Billy Collins returns to the TED stage to join a recent trend contemplating the cognition and emotional life of dogs. With characteristic dryness and meditative drone — and, we think, the same red sweater — he shares “A Dog on his Master” and “The Revenant.” He reads, to big laughs: “I am the dog you […]
Biologist, poet and fledgling entrepreneur Ivana Gadjanski has worked on using animal toxins as a possible treatment for MS, and is growing bones and cartilage in dishes. She has also published two books of poetry in Serbia. Now she’s developing Pubsonic, an online research tool that allows users to access free medical journal papers via […]
“I read poetry all the time, I write about poetry frequently, and I take poems apart to see how they work,” says Stephen Burt as he takes the TEDGlobal stage. “I’m a word person. I understand the world best and most fully through words, rather than pictures or numbers. When I have a new experience, […]
Shane Koyczan has a way with words. “I’ve been shot down so many times I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself,” he says, beginning today’s talk. “That’s what we were told—stand up for yourself. But that’s hard to do if you don’t know who you are.” Koyczan appeared on the TED2013 stage […]
The adage goes: You learn something new every day. This is especially true if you watch TED-Ed lessons, which bring to life educational topics as varied as “insults by Shakespeare” and “pizza physics” with animation. As a holiday gift, we’re bringing you the TED-Ed’s team’s favorite talks of the year that, despite being amazing, didn’t get the […]
[ted id=1625 width=560 height=315] Spoken word artist Lemon Andersen begins today’s talk with the poem, “Please Don’t Take My Air Jordans,” written by Reg E. Gaines in 1994. My Air Jordans cost a hundred with tax. My suede Starter jacket says Raiders on the back. I’m stylin’, smilin’ looking real mean, Cause it ain’t about […]
It’s hard to get one’s brain started on a Monday (especially if you stayed up to watch Curiosity last night). To get synapses firing, here are three killer spoken-word performances from last month’s TEDxBoston. Kemi Alabi: Unlovelies in the Key of C Major Boston University student and slam poet Kemi Alabi takes us to the world […]
Photo: James Duncan Davidson “I’m here to give you your recommended daily allowance of poetry.” So says Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the United States. He tells the story of being approached by the Sundance Channel to record his poems and set them to animation. Attempts to set his poetry to music had failed in the past. But […]
What I Will by Suheir Hammad I will not dance to your war drum. I will not lend my soul nor my bones to your war drum. I will not dance to your beating. I know that beat. It is lifeless. I know intimately that skin you are hitting. It was alive once hunted stolen […]
Today is National Poetry Day in the UK, and why not everywhere? We found out about it in the stateless world of Twitter trending topics. If you’re in the mood to celebrate, watch a few of these TEDTalks about, or featuring, poetry: “War child” Emmanuel Jal tells the story of his amazing life in words […]
Novelist and poet Chris Abani believes the heart of a place can be best understood through its poems and narratives. He talks about African and Nigerian stories — including his own story of artistic and political awakening, which began with an inventive teacher who taught him the forbidden history of his own people. How, he […]