to toxins that he was unwittingly taking in, he was able to turn in health around. He hopes his promotion of this new kind of treating illness will transform medicine in the 21st century.

9. Elizabeth Lesser: Take “the Other” to Lunch

Author, activist, and Omega Institute co-founder Elizabeth Lesser talks about the importance of sitting down and talking with “the other”, referring to those people who you might consider your enemies or your ideological opposites. As a liberal activist she tells of her lunch with a conservative tea party activist and how they both felt the other side demonized their side. In reality they acknowledged that the harsh rhetoric of the fringes of either side really didn’t apply to anyone that the both of them knew. Listen to her interesting experiment which she challenges each of us to do.

10. Nigel Marsh: How to Make Work-Life Balance Work

Nigel Marsh takes a tough look at work-life balance and imagines ways we might be able to obtain a new outlook our busy lives. He took a year off of work and realized it was easy to balance your time when you didn’t have to work which is fine until the money runs out. Taking a more realistic view he imagined his ideally balanced day between work and life and tried practicing it and made some interesting discoveries.

PSYCHOLOGY:

1. Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight

In this moving talk delivered at the TED conference, brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor provides a first-person account of her own stroke and the experience of losing control of her bodily functions as well the functions of the left side of her brain. Instead of it being a painful or frightening experience, she said the stroke put her in a intense state of bliss and nirvana. Sharing this experience became her motivation for recovery.

2. Martin Seligman on Positive Psychology

In this TED talk Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology and the author Authentic Happiness and Learned Optimism, looks at ways healthy people can lead happier, more engaged, and more meaningful lives. While Seligman acknowledges that psychology has done a pretty good job over the past 50 years of making miserable people feel less miserable, he shows that there is a whole other realm of positive psychology which he and a group of other psychologists are only beginning to study. Seligman tells some of his findings on what contributes to healthy states of mind and what fosters genius. Going beyond the conventional pleasure seeking form of happiness, Seligman points to practices that truly give life meaning.

3. The Surprising Science of Motivation

Learn how to better motivate yourself and others in this recent popular TED Talk. In this talk writer Daniel H. Pink lays out the facts about what drives the best results in business. In study after study any work that requires creative problem solving does not benefit from external rewards such as money. Only mechanical tasks benefit when there is reward and punishment, but when creative solutions are required, workers are more motivated when they feel there is intrinsic value to what they are doing. Pink lays out some of the ways businesses have benefited by implementing policies to encourage the best in right brained, creative thinking.

4. Helen Fisher: The Science of Love, and the Future of Women

In this TED talk, anthropologist Helen Fisher discusses a study she was involved in which examined the brains and biochemistry of people in love. She points out the ways in which we have evolved in order to trigger love, lust, and attachment to a mate. She also examines the changes of women’s roles in society and how she feels this will ultimately lead to the happiest marriages.

5. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow

Check out this TED talk from psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who authored the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Csikszentmihalyi talks about how he became interested in psychology after World War II when he heard a lecture by Carl Jung. Csikszentmihalyi eventually began his psychological study of how average people become extraordinary which he attributes to the idea of “flow” when one become completely involved in an activity for its own sake. Csikszentmihalyi provides many examples of individuals who have tapped into this “flow” state.

6. Matthieu Ricard: Habits of Happiness

Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard examines happiness and well-being in this TED talk. He differentiates between pleasure and happiness as pleasure if fleeting and reliant upon circumstance. He feels that true happiness is found by training the mind to be happy regardless of the situation we find ourselves in and to tap into the deeper happiness of the awareness that we are more than our fleeting emotional states.

7. Vilayanur Ramachandran: A Journey to the Center of Your Mind

In this TED talk, neurologist Vilayanur Ramachandran provides some neuroscientific explanations for puzzling psychological and physiological phenomena. He covers why after certain brain injuries patients cannot visually recognize their mother, how to amputated patients can overcome the pain of phantom limbs for only $3, and why certain people see colors when they look at numbers and letters.

8. Temple Grandin: The World Needs All Kinds of Minds

In this TED Talk, Animals in Translation author Temple Grandin discusses her autism and the wide spectrum of autism, and how she has used her insights into autism to help her relate to the inner worlds of animal. Her autism leads to hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli and she correlates it to how animals perceive the world through their senses.

9. Dan Gilbert: Why Are We Happy? Why Aren’t We Happy?

Check out this TED talk from Harvard psychologist and the author of Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert. Gilbert provides info from studies that reveal that what we often think will make us happy is the opposite of the case. He shows that because we have the ability to consider the future, we are much better prepared for the results and can usually be happy regardless.

10. How Ordinary People Become Monsters… or Heroes

Renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo talks about the ideas in his book The Lucifer Effect which explores how good people turn evil. He looks at Abu Ghraib prison scandal which he was called as a witness to, and he compares it to the influential Stanford prison study which he conducted in the early 1970s. In both these circumstances normal individuals were given power without oversight over the prisoners. Zimbardo emphasizes the importance of circumstance when it comes to the potential evil, indifference, or heroism in all of us. Note: Zimbardo shows some graphic imagery of Abu Ghraib in this video.

11. Why We Think It’s OK to Cheat and Steal (Sometimes)

In this TED talk Dan Ariely, author of the bestselling book Predictably Irrational, talks about his experiments in cheating in an attempt to understand the economic cheating that happened during the Enron scandal and later the Wall Street financial crisis. At MIT Ariely tested students at various activities and he details the many findings him and his colleagues discovered such as that most people like to cheat a little bit but not so much that it gives them negative impression of themselves as a “cheater”.

12. Nancy Etcoff on the Surprising Science of Happiness

In this fast-paced talk from cognitive researcher Nancy Etcoff she looks the science of happiness and the many ways in which it is achieved along with the ways that it eludes us. She describes in basic terms the neuroscience of happiness including the importance of neurotransmitter dopamine and the hormone oxytocin. She also talks about the rise of stress, depression, and anxiety in the modern world. It’s an interesting overall view of some of the recent findings in the science of happiness.

13. Daniel Goleman: Why Aren’t We All Good Samaritans?

In this brief TED talk, psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman discusses his research into the psychology of compassion and being a “good Samaritan”. He suggests that our emotional response to be compassionate towards others is an automatic response when we see people suffering, and it is only by turning this emotion off through the busyness of our daily lives that we suppress this desire to help others. He then provides some inspirational stories for how we might all work towards being good Samaritans.

14. Sherwin B. Nuland on Electroshock Therapy

In this TED talk American surgeon, author, and Yale professor Sherwin B. Nuland talks about the history of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for treatment of severe major depression and other mental illnesses. He then proceeds to tell about his own recovery from major depression through electroshock therapy back in the 1970s. After his first marriage failed he fell into a deep depression until he could no longer function. When no other treatments worked the doctors attempted electroshock therapy which led to a remarkable recovery.

15. Oliver Sacks: What Hallucination Reveals About our Minds

Neurologist Oliver Sacks talks about Charles Bonnet syndrome where visually impaired people experience lucid hallucinations. Sacks points out that about 10% of visually impaired people experience these hallucinations, but few mention it because they are often frightened that they are losing their minds. Sacks gives examples of many of his patients who have had these hallucinations and what they often consist of. Through brain scans scientists have actually been able to identify which parts of the brain are activated when such hallucinations occur.

RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY:

1. David Christian: Big History

Oxford University Professor David Christian takes us on our 13.7 billion year journey in this TED Talk that covers “big history” from the big bang all the way up to the rise of humanity. He tells us how rare it is that complexity arises in the universe and particularly the “Goldilocks” conditions for which life on Earth arose. He finds humanity as a new threshold in the complex development of “big history” because we are able to accumulate knowledge and pass it onto the next generation. He does point out that it is not entirely clear that we are in charge of this learning that we have acquired considering the current threats of nuclear devastation and global warming that potentially threaten the conditions for life on Earth. This fabulous TED lecture is available on MP3 audio download and streaming video. And if you’re interested you might want to check out Professor David Christian’s Teaching Company course Big History: The Big Bang, Life on Earth, and the Rise of Humanity.

2. Alain de Botton: A Kinder, Gentler Philosophy of Success

In this talk at TEDGlobal philosopher Alain de Botton looks at the contemporary notion of success and why he feels it is such a source of anxiety for so many people. He finds that in today’s world the appearance of equality, such as Bill Gates dressing just like everybody else, makes most people feel they too can be rich & successful. He also relates contemporary success to the meritocracy that exists today when people are made to feel that they own their successes and failures. And he looks at how failure is treated today by referencing the tabloids that often portray failures without any empathy, whereas in past societies tragedy was often used to encourage empathy of people that might’ve failed at something. Ultimately Alain de Botton encourages you to try to not live according to the models of success & failure around you, but to instead make success your own!

3. East vs. West: The Myths that Mystify

Mythologist Dr. Devdutt Pattanaik compares the roots of Eastern and Western mythologies and shows how understanding these myths can explain a lot about the every aspect of these cultures and help us overcome our misunderstandings and conflicts between these world views. He tells the story of Alexander the Great who encountered what the Greeks called a Gymnosophists who were ancient Indian philosophers that pursued asceticism. The Gymnosophist told the Alexander the Great that he was seeking nothingness and Alexander the Great told the Gymnosophist that was seeking to conquer the World and they both laughed at each other. Dr. Pattanaik then examines the myths that two men grew up with and shows how understanding this can give us insight into the supposed clash of civilizations throughout history. He relates this to the differing ways in which Indians and Americans conduct business today, and when questioned which view is better Pattanaik says we should choose for ourselves and we shouldn’t never be fundamentalist about our world views since they are man made.

4. Karen Armstrong’s Wish: Charter for Compassion

Comparative religion scholar Karen Armstrong talks about how she stumbled into her field during a trip to Jerusalem and ever since she has studied the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. She looks at the concept of belief and how it has changed over the centuries and how in today’s religious practice the need to be right is often elevated over the call to be compassionate. She points out that the golden rule is at the center of all major world religions, and at the end she makes her TED Prize wish for a “Charter for Compassion” put together by thoughtful leaders of all faiths around the world.

