This summer, ideas worth spreading are coming to Edinburgh, Scotland once again for the TEDGlobal 2013 conference. The conference is divided into twelve sessions spread out over four days, from Tuesday, 11 June until Friday, 14 June 2013. The overall theme of this year’s TEDGlobal is “Think Again” – a call to rethink our place in an increasingly changing world. It will features experts, writers, and entertainers from such diverse fields as neuroscience, sustainability, biotechnology and economics, all of whom will challenge TED viewers to rethink their approaches to the world’s problems.
Photo: The Edinburgh International Conference Center, where TEDGlobal 2013 will take place, courtesy of Fulla T.
Each of the sessions are divided thematically as well, starting with “Moments of Truth” on Tuesday, which features seven speakers from such diverse backgrounds as a musician playing an ancient instrument (carny player John Kenny) to the former prime minister of Greece (George Papandreou). Other speakers include Manal Al-Sharif, a women’s rights activist in Saudi Arabia, Steve Howard, who made IKEA’s popular furniture sustainable, Jose Miguel Sokoloff, who helps rehabilitate former Colombian guerrillas, and Anne-Marie Slaughter, who focuses on the work-life balance in the modern woman’s life. The session is rounded out by classical guitar virtuoso Tariq Harb.
Session 2 begins that afternoon and bears the elusive title “Those Flying Things”. First up, Raffaello D’Andrea will speak about his collaboration with artists and engineers in the creation of autonomous technology. In the same vein, Lian Pin Koh promotes the use of autonomous aerial vehicles, better known as drones, for conservation purposes, while Andreas Raptopoulos wants to use those same drones to make deliveries in otherwise unaccessible areas and Greg Asner uses them to map out how people affect their environment from the air. If all of this so far sounds like science fiction, then sci-fi author Daniel Suarez will make you feel right at home. Finally, there’s “musical alchemist” Elizaveta, who will perform her unique blend of opera, jazz and pop for the TEDGlobal audience.
Photo: Manal al-Shraif, the woman who dared to drive, will be featured in Session 1.
The final Tuesday session is titled “Exquisite Enigmatic Us” and is heavily focused on the human brain. Neuroscientist Russell Foster will explain how sleep affects our brains, Elizabeth Loftus explores where false memories come from, neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt looks at how we interpret new research about our brains, and Kelly McGonigal explains all of these lofty scientific concepts to non-scientific audiences. The session will also feature visual artist Hetain Patel, who examines questions of identity, and singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield.
Wednesday’s first session, titled “Money Talks”, begins with Chrystia Freeland, who explores the differences between the working poor and ultra rich in her new book. Other speakers include economists Toby Eccles, Didier Sornette and Mariana Mazzucato, as well as Annette Heuser, who is striving to reform the rating agencies that got us into such a big mess recently. Perhaps the most daring character, however, is Apollo Robbins, a skilled pickpocket who is willing to share (some) tricks of his trade.
Session five takes us from the wilderness of Wall Street to the relatively calm and order of nature. “Listening to Nature” aptly features Bernie Krause, who has spent his career doing just that and recording his results. Other specialists of the natural world include bee researcher Marla Spivak, neuroscientists Suzana Herculano-Houzel and Greg Gage, science historian Sonia Shah, and, for a real walk on the wild side, wild sex biologist Carin Bondar. The session will also feature jazz pianist Yaron Herman.
Photo: Bernie Krause listens to nature in Session 5.
Session six turns your worldview upside down in “World on Its Head”. It begins with speaker and guest host Nassim Assefi, who is a physician, novelist, and activist for health and human rights, along with second guest host and think tank head Gabriella Gomez-Mont. Other featured speakers include theological writer Lesley Hazleton, filmmaker Holly Morris, who tells stories of women making waves around the world, architect Teddy Cruz, who looks towards the future, Middle Eastern political scientist Trita Parsi and Latin American economist and innovator Juan Pardinas. Continuing the international trend will be Beirut Marathon founder May El-Khalil, Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera, and Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi.
The final session on Wednesday carries the theme of “Regeneration” and focuses on developments in biological engineering. You’ll be able to hear Molly Stevens speak about biomaterials that can replace human tissue, Siddharthan Chandran talk about repairing the brain, GrŽgoire Courtine describe spinal cord fixes, Mark Kendall show innovative ways of delivering vaccines, and see photographer Fabian Oefner’s stunning depictions of nature. The day is rounded off with Le Trio Joubran and their oud music.
Thursday’s sessions begin on a serious note with “State of the Nations”. It features such intellectual heavyweights as sociologist and philosopher Renata Salecl, author of The Tyranny of Choice, as well as Chinese political scientist Eric X. Li, Arab sexuality writer Shereen El Feki, sustainability expert Johan Rockstršm and political theorist Benjamin Barber, who advocates for the role of mayors. Singer-songwriter Lissie will finish the morning session.
Session nine is titled “Forces of Change” and features guest hosts Adrian Hong and Erik Hersman, the former of which is a strategist who wants to empower citizens with technology, while the latter has a focus on the African technology community. Other speakers include economists Dambisa Moyo and Charles Robertson, both of whom focus on world and emerging markets, North Korean refugee Joseph Kim, former Prime Minister-Elect of Libya Mustafa Abushagur, and South African technology writer Toby Shapshak. Kenyan funk band Just a Band will entertain the crowd with their unique blend of funk and electronica.
The final session of 13 June is called “Imagined Beauty” and features speakers with such unique careers as cloudspotting (Gavin Pretor-Pinney), mathemagic (Arthur Benjamin), systems biology (Uri Alon), bioprinting (Andras Forgacs), travel writing (Pico Iyer) and poetry criticism (Stephen Burt). To figure out just exactly what those occupations entail, be sure to catch the session, as well as visual artist Alexa Meade and jazz-pop singer Jamie Cullum.
Photo: Artist Alexa Meade will present her unique view of beauty in Session 10.
This year’s TEDGlobal conference concludes on Friday, 14 June, though they’ve saved some of the best for the final two sessions. Session eleven features the theme of “Tech Impact”, and as you would expect, it focuses on how technology is causing us to think again about such topics as education (Anant Agarwal), writing (Abha Dawesar), music (Tim Exile), economics (Alessandro Acquisti), creativity (An Xiao Mina) and childhood (Eben Upton).
The twelfth and final session of TEDGlobal 2013 is aptly titled “All Together Now”. Its diverse speakers range from Benedictine monk Br. David Steindl-Rast to political philosopher Michael Sandel. Other speakers include activist Charmian Gooch, co-founder of anti-corruption organization Global Witness, business strategist Michael Porter, open-source engineer, hacker and artist Salvatore Iaconesi, and finally, singer-songwriter RuthAnne.
We hope you’re looking forward to this year’s TEDGlobal as much as we are! There’s only a month left to go, so stay tuned to hear how you can watch the conference live right in Krakow!