Okay, so I just got bored with the TED Talk Lunch post titles. Get it? May? It’s May. Sigh.
‘Twas a smaller but dedicated bunch of TTL’ers this time around. I got a good sense of their dedication when I asked if we should take a break over summer. Hah! We are so ON through the summer months! Love it 🙂
Even though we started a bit late, we managed to fit in 3 Talks. Here they are:
Randall Munroe: Comics that ask “what if?”
Web cartoonist Randall Munroe answers simple what-if questions (“what if you hit a baseball moving at the speed of light?”) using math, physics, logic and deadpan humor. In this charming talk, a reader’s question about Google’s data warehouse leads Munroe down a circuitous path to a hilariously over-detailed answer — in which, shhh, you might actually learn something. (Link to this Talk)
Diana Nyad: Never, ever give up
In the pitch-black night, stung by jellyfish, choking on salt water, singing to herself, hallucinating … Diana Nyad just kept on swimming. And that’s how she finally achieved her lifetime goal as an athlete: an extreme 100-mile swim from Cuba to Florida — at age 64. Hear her story. (link to this Talk)
Peter van Uhm: Why I chose a gun
Peter van Uhm is the Netherlands’ chief of defense, but that does not mean he is pro-war. In this talk, he explains how his career is one shaped by a love of peace, not a desire for bloodshed — and why we need armies if we want peace. (link to this Talk)
Turns out everyone in the room knew about Randall’s “What If?” comics and website https://what-if.xkcd.com/ … except me. Something new (to me) and cool to check out!
Loved Diana. Very inspiring and well-spoken. I think I need to watch it again. Some good life lessons in there.
Now, this last Talk is why I don’t post what we’re going to watch ahead of time, and why I don’t want to know. “Why I chose a gun” would not be a Talk I’d have picked on my own. But I’m game, I’ll listen with an open mind, and hopefully keep my mouth shut before my foot finds a way inside. And it was good. I’m glad I watched it. Huh.
Thanks so much to Kristen and Paul for the picks. Stay tuned for June. No, wait. “Tune in for June!” There, that rhymes.