5. Rick Warren: Living a Life of Purpose

Pastor Rick Warren authored the mega-bestselling book The Purpose Driven Life. In this TED Talk he talks about how the popularity of the book altered his life’s purpose. With the bestselling book comes tons of money and before spending any of it he sat down with his wife and laid out that there were going to not spend it on themselves and instead would give back to their church and give 90% of it to charity. He also talk about the fame and influence that came with the book, and how this influence has enabled him to expand the purpose that he feels God put him on Earth to do. He encourages us all to use our influence to speak up for those that have little influence in our society.

6. A Secular, Scientific Rebuttal to Rick Warren

Philosopher Dan Dennett starts this TED Talk by arguing that the facts of all major world religions should be taught in schools. He addresses pastor Rick Warren who was speaking at that year’s TED conference. Dennett quotes from Rick Warren’s mega-bestselling book The Purpose-Driven Life and mentions some things he finds troubling about the book. He denounces intelligent design and questions the God designed the environment just so we could live in it. He also doesn’t feel that without God life is meaninglessness and we cannot be good.

7. Barry Schwartz: Using Our Practical Wisdom

In this TED Talk Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice and his latest book Practical Wisdom, talks about the absence of calling on virtue and wisdom in our personal and professional lives. While most businesses bribe their employees with incentives or try to control them by rules and regulations, Schwartz feels this demoralizes professional activity and he provides some examples of this in action. Schwartz argues that all people want to be allowed to be virtuous in their workplace and their personal lives, and leaders should encourage practical wisdom in all walks of life.

8. Steven Johnson: Where Good Ideas Come From

Eclectic author Steven Johnson talks about his recent book Where Good Ideas Come From in this talk from TEDGlobal. Through researching good ideas throughout history Johnson tries to discover best environments in which good ideas are fostered. He covers the history of the coffee shop and how in British culture the switch from the bar to the coffee shop (with its stimulant accompaniment coffee) helped to foster the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Great Britain. He also talks about how great ideas often take a long time to germinate and aren’t necessarily the “eureka” moments we often here about.

9. Billy Graham: Technology, Faith and Human Shortcomings

Rev. Billy Graham talks about science and technology and that despite it’s many advances it hasn’t been able to solve the problems of evil, suffering, and death. He quotes from many famous thinkers throughout history that have grappled with these problems. At 80 years old he tells some of his own experiences that he has encountered when facing these questions. He quotes from the Bible and points to his faith in Jesus Christ when it comes to facing life’s ultimate questions regarding evil, suffering, and death.

10. Richard Dawkins on Militant Atheism

In this TED talk, Oxford professor and author Richard Dawkins calls for atheists to step forward and join forces against religions unquestioned dominance of politics and culture. Dawkins argues that the majority of intelligentsia are atheists and yet in American political and social life their voices are seldom heard because of their reluctance to stand up for atheism. Dawkins suggests some alternatives to the taboo word atheist such as agnostic, humanist, naturalist, and he finally settles on “non-theist”. Since 9/11 Dawkins feels it is time for all atheists to stop being respectful and to start being militant with their beliefs.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

1. Stephen Hawking Asks Big Questions About the Universe

Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking takes a look at the big questions of the universe and gives the best answers that science has produced to date. He gives insight into how the universe began and how we discovered the universe is still expanding. Hawking also discusses the search for intelligent life and how we haven’t found anything yet in the nearest 100 light years. He cautions about the threats of destruction to life on Earth and feels man needs to keep venturing out into space in the future. He then answers a question about whether he thinks there is life in Milky Way.

2. Debunking Third-World Myths with the Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen

Professor of global health Hans Rosling brings data to life in his first TED talk which dispels common myths about the so-called developing world. While many people assume that there is a large gap between technologically advanced western world and the rest of the developing world in terms of health and wealth, Rosling shows some tremendous animated graphs which show that from 1960 to the present day the so-called developing world has made enormous strides in terms of life expectancy, particularly in Asia. He presents a lot of other interesting data showing the rise of a global middle class and how diverse the statistics are in Africa. He hopes that by making data interesting and accessible to the average person it will give us a clearer picture of the way we view the world. And if you liked this one watch all of Hans Rosling’s TED talks.

3. Earth in Its Final Century?

British cosmologist Sir Martin Rees gives a wise talk on the history and future of Earth in this TED Talk. Viewed as a whole the Earth has seen very gradual change in its 4 billion year history. Since the dawn of man though there has been some quite rapid change on the planet particularly in the last 2000 years. And in just the past 50 years the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has begun to rise abruptly, the planet has been emitting radio waves, and small metallic objects have begun orbiting the Earth and some have journeyed out of that orbit. With 6 billion years yet to come on Earth it remains to be seen what sort of life will inhabit it, and we will need the humane wisdom of the elder Albert Einstein to prevent catastrophe.

4. Brian Greene on String Theory

Try wrapping your mind around string theory with this TED talk delivered by physicist Brian Greene. He starts the talk with the story of the German mathematician and physicist Theodor Kaluza who proposed that the universe might have more dimensions than the three-dimensional space apparent in of the physical world. This led much later to the attempt at discovering a unified theory through string theory and superstring theory which proposes 10 dimensions. Brian Greene ends the talk with describing some experiments which are being conducted that could lead to proving the existence of other dimensions.

5. James Watson on How He Discovered DNA

Legendary scientist James D. Watson tells the story of how he and Francis Crick co-discoverered the structure of DNA in 1953. As detailed in his bestselling book The Double Helix, Watson gives an entertaining account of how scientific discoveries are made in the modern world. He goes into some talks on genetics and DNA which may require some basic genetic knowledge to understand, but even without this knowledge one gets a taste for the excitement of scientific discovery. At the end of the talk he looks at the more recent discoveries of the genes that are thought to give predisposition to autism, schizophrenia, and more.

6. Debate: Does the World Need Nuclear Energy?

Listen to this brief debate at the TED conference over nuclear energy between environmentalist and Whole Earth Catalog editor Stewart Brand who argues in favor of nuclear energy in the face of global warming and Stanford University environmental engineering professor Mark Z. Jacobson who argues for using renewable energy sources of energy instead of resorting to nuclear power. Brand sees nuclear power as the best way to reduce the massive amount of carbon dioxide that coal plants emit. Jacobson provides stats on wind and solar power and warns of the dangers of countries secretly developing nuclear weapons in conjunction with establishing nuclear power.

7. E.O. Wilson on Saving Life on Earth

In this 2007 TED Prize talk biologist E.O. Wilson takes a look at the vastness of the biosphere and points out that the majority of species on Earth we’ve yet to discover. From his studies of insects he has come to understand immense beauty and variation in the smallest living things. Yet he cautions that humanity’s actions are set to destroy over half of the surviving animal and plant species on the planet by the end of the century along with destroying many species of living things before they are even discovered. He sums up these extinctions as being caused by H.I.P.P.O.: habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population expansion, and over-harvesting by excessive hunting and fishing. With this destruction of life, we will lose a vast amount of knowledge, along with the potentials of what this life can provide for the world. He wishes for an online encyclopedia of life to be created that researchers all over the world can contribute to in order to catalog our ever-expanding knowledge of life on Earth and value you it enough to avoid its destruction.

8. Richard Dawkins: The Universe is Queerer Than We Can Suppose

In this mind-bending lecture from TED.com, biologist Richard Dawkins examines the universe from the standpoint of contemporary science and finds that our universe is much stranger than we are capable of supposing. He provides many examples in the biological world about how assumptions such as a rock being solid and our bodies being the same throughout our life are incorrect. Stretch your perspective with Dawkin’s case for “thinking the improbable”.

9. Craig Venter is on the Verge of Creating Synthetic Life

Craig Venter is famous for his role in the Human Genome Project and their accomplishment in being the first group to sequence the human genome. In this TED talk he talks about his attempts to create life with a synthetic genome, and in 2010 Venter announced the creation of first self-replicating semi-synthetic bacterial cell. This talk from 2008 describes what they were doing in their attempts to create synthetic life and more importantly why they attempting to create synthetic life. Venter argues that synthetic life can create new forms of energy that convert carbon dioxide to fuel and replace the entire petrol-chemical industry. It’s an ambitious goal from one of the leading figures in genetics.

10. Paul Root Wolpe: It’s Time to Question Bio-Engineering

Bioethicist Paul Root Wolpe shows some of the latest feats in bio-engineering from creating animal hybrids such as the zorse (a zebra-horse hybrid) to genetically creating bio-luminescent animals that glow in the dark. He also covers the advances in cloning, genetically modified foods, and animal-robots which can be controlled by computers. After presenting all these fascinating and sometimes terrifying bio-engineering advances, Wolpe asks some very important ethical questions about the future of bio-engineering.

11. Ray Kurzweil on How Technology Will Transform Us

Futurist Ray Kurzweil takes a look the exponential growth of many forms of technology and where these technologies will take us in the not to distant future. From the spread of the cell phones to the development of nanotechnology, Kurzweil feels this is all leading to a technological singularity. It’s an interesting glimpse into the future with a leading technological thinker.

12. An Inside Tour of the World’s Biggest Supercollider

Physicist Brian Cox talks about the Large Hadron Collider which is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. Cox talks about how it is hoped that it will explain many of the most fundamental questions in physics. He explains the creation story as know by physics starting with the theory of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago and taking us through time to the present day.

13. Jeff Bezos on the Next Web Innovation

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos takes a look at the history of internet and compares it to past historical developments. He starts off relating it to the gold rush of the mid 19th century. At first people were skeptical but by a certain point everyone wanted in on the gold rush and the internet riches that were arising the late 20th century. They both had a bust and their excesses led to some tragic losses, but the internet has continued to be resilient in its innovations. Bezos then compares the internet to the development of electricity. By the early 20th century the ground work had been laid for electricity to be delivered to houses in urban areas and immediately people started developing electrical appliances. These rudimentary appliances were a long way away from the ones we know of today and Bezos feels we are at that early stage with the internet where we haven’t even begun to think of all the things we are going to be able to use it for.

14. Jared Diamond on Why Societies Collapse

Scientist Jared Diamond takes a look at the many factors that go into the causes for societies that have collapsed throughout history in this TED talk. He analyzes the Greenland Norse and the many environmental and social factors that led to its societal demise, and then focuses on the modern US state of Montana which, as a society within the United States, is facing many of the same issues. Diamond then points out some ways we can learn from history in order to prevent the collapse of contemporary societies and lead us off our current path of unsustainability.

