With a small but dedicated group of TED Talk fans, our monthly get-togethers are still happening! Here’s what we watched in February. Check out the TED Talk Lunch Schedule for what’s coming up in March!
“Bassam Tariq is a blogger, a filmmaker, and a halal butcher — but one thread unites his work: His joy in the diversity, the humanness of our individual experiences. In this charming talk, he shares clips from his film “These Birds Walk” and images from his tour of 30 mosques in 30 days — and reminds us to consider the beautiful complexity within us all.” (4:38)
I found this talk a little disjointed, but then… it was part of his point: trying to bring together different aspects of Muslim life to show something different from the common news narrative.
“You may remember neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis — he built the brain-controlled exoskeleton that allowed a paralyzed man to kick the first ball of the 2014 World Cup. What’s he working on now? Building ways for two minds (rats and monkeys, for now) to send messages brain to brain. Watch to the end for an experiment that, as he says, will go to “the limit of your imagination.” (18:57)
Whoa, so cool! Where this might take us is mind-boggling to consider. How brilliant are some people?
“If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she’s gonna call me Point B … ” began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis — from a wide-eyed teenager soaking in verse at New York’s Bowery Poetry Club to a teacher connecting kids with the power of self-expression through Project V.O.I.C.E. — and gives two breathtaking performances of “B” and “Hiroshima.” (18:25)
I didn’t really like poetry in school – I could never really interpret how the breeze in the trees was a metaphor for gross commercialism or some such thing. Maybe if I’d heard a passionate poet breathing life into their words right in front of me I’d get it. Sarah did this for me in her TED Talk. I expect we’ll see more of her.