The organizers of the recent TEDxMogadishu send this short and thoughtful interview video, made just before the event. Meet four people who are committed to remaking their city after 20 years of chaos.

The topics of three different TEDTalks are converging this weekend in New York City … Street artist JR, the winner of the 2011 TED Prize, is pasting a portrait of a young member of the Lakota tribe on a wall of Manhattan’s High Line Park — part of a massive tribute to the Native American [...]

We’ve heard the statistics. Obesity has more than doubled worldwide since 1980. For the first time in history, being overweight is killing more people than being underweight. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. Where do we begin to tackle such an immense problem? There is [...]

Explore these TEDTalks that discuss income inequality — what causes it, the brutal effects, and how we might fight it. Start with this talk from Richard Wilkinson, whose 2009 book The Spirit Level gathers decades of research to draw this conclusion: Societies with more income inequality suffer — in utterly predictable ways — more than [...]

Whose talk keeps you glued to your chair? Your hairdresser’s. Which makes these talented folks a perfect vector for spreading big ideas. TEDxBuenosAires invited 60 hairdressers and stylists to their latest TEDx event — and filmed what happened next. Watch the charming results … and watch to the end for a sneak preview of the [...]

From the TEDx Tumblr, this inspiring story: TEDxMogadishu — the first TEDx event in Somalia — will happen tomorrow, May 17, and livestreamed around the world. Between 50 and 100 people from diverse backgrounds will attend the event to listen to Somalis discuss the rebirth of Mogadishu. The event will be livestreamed for Somalis who [...]

Books, film, art, food — and science and social issues — were at the center of the talks at the sixth TEDSalon in London. The event took place on May 10 in a packed Unicorn Theatre, with the support of longtime TED partner frog. “Our bodies are made of atoms, but our lives are made [...]

As the TED team travels around the world hosting salons in 14 cities, we’re collecting great local stories. Start with this Storify from Nanjira Sambuli that rounds up tweets from TED@Nairobi: From the blog “Inflation, Stilettos, Pacifiers & An African Dream,” this generous and insightful blog post: For 6 minutes, I learned about the bees [...]

When artist and scientist Angelo Vermeulen (watch his TED Talk) first started weaving together biological and technological systems in his artwork, little did he know he’d someday be asked to consider how to create living ecosystems for future space habitation… Do you consider yourself an artist or scientist first? I usually describe myself as an [...]

At TEDxOxford last September, legendary stylist Vidal Sassoon, who died this week at 84, shared this moving talk about his extraordinary life. As a YouTube commenter writes: “A good way to remember this humble and inspirational man.” Plus! See this talk (and many others from TEDxOxford) illustrated by the Livescribes, a British group of live [...]

Today, we’re thrilled to announce the TEDGlobal 2012 speaker lineup — exploring the theme “Radical Openness.” As the world becomes ever more interconnected, the ways we relate, the means by which we learn about one another and develop mutual understanding, and the rules about what we hide and what we share are changing. That’s the [...]

Our pals at What Took You So Long sent over a set of treated photos from TEDxSummit with an accent on TED red … explore on our +TEDx page. Photos by Alicia Sully, Sebastian Lindstrom and Pedro Julio Ramirez Paz.

From the Atlantic, this fascinating essay on Google Translate at an interesting point in its growth: Last week Google Translate announced that it now has more than 200 million monthly users. As Alexis Madrigal noted, this means that Google is now translating as much in a day as all professional human translators combined complete in [...]

From TEDxRC² comes this moving story of midwife Edna Adan Ismail. We share in honor of the International Day of the Midwife, May 5, 2012. Edna Adan Ismail is a nurse, midwife, UN diplomat, French Legion of Honour recipient and former foreign minister of Somaliland — an unrecognised, self-declared state that has been going it [...]

Gabriella Gomez-Mont founded cultural salon Tóxico Cultura to build bridges between the arts within Mexico City. Today, she’s transforming Tóxico into an international platform for synthesizing art with a wider range of disciplines, creating new “blueprints for reality.” You’ve said that being a TED Fellow messed with your mind. Why? Tóxico Cultura — the independent [...]

Now live online: The new episode of TED Radio Hour, a program from NPR and TED. “The Pursuit of Happiness” is available online now on NPR.com — and will air online on many US NPR member stations; check your local listings. In Episode 2, “The Pursuit of Happiness,” host Alison Stewart talks with Barry Schwartz [...]