15. Aubrey de Grey Says We Can Avoid Aging

Theoretician in the field of gerontology Aubrey de Grey looks at how new medical technologies are going to increase the lifespan of humans to the point of “longevity escape velocity” where we will be able to essentially live forever. He addresses a number of the arguments against his theory and provides some projections how old we are going to live on average in the coming years. He quickly addresses some of the scientific research behind his ideas and fields a few questions.

16. Chris Anderson: Technology’s Long Tail

Chris Anderson of WIRED magazine gives his grand unified theory of technology in this TED talk. He points out the four stages of a technology: first they fall below a critical price, then they rise to a critical mass, then they often displace an existing technology, and finally they often become nearly free. He walks us through the stages with the rise of the DVD from the 1990s into the 2000s. This talk was delivered back in 2004 and he does make some predictions with the rise of hybrid cars, free phone calls (Skype), and other technologies that were rising at the time. For the most part Anderson’s theory of technology seems to still hold up.

17. Sam Harris: Science Can Answer Moral Questions

Sam Harris, author of the recent book The Moral Landscape, posits that just as there are scientific facts there are also moral facts and science can play a role in determining morality when in comes to the well-being of humanity. He sets up the idea of a moral spectrum of what is optimal for human well-being within a culture and argues that there are universal truths which contribute towards this well-being just as there are truths when it comes to the physical health of a human being. With humor and clarity he questions certain religious practices as being the best way to confront moral dilemmas.

18. The Vision Behind One Laptop Per Child

In this TED talk the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association, Nicholas Negroponte, shares his ambitious vision of distributing $100 laptops to the children of the world. To date his organization has delivered 2 million laptops worldwide. He delivered this talk in 2006 when they were just ramping up their distribution and he tells of the challenges they faced in making a $100 laptop. He also talks about some of the successes they’ve had in the program in aiding the education of children throughout the globe.

19. Jimmy Wales on the Birth of Wikipedia

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales separates fact from fiction regarding the founding of his super popular online encyclopedia and how it operates. He talks about the close knit community which is at the heart of developing Wikipedia and the team of volunteers which have helped it grow technologically and have keep the costs down. Wales discusses some of the controversies and criticisms that have arisen about the Wikipedia project. It’s an interesting look behind-the-scenes at one of the most popular websites on the world wide web.

20. Bill Gates on Energy: Innovating to Zero

In this TED Talk Bill Gates speaks on innovating our energy policy so we reach zero carbon emissions globally by 2050. In this talk Gates provides a simple equation for the increase in carbon dioxide globally and he sees that the only way to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to reduce carbon emissions from the equation. He calls for innovation in all alternative methods of creating energy and says it will take a miracle of innovation to come up with a solution. He suggests one possible “miracle” which he is investing in is a new kind of nuclear power which generates power from what we currently designate as nuclear waste. Listen to this clear and concise talk about how one of America’s top business & technology leaders is looking at solving the climate crisis.

21. Michael Pollan Gives a Plant’s-Eye View

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, talks about how he came to the idea of viewing the world from other species points of view. And while humanity often assumes human consciousness is the end-all and be-all of evolution, he humorously suggests that humanity was maybe grass’s way of getting another species to mow the lawn so there are less trees to prevent its growth. He presents a way of farming that he has discovered in which viewing the farming process from the point of view of other species could produce a new world where it is not a zero sum game of humanity winning.

22. Julian Assange: Why the World Needs WikiLeaks

WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange sits down with TED’s Chris Anderson at TEDGlobal 2010 for a discussion of his controversial website. Assange talks about the purpose of WikiLeaks which takes highly classified documents and video from whistleblowers and other sources in order to alert the press and public and instigate political change. Assange provides many examples of leaks which his site has released that have had an impact on global politics.

23. Al Gore: 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crisis

Al Gore lays out 15 ways to avert climate crisis through our personal and professional lives. He plays a brief slide show and provides examples of many of the ways that these steps are being used in action. Speaking to a business audience at the TED conference he also points out important steps that businesses can take to influence climate change.

24. Leonard Susskind: My Friend Richard Feynman

Physicist Leonard Susskind talks about his friendship with the legendary Richard Feynman. Feynman made many contributions to various areas of physics and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965. Susskind tells stories of Feynman and his scientific method which sought to eliminate the “baloney” and make physics explainable. Through the many stories Susskind portrays the complexity of this brilliant 20th century physicist. This TED talk is available on streaming video and video download.

25. Jane Goodall on What Separates Us From the Apes

In this TED Talk from primatologist Jane Goodall, she discusses her many years spent with chimpanzees in Tanzania and the many ways in which she and other researchers have discovered that chimpanzees are similar to humans. From their ability to make tools to their emotional lives Goodall lays out the characteristics of chimps that may make us second guess how they are treated. She then talks about how chimpanzees are being endangered and she connects this to the many ways in which life and our environment are being threatened. At the end of the talk she gives reasons for hope with telling of some of the courageous acts of young people throughout the world that participate in the Roots & Shoots program she started.

SOCIAL SCIENCES & GLOBAL ISSUES:

1. Joseph Nye on Global Power Shifts

Joseph Nye is an international relations theorist who coined the term “soft power” which is the “ability to get others to want what you want, to get the outcomes you want, without coercion or payment”. In this TED talk he takes a look at the current power shifts of the 21st century which in broad terms are shifting from West to East. While traditionally these power shifts were seen in terms of economics and military power, he argues that the trends in power have shifted with more importance on non-state actors from corporations to international organizations to terrorist networks. And he feels that the shift in power from the United States to China should not be framed in as a zero sum game, but one in which both parties can benefit from the power shift.

2. Steven Pinker on the Myth of Violence

Steven Pinker shatters some commonly held assumptions about the violence of our times showing how in actuality we live in the least violent time in human history. He shows data on the homicide rate throughout human history, dispelling myths that our ancestors lived in peaceful harmony with one another. Pinker finally presents a number of theories as to why humanity is less violent that it has ever been.

3. Sunitha Krishnan Fights Sex Slavery

Indian social activist Sunitha Krishnan addresses the global problem of sex slavery. She tells some disturbing stories surrounding the issue and then talks about how people often do not wish to become involved with this sad abuse of human rights. After telling her own story of abuse, she tells of the heroic ways that she has helped over 3000 people out of sex slavery. She encourages everyone to become informed about this issue and to do one thing to combat sex slavery. This talk was delivered at TEDIndia.

4. Misha Glenny Investigates Global Crime Networks

In this TED talk journalist Misha Glenny takes a deep look into the world of organized crime which now is estimated to account for 15% of the global economy. He tells the story of the rise of the mafia in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Berlin Wall where many of the Communist government workers moved into the world of organized crime. Glenny traveled all over the world examinging organized crime from the production centers in the third world to the areas of trafficking in places like the Balkans and Mexico to the consumers of the products of organized crime in the European Union, Japan, and the United States. From money laundering to cyber crime to drugs & prostitution, Glenny provides an interesting glimpse into the shadow economy that is all around us.

5. Larry Lessig: How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig has been advocating reduced legal restrictions on copyright and trademark for years now. He starts this TED talk by quoting American composer John Philip Sousa who argued against music players because he felt that they would ruin artistic development in the young since they would not sing the songs of the day but rather listen to these “infernal machines” and just become consumers of music. Lessig feels that throughout much of the 20th century Sousa was right, but that with the arrival the digital age, the new technologies have made way for more and more amateurs to become creators. While the youth are busy remixing the culture of the day, the copyright law in America has not adapted to these new creations and has turned these amateurs in criminals. Lessig argues for new sorts of copyright that allow for simple ways to allow for this new creative expression.

6. David Logan on Tribal Leadership

Management consultant David Logan has been studying “tribes” for decades now which he describes as the many groups of 20-150 people that human beings associate with on a daily basis. In this TED talk he takes us through the five stages of tribes from the first stage of anti-social groups that basically assert that “life sucks” all the way up to the fifth stage of tribes who seek to transcend their tribe and make the world a better place. He gives many examples of the tribes at these various stages and how they interact with one another. It’s an great model for analyzing any of the many tribes you might be inhabit.

7. Sheryl WuDunn: Our Century’s Greatest Injustice

Sheryl WuDunn is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. In this TED Global talk she gives us the facts on the inequalities of women worldwide, such as the fact that there are less women in the world than men due to mostly to the injustices inflicted on women in the developing world. She goes on to tell many interesting stories of women worldwide who are empowered by the smallest efforts in aiding their education and opportunities, and how these efforts ripple onto their children and future generations. At the end she gives us a few reasons to help women globally to those of us who have won the lottery of life by being born into an affluent society.

8. Nicholas Christakis: How Social Networks Predict Epidemics

Nicholas Christakis speaks at TED on his studies of social networks and how things spread amongst these networks. He looks at a study of obesity and the ways in which obese people connect to other obese people over time. After those findings he looked at the spread of certain emotions within social networks. At the end of the talk he encourages more social connections as being ultimately beneficial.

9. Shashi Tharoor: Why Nations Should Pursue “Soft” Power

Indian Parliament member and author Shashi Tharoor takes a fresh look at India’s rise as a world superpower. Instead of pursuing the economic and military superiority of past world superpowers, Tharoor argues that his country should pursue “soft” power when presenting themselves to the rest of the world. He points out how the story of America and American culture have often had more influence globally than their economic or military might. Tharoor demonstrates how from ancient history to the present India has had a very rich story to tell and how Indian culture is now beginning pervade throughout the rest of the world.

10. Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders

Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg gives the statistics on women in leadership around the world and tells why she thinks women are not moving into these roles in politics and business. Sandberg gives examples of the subtle ways that women often shy away from the roles men are so driven to get and she encourages women to overcome these cultural barriers in order to get to a more equal balance of male vs. female leaders. This talk was delivered at TEDWomen.

11. Robert Wright: How Cooperation (Eventually) Trumps Conflict

Author Robert Wright argues that the ongoing evolution of human interactions have become increasingly complex which has lead to greater rewards for cooperation amongst all peoples. He calls these interactions non-zero-sum games because in general both parties are profiting from cooperation. Where in past societies families, tribes, and nations often participated in non-cooperation, zero-sum games that led to violence and warfare, in our globalized, capitalistic society there is often a lot at stake when peoples or nations do not cooperate with one another. He does provide some cautionary notes to this otherwise optimistic tale of global cooperation.

