TED Talks Daily

Pew Research Center president Michael Dimock has spent years listening to what Americans think — and what they're telling him right now is pretty dark. But buried in the data is something revealing: people are ready for bold democratic reform that the country hasn't seen in decades. He explores how America's founders didn't create a finished system of government but rather launched an ongoing project that requires each generation to renew, adapt and reimagine democracy. The survey says Americans are ready to do the work.

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Generative AI hallucinates, creating a truth problem that science can't afford. Computer scientist Tudor Achim thinks a 400-year-old idea holds the fix: Leibniz's dream of a logical framework where errors are simply impossible. Learn about his idea for mathematical superintelligence that would ground AI in formal verification, turning unreliable chatbots into rigorous partners for scientific discovery.

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Arriving in the devastated neighborhoods of Los Angeles after the 2025 Southern California wildfires, journalist Nonny de la Peña started scanning the remains — what firefighters called “Nuketown.” Beneath the rubble, her team uncovered a surprising range of things that had survived. From a shockingly undamaged car to family heirlooms in a safety deposit box, see how her team found the story by stepping inside it.

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What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a universal question — and yet at some point, people stop asking you. Drawing on a nationwide survey across the Philippines, consumer researcher Lance Katigbak makes the case that countries should keep track of their citizens' ambitions and aspirations. His radical proposal: What if governments didn't just track GDP but also started measuring dreams?

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When was the last time you just ... played? Creative health scientist Katina Bajaj thinks adults are in a "play deprivation crisis," where we've replaced our fun-loving human nature with optimization and efficiency. She makes the case that play isn't a reward for productivity but rather a survival skill — and invites you to rediscover the freedom of not knowing where something will end up.

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