12. Tony Porter: A Call to Men

Tony Porter co-founder behind the nonprofit A Call to Men: The National Association of Men and Women Committed to Ending Violence Against Women. In this TED Talk which he delivered at TEDWomen he talks about the socialization of men in society and how boys are taught to stay in the “man box” where men don’t show emotion or cry. They’re also taught to treat women like objects and to not act “like a woman”. Born and raised in the Bronx, Porter tells some stories which changed his views on how men are raised and what inspired him to break out of his own “man box”.

13. Martin Jacques: Understanding the Rise of China

Author of When China Rules the World Martin Jacques shows the rapid economic expansion of China with projections that it might eclipse the U.S. economy by 2020 and by 2050 be possibly double that of the U.S. with a GDP of $70 trillion. While many in the West assume that this economic growth will be coupled with increasing westernization of China’s society and institution, Martin Jacques argues that this is a very ignorant point of view. He demonstrates how different Chinese culture is in fundamental ways from Western countries, and while people of the major powers of the West may think they know a lot about the world it is actually these developing Eastern countries that know much more about the West.

14. David Brooks on The Social Animal

New York Times columnist David Brooks speaks at the 2011 TED conference about some of the ideas in his latest book The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement. From his work in covering politics he has observed amazing social and emotional skills in politicians as they interact amongst themselves and with their constituents but has seen a disconnect when it comes to reasoning out policy. In this talk he emphasizes the importance of training the emotions and the unconscious as well as the reasonable, logical brain that we develop in education.

15. Isabel Allende: Tales of Passion

In this TED talk, Chilean-American novelist Isabel Allende stands up for passionate feminism when confronting global issues. She feels women’s energy is needed to alleviate the suffering of women and poor people in developing countries. During the talk she tells tales of courageous women throughout the world.

MISCELLANEOUS:

1. J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box

Get inspired for creativity with this enjoyable talk by film director and creator of TV’s Lost Series J.J. Abrams. Abrams talks about his grandfather and the sense of mystery that he instilled into Abrams as a child. As a memento to his grandfather he kept a box of magic box sealed that his grandfather gave to him. He always has kept the box with him in his creative endeavors and has tried to use mystery to constantly propel his stories forward.

2. Doris Kearns Goodwin on Learning from Past Presidents

In this short lecture provided by TED Talks, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin explores what we can learn about life from the lives of the Great Presidents. In trying to balance work, love, and play, we see how the ambitious Lincoln was always trying to find respite in Shakespeare, and how Lyndon Johnson found it difficult adjusting to family life after the fast pace of the Presidency. Viewed through the prism of the Presidents, Goodwin demonstrates that even our most celebrated leaders had a hard time sustaining a balanced, happy life.

3. David Blaine: How I Held My Breath for 17 Min.

Magician David Blaine talks about his tireless attempts at doing what is thought impossible. He begin looking into holding the breath and researching what it takes to hold the breath for longer than scientists thought possible. At first he experimented with creating the illusion of holding the breath, but when those attempts failed he began exploring what it would take to actual hold his breath for the longest period of time and break the world record. After much trial and error he finally broke the record holding his breath for 17 minutes and 4.4 seconds on the The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2008. This talk was filmed at TEDMED.

4. How to Survive a Nuclear Attack

Disaster-medicine expert Dr. Irwin Redlener takes a look at the threat of nuclear attacks. From the first development of the nuclear bomb and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the number of nuclear weapons expanded throughout the Cold War and today there are still an estimated 21,000 nuclear warheads in the World. While all out nuclear war between nations is unlikely in the current state of global affairs, Dr. Redlener looks at the real threat of nuclear terrorism. He then proceeds to tell us how to possibly survive a nuclear terrorist attack and gives us concrete advice on what to do if you survive the initial blast. Currently there are no major American cities that have developed effective plans to deal with nuclear detonation despite that there are ways to minimize fatalities. He concludes by reminding us that the only way to truly deal with the threat of nuclear war or terrorism is the complete abolition of nuclear weapons and encourages everyone to work on this matter.

5. Keith Barry Does Brain Magic

While not necessarily educational since Barry doesn’t tell us how he did his tricks, it is nevertheless a very entertaining TED Talk. He starts with a brain trick that even works at home. He goes on to do many tricks such as driving with a blindfold, doing some puzzling voodoo experiments, and more. It’s a TED talk that is sure to get you scratching your head.

That’s it! The best 100 TED talks in the world!

August 26, 2009

Free Online Psychology Audio & Video Resources

Check out 25 of the top free psychology audio books, lectures, & podcasts available for free online. For the past five years we’ve featured dozens of free psychology resources as part of our Free Resource of the Day Emails. From these emails, we’ve curated the 25 titles listed below, which include introductions to psychology and psycho-analysis, the evolutionary origins of the human mind, and what the latest neuroscience research is revealing about how human beings operate. We also feature resources that delve into ways you can boost brain performance, how to cope with depression, and what it means to be truly happy. Click any of the 25 titles listed below to get started:

1. Dream Psychology: Psychoanalysis for Beginners

Download the audio book of Sigmund Freud’s Dream Psychology. This book distills Freud’s ideas on dream psychology into a compact manual. While Freud’s magnum opus The Interpretation Of Dreams can be overwhelming in its length and scientific language, this audio book attempts to convey Freud’s words on dream psychology in language fit for the lay reader through these nine straightforward chapters:

# 1. Dreams Have a Meaning
# 2. The Dream Mechanism
# 3. Why the Dream Disguises the Desires
# 4. Dream Analysis
# 5. Sex in Dreams
# 6. The Wish in Dreams
# 7. The Function of the Dream
# 8. The Primary and Secondary Process – Regression
# 9. The Unconscious and Consiousness – Reality

This book is presented on audio for the first time by Librivox.org and is narrated by a number of their volunteer narrators.

2. The Origin of the Human Mind

In this streaming UCTV video Lecture, cognitive scientist Martin Sereno gives us a survey of the brain’s evolution. With thorough visual aids, Sereno examines the difference between the human brain and that of other species, showcasing experiments he has conducted that have helped broaden our understanding of the physical mechanics behind human thought. The biggest question he poses is why our minds are so special, when organically the human brain is 99% similar to that of the primates. Learn why size doesn’t matter when it comes to brain power!

3. Jung Podcast

This podcast is devoted to the understanding of the analytical psychology of the great Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. Jungian analyst John Betts (who graduated from the International School of Analytical Psychology in Zurich, Switzerland) introduces listeners to Carl Jung’s theories of the structure of the psyche, the Anima & Animus, the Persona, Jungian dream interpretation, active imagination, individuation, and more! John Betts is incredibly lucid and articulate in describing these theories, providing real life examples and quoting Jung and other Jungians as he goes along. It’s basically a course on Jung, and one would do best to start with Betts’ first podcasts and work his or her way through them.

4. Introduction to Psychology

MIT OpenCourseWare is offering their Introduction to Psychology course for free on MP3 download. Professor Jeremy Wolfe guides listeners through the basic functions of the brain including emotions, memory, cognition, language development, and more. He finishes off the course with lectures on Freud and mental illness. Wolfe is an engaging lecturer that pulls listeners in from the first lecture. Each lecture features a PDF download of lecture notes to supplement the audio. Download or stream this course through MIT OpenCourseWare.

5. Boosting the Brain’s Power Into Old Age

In this lecture delivered at the Chautauqua Institution, author Dharma Singh Khalsa talks about “Boosting the Brain’s Power Into Old Age”. He provides methods for preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other brain related illnesses, and how to boost your memory and to become more mentally energetic. Dr. Dharma provides some nutrition and supplement suggestions. He claims that the days of declining mental activity during old age are over with, if people will make a conscious effort to maintain their healthy brain. This title is available on streaming video and MP3 download from FORA.tv.

6. Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight

In this moving talk delivered at the TED conference, brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor provides a first-person account of her own stroke and the experience of losing control of her bodily functions as well the functions of the left side of her brain. Instead of it being a painful or frightening experience, she said the stroke put her in a intense state of bliss and nirvana. Sharing this experience became her motivation for recovery. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

7. The Neuroscience of Consciousness, Perception, and Self

While covering the Iraq war in 2006, TV news Journalist Bob Woodruff suffered a traumatic brain injury after nearly losing his life to a roadside bomb. In this fascinating discussion from the Aspen Institute, Woodruff traces how he rebuilt his ability to comprehend the world step by step; showing the viewers video of his first few days of rehabilitation through to his still ongoing attempts to recover lost brain functions. Woodruff offers a prime case study for scientists that are attempting to uncover the many mysteries of human consciousness. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download through FORA.tv.

8. A Beautiful Mind: Genius, Madness, Reawakening

Listen to the truly inspiring story of mathematician John Nash as told by the author of A Beautiful Mind Dr. Sylvia Nasar. In this amazing one-hour lecture Dr. Nasar tells of the rise of John Nash as a genius in mathematics and his eventual downward spiral into paranoid schizophrenia which was followed by an amazing resurgence from his mental illness in his later years culminating in winning the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994. It’s a remarkable story and a must-watch lecture if you’ve never seen it before. Dr. Nasar delivers the story with clarity and heartfelt emotion. It is available on streaming video from MIT World.

9. Ten Days in a Madhouse

This classic piece of investigative journalism was written by Nellie Bly, one of the first female newspaper reporters. She went undercover to reveal the conditions of asylums in New York. This audio book is narrated by Alice at LibriVox, and she has the youthful spunk of Nellie Bly’s writing. It is available on MP3 Download.

10. Sherwin B. Nuland on Electroshock Therapy

In this TED talk American surgeon, author, and Yale professor Sherwin B. Nuland talks about the history of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for treatment of severe major depression and other mental illnesses. He then proceeds to tell about his own recovery from major depression through electroshock therapy back in the 1970s. After his first marriage failed he fell into a deep depression until he could no longer function. When no other treatments worked the doctors attempted electroshock therapy which led to a remarkable recovery. This talk is available on streaming video and downloadable video from TED.

11. Oliver Sacks: Musicophilia

In this lecture from FORA.tv, neurologist and author Oliver Sacks (who authored the popular book Awakenings) discusses his latest book Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. He tells stories about his many patients over the years and their experiences with music both as an affliction and a treatment for the brain. Sacks purports that human responsiveness to music is intrinsic to the human brain. This lecture is offered on streaming video and MP3 download through FORA.tv.

12. Vilayanur Ramachandran: A Journey to the Center of Your Mind

In this TED talk, neurologist Vilayanur Ramachandran provides some neuroscientific explanations for puzzling psychological and physiological phenomena. He covers why after certain brain injuries patients cannot visually recognize their mother, how to amputated patients can overcome the pain of phantom limbs for only $3, and why certain people see colors when they look at numbers and letters. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

13. Dan Ariely: The Upside of Irrationality

Use irrationality to help you overcome bad habits and achieve your goals. Behavioral economist Dan Ariely’s bestselling book Predictably Irrational showed how people frequently make irrational decisions regarding their health, their spending habits, and much more. In this lecture Ariely talks about his latest book The Upside of Irrationality where he shows the negative and positive effects of irrationality and how we can use irrational means towards our own rational objectives. He tells of experiments and examples where irrational incentives were used to help fight global warming, to motivate people to take care of their health, and to prevent people from texting while they’re driving. It’s one of the most fun lectures we’ve listened to all year. This lecture is available on MP3 download and streaming video from the Forum Network.

14. The Soul in Depression

Listen to this podcast from American Public Media’s Speaking of Faith program covering the topic of depression. Nearly ten million Americans are diagnosed with clinical depression, and if you have experienced depression or know someone who has then this audio program is a helpful resource covering the spiritual side of depression. In this podcast host Krista Tippett interviews author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression Andrew Solomon, Quaker author & activist Parker Palmer, and poet Anita Barrows about their experiences with depression. Each author discusses some of the life-affirming, spiritual qualities that can come from someone who has survived a bout of depression. This podcast is available on MP3 download and streaming audio from the Speaking of Faith website.

15. Dan Gilbert: Why Are We Happy? Why Aren’t We Happy?

Check out this TED talk from Harvard psychologist and the author of Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert. Gilbert provides info from studies that reveal that what we often think will make us happy is the opposite of the case. He shows that because we have the ability to consider the future, we are much better prepared for the results and can usually be happy regardless. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

16. 23 Intuitive Development Exercises from Sounds True

Listen to 23 Intuitive Development Exercises from Sounds True. In these exercises you’ll hear teachers such as Judith Orloff, Caroline Myss, Cyndi Dale, Laura Alden Kamm, and many more. These teachers cover what intuition is and how you can further develop it. Note: These exercises are streaming audio only and not downloadable.

17. Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation

In this hour-long talk delivered at Google, author and brain researcher Dr. Daniel Siegel explains his definition of the what the mind is. He takes us on a quick overview of the functions of the brain, from the spinal cord all the way up to the prefrontal cortex where he argues that the uniqueness of humans stems from. From his research and experience Siegel lays out nine integral functions of this part of the brain including reflective awareness, empathy, morality, and more. He then talks about his discovery of mindfulness and how the practice of mindfulness cultivates all these functions of the middle prefrontal brain. Dr. Siegel expresses his hope that along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, the 4th of reflection would be taught in education to help cultivate mindfulness and healthy brain function. This talk is available from Google and can be watched on YouTube.

18. Robert Whitaker: Rise of Mental Illness in America

Journalist and author Robert Whitaker takes time to talk about his book Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America in this talk delivered at the Harvard Book Store. Whitaker shows how mental illness has been rising in America in the past 50 years despite the development of numerous psychiatric drugs to treat various mental illnesses. While Whitaker acknowledges that using these drugs selectively can be effective in the short term, he presents studies that suggest that many of these psychiatric drugs are not effective in curing mental illness in the long term. Going against the status quo of what psychiatry practices today, Whitaker shakes up many commonly held assumptions about treating mental illness and suggests ways of treatment that are more selective in regards to prescribing drugs and that have also proven to be more effective. His talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the Forum Network.

19. Mental Efficiency

Listen to this audio book on how to exercise one’s mind for maximum efficiency. English novelist Arnold Bennett uses his wit to convey how we work hard at the up keep of our physical bodies, while we often do little to workout our minds. He gives examples of ways to give the mind a workout. He also features essays that explore the presentation of self, breaking free from the past, relationships and marriage, and how to achieve success. This audio book is well narrated by Ruth Golding at Librivox who has a lovely British accent. It has a running time of 3 Hrs. and is available on MP3 download.

20. In Depth: Temple Grandin

In this three-hour interview from BookTV’s In-Depth series, Animals in Translation author Temple Grandin discusses her autism and the wide spectrum of autism, and how she has used her insights into autism to help her relate to the inner worlds of animal. Her autism leads to hypersensitivity to noise and other sensory stimuli and she correlates it to how animals perceive the world through their senses. She talks about how she has used this correlation to improve animal welfare in the agricultural industry. In the interview Grandin also provides a host of insights into what it is like to live as an autistic person. This talk is available on streaming video from C-SPAN’s BookTV.

21. Q&A with Dr. Amen

Dr. Daniel G. Amen is a psychiatrist and the bestselling author of Making a Good Brain Great. In this media resource on his site he answers some of the most popular questions he has been asked over the years covering many points on brain health. He answers questions about the best supplements to take for the brain, methods of treatment for various psychological conditions, and addresses many other interesting brain inquiries. Enjoy these answers from a doctor who has dedicated his life to looking at the brain. This Q&A audio is available on streaming audio from the Amen Clinics website.

22. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow

Check out this TED talk from psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi who authored the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Csikszentmihalyi talks about how he became interested in psychology after World War II when he heard a lecture by Carl Jung. Csikszentmihalyi eventually began his psychological study of how average people become extraordinary which he attributes to the idea of “flow” when one become completely involved in an activity for its own sake. Csikszentmihalyi provides many examples of individuals who have tapped into this “flow” state. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

23. A Practical Guide to Self-Hypnosis

If you’ve ever been interested in hypnotizing yourself, this audio book might be a good place to start. This book by Melvin Powers covers the history and applications of self-hypnosis. The book purports to explain how self-hypnosis can alleviate distressing symptoms, substitute strong responses for weak responses, help overcome bad habits, create good habits, and help one’s power of concentration. Find out for yourself how effective self-hypnosis is. This book is adequately narrated by Andrea Fiore and is available on MP3 download from LibriVox.org.

24. The New Psychology of Depression

From Oxford University comes this 3-hour series covering “The New Psychology of Depression”. Dr. Danny Penman and Professor Mark Williams (co-authors of the book Mindfulness: An Eight-Week Plan for Finding Peace in a Frantic World) discuss the global health problem of depression and the current methods for treating it including medication and therapy. They then discuss Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) which Professor Williams co-developed. They describe what MBCT is and the success that it has had in preventing relapse of depression in the many studies that have been conducted throughout the world. Anyone who has experienced depression or knows someone who has should listen to this great series on the latest information about treating depression. Note: To play the podcasts click the Download File links.

25. Daniel Goleman: Why Aren’t We All Good Samaritans?

In this brief TED talk, psychologist and author of Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman discusses his research into the psychology of compassion and being a “good Samaritan”. He suggests that our emotional response to be compassionate towards others is an automatic response when we see people suffering, and it is only by turning this emotion off through the busyness of our daily lives that we suppress this desire to help others. He then provides some inspirational stories for how we might all work towards being good Samaritans. This TED talk is available streaming video and MP3 download through the TED.com site.

We’ve been sending out our Free Resource of the Day Emails for many years now. If you’ve not subscribed yet, we highly encourage you to do so.

May 6, 2009

Learn About World Religions with Free Audio & Video

We’re excited to share 25 of the top free world religion books, lectures and podcasts selected from LearnOutLoud.com’s Free Audio & Video directory. For years we’ve put an emphasis on showcasing the rich variety of world religious faith in our Free Resource of the Day Emails. From these resources we’ve distilled it down to the best, including material that covers Buddhism, Jewish History, Islamic Philosophy, Hinduism, Confucianism and more. Comparative religion lecturers and speakers include Huston Smith, the Dalai Lama, Alan Watts, Thich Nhat Hanh, Matthew Fox, and many more. Our aim with this list is to give both the scholar and learner alike a great overview of world’s religions and how all of these faith traditions are interacting in a shrinking modern world. Click the links below to get started!

1. Buddha, Man, and Jesus

Three advocates argue for their differing belief systems in this downloadable audio lecture released by the Veritas Forum. Christian, Buddhist and Secular perspectives are each given equal weight in addressing humanity’s long quest for knowledge and meaning. Issues such as religious fanaticism, the existence of evil, the afterlife, and social justice are all given balanced appraisal in this remarkably even-handed debate. Available on MP3 download.

2. Alan Watts Podcast

The Alan Watts Podcast features recordings of one of the great western interpreters of Eastern religion: Alan Watts. In lectures on this podcast feed, Alan Watts discusses Buddhism, Zen, Hinduism, Taoism, and much else related to the world’s religions. If you’ve never heard Alan Watts lectures before, please do yourself a favor and listen to this podcast.

3. Revealing World Religions Podcast

Revealing World Religions Podcast is offered by ThinkingStrings.com and features the narrated text of Revealing World Religions by Dr. Cynthia Eller of Montclair State University. This podcasted audio book features these 10 modules covering many of the World’s Religions:

* Exploring Religion
* Hinduism
* Confucianism
* Taoism
* Buddhism
* Shinto
* Judaism
* Christianity
* Islam
* Religious Pluralism

All of these are currently available on the feed and work as introductions to these religious traditions.

4. Crash Course on Jewish History

This is a free course on Jewish History from a Jewish perspective taught by Rabbi Ken Spiro. In over 30 lectures, Spiro covers everything from Abraham to modern Israel always pointing out the lessons that Jews can learn from their history. Many of the lectures are free to download on MP3 from SimpleToRemember.com.

5. Zencast

Zencast has been offering Zen Buddhism teachings on podcast for many years now and the great thing is they’ve kept all their podcasts up on their feed so each of them can still be downloaded. Included on this feed is an unabridged recording of the key Buddhist text The Dhammapada translated and read by Zencast host Gil Fronsdal. Fronsdal also teaches a five part “Introduction to Meditation” class. Other frequent speakers on Zencast include Thich Nhat Hanh and Eckhart Tolle. These podcasts are essential listening for anyone looking to learn more about Zen Buddhism.

6. The Genius of Jesus

In this lecture from the Veritas Forum, Christian philosopher and author Dallas Willard talks about the importance of Jesus of Nazareth throughout history when it comes to confronting the reality of existence. Willard feels that present-day universities apply a materialistic knowledge or a New Age philosophy when it comes to confronting moral life, which leaves out the essential teachings of Jesus. He posits four great questions of existence and explains the answers which Jesus gave to these questions. This lecture is available on streaming audio and MP3 download from the Veritas forum.

7. Karen Armstrong in Conversation with Alan Jones

Listen to this discussion between author Karen Armstrong and Rev. Alan Jones, the Dean of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. They discuss Armstrong’s latest book The Bible: A Biography and Armstrong provides her interpretation of The Good Book. They discuss biblical criticism, biblical literalism, and the Golden Rule. They also confront the New Atheists who have recently attacked the Abrahamic religions. This talk is available on MP3 download and streaming video through FORA.tv.

8. The Nature of Islam

In this streaming audio discussion offered by Boston University’s World of Ideas forum, spokesman for Islam, Christianity and Judaism convene to examine the modern misconceptions of Islam in the wake of 9/11. Each pundit is given equal footing on hot topic issues such as Islam’s concept of Jihad, Martyrdom, Women’s rights, Religious Tolerance and other explosive issues that have become part of everyday news. Join these three men of faith as they work to find common ground on what binds their separate religions, and work to illuminate misunderstandings that could potentially tear the world apart.

9. Huston Smith

In this streaming video interview, MeaningOfLife.tv host Robert Wright interviews world religions scholar Huston Smith (author of the bestselling classic The World’s Religions). Wright asks Smith some difficult questions regarding the state of religion in the present world and about Smith’s tolerant and inclusive views towards all religions. Huston Smith replies with clarity and compassion. This interview is available as a streaming video through Google Video.

10. His Holiness – The XIV Dalai Lama

In this free video from UCTV, His Holiness the Dalai Lama addresses a packed crowd at UC-Irvine on the topic of “Ethical Self-Awareness & Personal Transformation”. With humor and humility the Dalai Lama speaks on the importance of awareness in overcoming anger and other negative emotions. This event is available on streaming video or video download from Google Video.

11. Sadhana, the Realisation of Life

From the preeminent Bengali poet & philosopher Rabindranath Tagore, comes this free audio rendition of his 1913 book Sadhana, the Realisation of Life. Published the same year he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, this audio book is an accessible introduction to India’s philosophical and spiritual heritage. The chapters include:

* Chapter 1: The Relation of the Individual to the Universe
* Chapter 2: Soul Consciousness
* Chapter 3: The Problem of Evil
* Chapter 4: The Problem of Self
* Chapter 5: Realisation In Love
* Chapter 6: Realisation In Action
* Chapter 7: The Realisation of Beauty
* Chapter 8: Realisation of The Infinite

This book is narrated by some of the better narrators at LibroVox (including 3 chapters by my favorite, Chip Doc). It is available on MP3 download from LibriVox.

12. Spiritual Classics Podcast

We’ve launched a new podcast at LearnOutLoud.com entitled Spiritual Classics. In the coming weeks we plan to feature passages of classics texts from a variety of spiritual traditions. We’ve started the podcast off with an excerpt from William James’ classic work The Varieties of Religious Experience in which he lectures on mystical experience. We promise many more fascinating selections from religious classics so please subscribe. Click Here to Subscribe to this Podcast on iTunes.

13. Christian Faith in a Postmodern World

Os Guinness claims that progress has lead America into a crisis of truth. For this MP3 download presented by the Veritas Forum, the noted writer leads his lecture with this provocative declaration, and explains how the nation’s notion of truth has been eroded by relative morality. Guinness provides his listeners with tools to counteract these trends and reclaim what he feels is the lost wisdom that has come about as result of the information age.

14. President’s Forum with Thich Nhat Hanh

Watch or listen to this talk delivered by Vietnamese-born Buddhist teacher, scholar, and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh delivered at the Asia Society with questions from Asia Society President Vishakha N. Desai. The 81-year-old Thich Nhat Hanh begins with a brief meditation followed by an extended talk about his life as a Buddhist monk and teacher, including his recent return trips to Vietnam. Vishakha N. Desai asks some difficult questions such as how to deal with violent terrorists like Osama bin Laden. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from FORA.tv.

15. The Heart and Soul of Christianity

In this talk presented by Cody’s Books at The First Congressional Church of Berkeley, New Testament scholar Marcus Borg and religious studies scholar Huston Smith reflect on their respective books The Heart of Christianity and The Soul of Christianity. Borg looks at what he feels are some of the core tenets of Christianity including ongoing practice and community. Huston Smith discusses the mystery of God working through Jesus as being beyond human comprehension. Borg and Smith then ask each other questions about the similarities and differences on their views of Christianity. This video of two great religious scholars is available from FORA.tv.

16. Authors@Google: Lama Surya Das

In this hour-long talk from Authors@Google, American Buddhist teacher and bestselling author Lama Surya Das gives a multifaceted discussion on Buddhism and Bodhisattvas in contemporary life. He discusses the path of overcoming ignorance and awakening to one’s true self, along with many other central teachings in Buddhism. He emphasizes that one doesn’t need to become a Buddhist or follow a creed in order to take the path to enlightenment, and that Buddhism is more of an ethical philosophy and a personal journey rather than a religion. This talk is available on streaming video from YouTube.

17. Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time

With her talk on “Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time”, Armstrong first takes on the definition of Jihad, explaining that as opposed to “Holy War”, the term more appropriately describes a “struggle” all believers must wage on their way to spiritual clarity. What’s more, she dispels the idea that Islam has always had a compulsive, violent agenda, and instead cites historical cases where Muhammad himself brought peace to Arabia by means of sit-in protest. Tracing her biography of Islam’s founder to the present day, Armstrong demonstrates that cultural forces such as encroaching secularism and modernization led to violent reactions within extremist circles that bear no resemblance to Muhammad’s original principles.

18. Keith Ward

In this streaming video released by MeaningofLife.tv, noted Oxford Divinity Professor Keith Ward discusses his argument that the three major western religions share the same God. Ward compares Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and includes other religions within his concept of a monotheistic God whose face may change according to cultural understanding, but whose major attributes are consistent among all. This fascinating conversation goes on to touch on related topics such as self-denial, the problem of evil and how physics is making spirituality more and more compatible with science. A must for anyone interested in a modern take on religion.

19. An Hour with the Honorable Dalai Lama

Listen to this hour-long conversation with the Honorable Dalai Lama on the Charlie Rose Show. In this interview Charlie Rose talks with the Dalai Lama about the political situation in Tibet and China, and what the Dalai Lama’s hopes are for the Tibetan people. The Dalai Lama then talks about exercising compassion on a global scale and the ways in which he feels this will make the 21st century a better century than the 20th century. This talk is available on streaming video.

20. Sharon Salzberg

In this interview from MeaningOfLife.tv, cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society Sharon Salzberg talks about her spiritual path while introducing listener’s to many concepts of Buddhist practice. Host Robert Wright asks her many of the hard questions about Buddhism such as why should one focus on their own suffering and death, what is nirvana and enlightenment, and why is it important to learn to love oneself. Salzberg also talks about her idea of bright faith which lead her through many hardships in her own life. This 45-minute talk is available through Google Video as a streaming video and is offered by MeaningOfLife.tv.

21. Ann-Ping Chin: The Authentic Confucius

Watch this free video from the Asia Society featuring author Ann-Ping Chin discussing her book The Authentic Confucius: A Life of Thought and Politics. She tries to present a more human view of this religious and philosophical leader. Her research covered everything from The Analects of Confucius to modern archaeological discoveries of texts referencing Confucius. She relates many stories about Confucius and discusses one important philosophical excerpt from The Analects which confronts the relative importance of the family and the state. This video can be viewed through FORA.tv.

22. What Is Religion?

In this lecture Professor Kreeft explores what religion is and what questions it tries to answer. He goes over a brief history of philosophical definitions of religion. He feels that religion relies on faith and experience, while philosophy focuses on reason and logical argument, and yet he finds many ways that the fields of philosophy and religion have intersected throughout history.

23. A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity

Controversial religious firebrand Matthew Fox details his ideas for a New Religious Reformation in this lecture delivered at Cody’s Books. When he found himself expelled from the Dominican Order by the man would become the latest pope, Matthew Fox emerged to become one of the most visible proponents of the Creation Spirituality movement. Drawing from a deep knowledge of theological history and taking Martin Luther’s example to heart, Fox envisions a modern religious shakeup that will acknowledge a more varied society while remaining true to religious truth. A must for anyone interested on how religion is coping with new 21st century challenges. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from FORA.tv.

24. San Francisco Zen Center Public Lectures Podcast

Listen to dozens public lectures given by teachers at the San Francisco Zen Center. In these lectures of varying length, teachers provide insight into their Zen practice and discuss the many facets of Buddhism. Each lecture features a different teacher and can be listened to apart from the other lectures. Enjoy these podcasts on Zen Buddhism.

25. His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama: Peace Through Compassion

In this talk, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama addresses the campus of the University of California-Berkeley on the topic “Peace Through Compassion”. He provides advice on how we can achieve peace within the world, our communities, and ourselves. He gives examples of how inner peace can have positive effects not only on those around us, but on our own health. At the conclusion he answers some questions on the internet and nuclear weapons, along with some advice for college graduates. This streaming video is available through YouTube.

April 29, 2009

Best Author Interviews and Talks on Audio & Video

Check out audio & video of 25 interviews and talks with top authors of contemporary literature. Have a look at LearnOutLoud’s selection of 25 contemporary literature resources, including audio & video from the top authors to emerge in the modern era. For years we’ve been keeping up with the newest free talks and author interviews, which we periodically share as part of our Free Resource of the Day Emails. In this list, you’ll find in-depth discussions with key modern literary authors, such as Margaret Atwood, Joan Didion, Garrison Keillor, Frank McCourt, Amy Tan, John Updike, Kurt Vonnegut and many more. Always keeping our eye on what’s fresh, this list also makes room for 21st century voices, such as Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini, Modern Fantasy king Neil Gaiman, Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, and talented modern innovators like Jonathan Franzen. Get our take on the best voices in poetry, literary journalism, fiction and more by clicking any of the links below:

1. Wired for Books MP3 Page

Wired for Books is offering a page full of downloadable MP3 interviews with many of the best authors in contemporary literature. Compiled from the 1980s CBS Radio show, Book Beat, these interviews feature journalist Don Swaim spending roughly a half hour with the author discussing their books. Swaim seems to have done his research and to have read the works of the authors he interviews. The interviews seem very relaxed and off-the-cuff. Here’s a list of some of the people Swaim interviews: Douglas Adams, Maya Angelou, Isaac Asimov, Margaret Atwood, Judy Blume, Ray Bradbury, William F. Buckley, Anthony Burgess, William Burroughs, Raymond Carver, Joan Didion, E. L. Doctorow, Bret Easton Ellis, Joseph Heller, John Irving, Erica Jong, Garrison Keillor, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Amy Tan, Studs Turkel, John Updike, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Elie Wiesel, and hundreds more. Just click to the MP3 page and remember to download these files by right-clicking on the Download File link and selecting Save Target As… Then it will allow you to download the file to an assigned place on your computer. Enjoy.

2. In Depth: Tom Wolfe

In this streaming video from C-SPAN’s BookTV, Tom Wolfe talks about his career as writer from The Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby which he wrote back in the 1960s all the way up to his latest novel I Am Charlotte Simmons which explores the college campus life in the present day. He fields call-in questions from people across the United States and tells us the secrets of his craft. Indeed, no writer today is as fun to listen to as Tom Wolfe.

3. Allen Ginsberg Poetry Readings

Allen Ginsberg’s Howl is ultimate beat poem, and what better way to experience it than listening to Ginsberg read it himself. PennSound features two recordings of Ginsberg reading Howl, one from 1956 (the year he published it) and one from 1995 (a few years before his death). PennSound also features Ginsberg reading some other of his classic beat poems like Kaddish and Wichita Vortex Sutra. All these poems are available to download on MP3.

4. The Infinite Mind Interview with Kurt Vonnegut Live from Second Life

Recently American author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. passed away at the age of 84. Watch one of his last interviews which was conducted by John Hockenberry of The Infinite Mind series, and recorded live in the virtual on-line community called Second Life. It’s a thoroughly entertaining interview with questions from the Second Life audience and Vonnegut’s thoughts on America towards the end of his life. He also discusses his final work which is a collection of essays entitled A Man Without a Country. This streaming video is offered by Lichtenstein Creative Media and is available through Google Video.

5. An Evening with Ray Bradbury

Renowned science fiction author Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles) gives aspiring writers some encouraging insight in this short lecture provided on streaming video by UCTV. Beginning with a list of essential practices he feels all writers should adhere to, Bradbury then demonstrates how events and people in his personal life fed his classic stories. Inspiring, funny and delivered with irreverent wisdom, Bradbury’s account of his career is a sincere argument for “writing what you know”. This talk is available on streaming video through Google Video.

6. The 20th Century on Trial: Norman Mailer

In one of Norman Mailer’s last public appearances (he passed away a few months later in November of 2007), this acclaimed author talks about his complex relationship with America. He looks back at his own literary career and offers his ideas on existentialism. Towards the end of the interview German author Gunter Grass joins him in conversation and they discuss Adolf Hitler who was the subject of Mailer’s final novel The Castle in the Forest. In this interview Mailer conveys his sharp wit and clear insights that were with him until the end. This talk was moderated by Andrew O’Hagan and conducted at the New York Public Library. It is available on streaming audio and MP3 download from FORA.tv.

7. Douglas Adams: Parrots, the Universe, and Everything

Immerse yourself into the mind of Douglas Adams. The author The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy graced the world with one final appearance just days before his tragic death from a heart attack on May 11, 2001. Delivered at the University of California, Santa Barbara, Adams discusses his own personal favorite of his books Last Chance to See about his travels to faraway lands to see firsthand many endangered animal species such as the Aye-aye lemur of Madagascar, the Komodo dragon on the island of Komodo in Indonesia, and the Yangtze River Dolphin in China. With his own hilarious insights he describes these animals and his wild travels to observe them. He ends the talk by urging humanity to envision their place in the world in a way that can sustain all species including humans. This talk is available through YouTube on streaming video and video download.

8. Joan Didion: Revelle Forum at the Neurosciences Institute

In this conversation with American writer Joan Didion, she discusses her 2001 collection of essays Political Fictions in which she explores the disconnect between the political class and the American public. She touches on many issues addressed in her book regarding the electoral process, political pundits, Clinton’s impeachment, and the election of George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. This talk was conducted at UC-San Diego and is available on streaming and downloadable video through Google Video.

9. In Depth: John Updike

In this generous 3-hour interview provided on streaming video by BookTV, John Updike talks about his life as a writer and observer of the human condition. Last week the literary world mourned the death of Updike who’s literary reputation places him among the likes of Mailer, Vonnegut and Roth as one of the great contemporary American novelists. Here you can watch him as he examines his childhood, discusses his early start with the New Yorker Magazine, and answers questions about his prolific career as an author and literary critic. This streaming video is available through the BookTV website.

10. Joyce Carol Oates: Lannan Readings & Conversations

Listen to a reading from one of America’s most versatile and prolific writers: Joyce Carol Oates. She pulls no punches in her public reading, as she reads from her novella Rape: A Love Story. Oates’ narration adds new dimension to the main character who is reflecting on being the victim of a rape. After the reading, the host from public radio’s Bookworm has a conversation with Oates about the piece and much else. Enjoy this streaming audio from the Lannan Foundation.

11. Harold Pinter – 2005 Nobel Lecture

The English playwright Harold Pinter passed away a few days ago at the age of 78. Listen to his lecture delivered upon the receipt of the 2005 Nobel Prize for Literature. In this lecture Pinter examines the truths unto which he sought after in his plays and his life as a citizen. After elaborating on his creative process, he explains the difference between art and politics and then examines America’s role in global politics since World War II. He briefly covers the past military conflicts in Latin America along with the current war in Iraq. This 45 minute lecture is available on streaming video from NoblePrize.org.

12. Meet the Poet: Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni has been publishing works of poetry in America for over 30 years. In this talk from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she tells many stories from her life and reads from her 2002 collection of poetry Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea: Poems and Not Quite Poems. Giovanni is candid and full of humor as she tells about how Mars astronauts can learn from African slavery, how Rosa Parks actively stood up against the murder of Emmett Till when she refused to move from her bus seat, and how one should confront prejudice in contemporary society. This talk can be heard on streaming audio and video from the WGBH Forum Network.

13. In Depth: Susan Sontag

One of our favorite free video resources is the C-SPAN BookTV series In Depth. This series features 3-hour long interviews with America’s greatest and most prolific authors towards the latter part of their careers. Included in the interviews are questions from callers across the United States, that always make for interesting discussion. This free video includes the first two hours of the video interview (the last hour gets cut off) with the late author & activist Susan Sontag. She answers questions about politics, movies, and the many nonfiction & fiction books she has written throughout her career. Watch this free streaming video from BookTV.

14. Arthur C. Clarke’s 90th Birthday Reflections

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke recently passed away at the age of 90. In this brief video supplied by TVE Asia Pacific, Clarke reflects on his life from his home in Sri Lanka as he turned 90 in December of 2007. He considers the great achievements in space travel which he saw during his lifetime and is hopeful that space travel will be something that many can enjoy in the future. He also provides three wishes for the planet as he surpasses his 90th orbit around the sun. This video is available through YouTube.

15. Frank McCourt: Teacher Man

The author of Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis treats us to stories of life as a public school teacher in this downloadable audio lecture released by WGBH. Writer Frank McCourt spent 30 years of his adult life teaching in the New York Public school system before later writing his acclaimed memoirs in retirement. Here he praises the teacher’s effort to help children find their footing in the world, and relates to us the trials and tribulations he faced as a young inexperienced teacher in a sometimes hostile classroom.

16. Vanity Fair’s Writers Reading Podcast

Vanity Fair’s Writers Reading Podcast features many of today’s best authors reading from their latest books. Past podcasts have featured award-winning prison journalist Wilbert Rideau read from his book In the Place of Justice, Norris Church Mailer reading from her memoir about her life with her husband Norman Mailer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Garry Wills reading from his new book Bomb Power: The Modern Presidency and the National Security State, Jonathan Safran Foer on his first nonfiction work exploring factory farming entitled Eating Animals, and many other highly respected writers including Augusten Burroughs, Tracy Kidder, Taylor Branch, Gay Talese, Jay McInerney, and more.

17. A Remembrance of Playwright Arthur Miller

American playwright Arthur Miller was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize and best known for his plays The Death of a Salesman and The Crucible. In this interview recorded towards the end of this life Arthur Miller sits down with Charlie Rose and discusses his life as a playwright. He also gives his thoughts on the state of theater in America today, his marriage with Marilyn Monroe, and what he feels were his greatest successes and biggest regrets. He talks about why the theater was his medium and why he never really could write novels or screenplays. It’s an interesting talk with one of America’s great playwrights.

18. Amy Tan on Creativity

In this TED Talk author Amy Tan probes into the roots of creativity or how “out of nothing comes something”. She examines her own life and the many influences that have fed into her novels. She also tells of the many fascinating coincidences that have happened to her over the years at key moments of creativity. It’s an intriguing and often humorous talk from a beloved author. This talk is available on streaming video and audio & video download.

19. Alice Walker: We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For

Today’s free resource is a lecture by author Alice Walker who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 for her novel The Color Purple. She has written dozens of novels, poetry collections, and nonfiction books and in this talk she reads from one of her latest works We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For which is a collection of meditations and essays. In the lecture she talks about her days in the civil rights movement following Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the grieving process she had to go through after he was assassinated. Listen to some interesting stories from author Alice Walker. This talk is available on streaming audio and MP3 download from the Fourm Network (formerly the WGBH Forum Network).

20. Margaret Atwood: Lannan Readings and Conversations

With the dry wit that has come to make her a literary icon, Margaret Atwood reads selections from her work and discusses writing in this audio download released by the Lannan Foundation. At times bleak, often humorous and always probing, Atwood’s work is devoted to exploring the underbelly of modern experience, with special attention given to how the future may take shape if current dubious trends continue to their natural conclusion. While the material she presents is in some ways sobering, Atwood maintains a satirical tone that offsets it all, revealing a writer that is ultimately optimistic, self-deprecating and always searching. This event is available on streaming audio and MP3 download.

21. John Elder Robison & Augusten Burroughs: Live From B&N

In this talk offered by Barnes & Noble, Augusten Burroughs interviews his brother John Elder Robison about his memoir Look Me in the Eye. Robison’s biography covers growing up with Asperger’s Syndrome which he was diagnosed with later in life. John Elder Robison reads stories from his book and Augusten Burroughs asks him questions and provides color commentary on growing up with his elder brother. This talk is available on streaming video and audio download from Barnes & Noble Media.

22. Khaled Hosseini: A Thousand Splendid Suns

In this talk from the Book Group Expo, Khaled Hosseini, author of the bestselling novel The Kite Runner, discusses his latest work A Thousand Splendid Suns. He reads a short dramatic piece from the book and then answers questions about writing the book and about women in Afghanistan which the book explores. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download on FORA.tv.

23. Authors@Google: Neil Gaiman

Fan-favorite fantasy author Neil Gaiman regales viewers with stories of his life as a writer in this streaming video lecture provided by Authors@Google. After reading a short selection of poetry from his latest book, Gaiman talks of his latest adventures with the slightly detached and unassuming attitude of an author quick to note how lucky he feels with his own success. Here you will find out about his screenwriting duties on the newest film version of Beowulf, his views on the current renaissance in children’s literature and the difference between a comic book and a graphic novel. This video is available streaming video on YouTube.

24. Elizabeth Gilbert: A Different Way to Think About Creative Genius

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert examines the way society looks at artists and the way artists look at themselves in this TED talk. She feels that the creative people should view their work as channeling God’s creative gift to them rather than as their own personal creative genius. And she hopes such a shift might prevent some of the madness and self-destruction that occurs in so many of our modern artists. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

25. Jonathan Franzen on The Discomfort Zone

In this book reading and discussion delivered at the Miami Book Fair International, Jonathan Franzen (author of the National Book Award-winning novel The Corrections) discusses his memoir The Discomfort Zone. The book explores his childhood growing up in suburban St. Louis, and he reads a lengthy portion of the opening of the book which describes the ordeal of selling his mother’s house and the memories it sparks. The reading is followed by questions mostly which touch on the process of writing a memoir. Enjoy this humorous reading from popular author Jonathan Franzen. It is available on streaming video through FORA.tv.

April 29, 2009

Best of TED Talks

We recently became addicted to watching and listening to talks from the TED Conference. The Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference has been featuring talks from leading thinkers not only in technology, entertainment, and design, but also religion, science, literature, psychology, personal growth, and numerous other areas. Their archive currently features over 400 talks from the TED2005 conference up through TED2009. One great thing is that along with high quality streaming video of each talk, they also offer most of the talks on MP3 download so you can download them and listen to them on the go.

Here we’re showcasing 15 of the most popular TED talks which we certainly enjoyed and did some write ups on. We’ll continue adding to this Best of TED Talks list as we watch and listen to more talks that we find to be particularly excellent.

1. Jill Bolte Taylor’s Stroke of Insight

In this moving talk delivered at the TED conference, brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor provides a first-person account of her own stroke and the experience of losing control of her bodily functions as well the functions of the left side of her brain. Instead of it being a painful or frightening experience, she said the stroke put her in a intense state of bliss and nirvana. Sharing this experience became her motivation for recovery. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

2. Malcolm Gladwell: What We Can Learn From Spaghetti Sauce

In this interesting talk delivered by bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell, he explores how the food industry went from looking for the perfect single spaghetti sauce recipe to a more diverse approach of creating a variety of spaghetti sauces to suit the desires of shoppers. He examines this trend through one of its main proponents Howard Moskowitz who used the field of psychophysics to create a variety of original sauces for Prego in the 1980s. Once this variability was proven to be successful it spread to the rest of the food industry, and Gladwell feels we are all happier for this increase in choices. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

3. Matthieu Ricard: Habits of Happiness

Biochemist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard examines happiness and well-being in this TED talk. He differentiates between pleasure and happiness as pleasure if fleeting and reliant upon circumstance. He feels that true happiness is found by training the mind to be happy regardless of the situation we find ourselves in and to tap into the deeper happiness of the awareness that we are more than our fleeting emotional states. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

4. Helen Fisher: The Science of Love, and the Future of Women

In this TED talk, anthropologist Helen Fisher discusses a study she was involved in which examined the brains and biochemistry of people in love. She points out the ways in which we have evolved in order to trigger love, lust, and attachment to a mate. She also examines the changes of women’s roles in society and how she feels this will ultimately lead to the happiest marriages. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

5. Benjamin Zander on Music and Passion

Conductor Benjamin Zander shares his passion for classical music in this TED talk. While the statistics say 3% of the population are classical music lovers, Zander attempts to prove that we are all lovers of classical music. He takes listeners on a journey of what he calls one-buttock playing where the pianist is moved with the music and in turn moves the audience. He then plays a Chopin prelude and proves that nobody is tone deaf. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

6. Richard Dawkins: The Universe is Queerer Than We Can Suppose

In this mind-bending lecture from TED.com, biologist Richard Dawkins examines the universe from the standpoint of contemporary science and finds that our universe is much stranger than we are capable of supposing. He provides many examples in the biological world about how assumptions such as a rock being solid and our bodies being the same throughout our life are incorrect. Stretch your perspective with Dawkin’s case for “thinking the improbable”. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

7. Tony Robbins Asks Why We Do What We Do

Self development expert Anthony Robbins speaks at the TED Conference on what motivates people. Robbins insists that he isn’t a motivator, but instead he is out to find what motivates people and what is it that makes the difference in the quality of people’s lives. He discusses briefly the core human needs that drive people. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

8. Vilayanur Ramachandran: A Journey to the Center of Your Mind

In this TED talk, neurologist Vilayanur Ramachandran provides some neuroscientific explanations for puzzling psychological and physiological phenomena. He covers why after certain brain injuries patients cannot visually recognize their mother, how to amputated patients can overcome the pain of phantom limbs for only $3, and why certain people see colors when they look at numbers and letters. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

9. Sir Ken Robinson: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Sir Ken Robinson gives a humorous and inspiring talk on rethinking education and its relation to creativity. He feels that education becomes increasingly narrow as students proceed through it leaving many forms of intelligence and creativity behind. In order to confront the unknown future, Robinson sees creativity as the essential component as future generations face new challenges with new ideas. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

10. Seth Godin on Standing Out

Seth Godin feels that days of status quo marketing through the television industrial complex are coming to an end. People are too busy to pay attention to the nonstop advertising of average products for average people. What grabs people’s attention is something remarkable, or rather something worth making a remark about. And their remarks spread the ideas or products to the world and make it a success. Learn about the cutting edge of spreading ideas with this talk by Seth Godin. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

11. Isabel Allende: Tales of Passion

In this TED talk, Chilean-American novelist Isabel Allende stands up for passionate feminism when confronting global issues. She feels women’s energy is needed to alleviate the suffering of women and poor people in developing countries. During the talk she tells tales of courageous women throughout the world. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

12. Barry Schwartz: The Paradox of Choice

Barry Schwartz, author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, discusses some of the observations he makes in his book in this talk from the TED conference. He argues that the vast explosion of choices in advanced capitalist societies has led to increased paralysis in terms of decision making and ultimately decreased satisfaction. He provides a number of examples to back up his thesis that more choice and individual freedom is not always best. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

13. Elizabeth Gilbert: A Different Way to Think About Creative Genius

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert examines the way society looks at artists and the way artists look at themselves in this TED talk. She feels that the creative people should view their work as channeling God’s creative gift to them rather than as their own personal creative genius. And she hopes such a shift might prevent some of the madness and self-destruction that occurs in so many of our modern artists. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

14. Brian Greene on String Theory

Try wrapping your mind around string theory with this TED talk delivered by physicist Brian Greene. He starts the talk with the story of the German mathematician and physicist Theodor Kaluza who proposed that the universe might have more dimensions than the three-dimensional space apparent in of the physical world. This led much later to the attempt at discovering a unified theory through string theory and superstring theory which proposes 10 dimensions. Brian Greene ends the talk with describing some experiments which are being conducted that could lead to proving the existence of other dimensions. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

15. Dan Gilbert: Why Are We Happy? Why Aren’t We Happy?

Check out this TED talk from Harvard psychologist and the author of Stumbling on Happiness, Dan Gilbert. Gilbert provides info from studies that reveal that what we often think will make us happy is the opposite of the case. He shows that because we have the ability to consider the future, we are much better prepared for the results and can usually be happy regardless. This talk is available on streaming video and MP3 download from the TED.com website.

And here are 30 other talks we’ve added to our site which look interesting. Almost all of them are available on MP3 download through TED.com site. Check them out:

Al Gore: 15 Ways to Avert a Climate Crisis

Al Gore: New Thinking on the Climate Crisis

Amy Tan on Creativity

Aubrey de Grey Says We Can Avoid Aging

Bill Clinton on Rebuilding Rwanda

Bill Gates: How I’m Trying to Change the World Now

Billy Graham: Technology, Faith and Human Shortcomings

Bono’s Call To Action For Africa

Chris Anderson: Technology’s Long Tail

Daniel Goleman: Why Aren’t We All Good Samaritans?

Dave Eggers’ Wish: Once Upon a School

Doris Kearns Goodwin on Learning from Past Presidents

Dr. Dean Ornish on Healing

E.O. Wilson on Saving Life on Earth

James Watson on How He Discovered DNA

Jane Goodall on What Separates Us From the Apes

Jeff Bezos on the Next Web Innovation

Jimmy Wales on the Birth of Wikipedia

John Wooden on True Success

Karen Armstrong’s Wish: Charter for Compassion

Martin Seligman on Positive Psychology

Michael Pollan Gives a Plant’s-Eye View

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on Flow

Ray Kurzweil on How Technology Will Transform Us

Richard Dawkins on Militant Atheism

Rick Warren: Living a Life of Purpose

Robert Wright: How Cooperation (Eventually) Trumps Conflict

Stephen Hawking Asks Big Questions About the Universe

Steven Levitt Analyzes Crack Economics

Steven Pinker on the Myth of Violence

You can always browse all the TED talks on the TED site right here:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks