Come join us for TED Talks at Compact Cinema every Wednesday at noon!  For more information: Gloria at email – tedtalksroanoke (at) hotmail (dot) com

Below is an archive of all TED Talks previously shown at Compact Cinema, starting with the most recent first:

 

March 11th, 2015

Janet Echelman: Taking imagination seriously

Janet Echelman found her true voice as an artist when her paints went missing — which forced her to look to an unorthodox new art material. Now she makes billowing, flowing, building-sized sculpture with a surprisingly geeky edge. A transporting 10 minutes of pure creativity.

Shea Hembrey: How I became 100 artists

How do you stage an international art show with work from 100 different artists? If you’re Shea Hembrey, you invent all of the artists and artwork yourself — from large-scale outdoor installations to tiny paintings drawn with a single-haired brush. Watch this funny, mind-bending talk to see the explosion of creativity and diversity of skills a single artist is capable of.

 

March 4th, 2015

Jim Holt: Why does the universe exist?

Why is there something instead of nothing? In other words: Why does the universe exist (and why are we in it)? Philosopher and writer Jim Holt follows this question toward three possible answers. Or four. Or none.

Helder Guimarães: A magical search for a coincidence

Small coincidences. They happen all the time and yet, they pass us by because we are not looking for them. In a delightfully subtle trick, magician Helder Guimarães demonstrates with a deck of cards, a dollar bill and a stuffed giraffe.

 

February 25th, 2015

Atul Gawande: How do we heal medicine?

Our medical systems are broken. Doctors are capable of extraordinary (and expensive) treatments, but they are losing their core focus: actually treating people. Doctor and writer Atul Gawande suggests we take a step back and look at new ways to do medicine — with fewer cowboys and more pit crews.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Marketing to Doctors (HBO)

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars marketing drugs to doctors.
We have a few issues with that.

 

February 18th, 2015

Emily Castor – Creating opportunity through the sharing economy

This talk was chosen and presented by our very own TED Talks Roanoke attendee Robert Stutes, who is an Uber driver in his spare time.

Emily Castor makes the case that ride and car sharing are not only a promising transportation alternatives–especially as the urban population continues to grow worldwide, but such examples of collaborative consumption are transformative agents for our economy and culture that increase personal freedom and move us closer toward the sharing economy.

 

February 11th, 2015

Colin Stokes – How movies teach manhood

When Colin Stokes’ 3-year-old son caught a glimpse of “Star Wars,” he was instantly obsessed. But what messages did he absorb from the sci-fi classic? Stokes asks for more movies that send positive messages to boys: that cooperation is heroic, and respecting women is as manly as defeating the villain.

Bill Pozzobon – Breaking the Boys Code of Masculinity

Bill Pozzobon has worked on gender and violence issues with youth and educators for over a decade. In his role as Director of the SafeTeen Boy’s Program, he trains the new SafeTeen Agents for Change and co-leads Educator Trainings locally, nationally and internationally. With humour and skill Bill invites the boys and men he works with to step into their full humanity with dignity and courage.

 

February 4th, 2015

Ash Beckham – We’re all hiding something. Let’s find the courage to open up

In this touching talk, Ash Beckham offers a fresh approach to empathy and openness. It starts with understanding that everyone, at some point in their life, has experienced hardship. The only way out, says Beckham, is to open the door and step out of your closet.

 

January 28th, 2015

Britta Riley – A garden in my apartment

Britta Riley wanted to grow her own food (in her tiny apartment). So she and her friends developed a system for growing plants in discarded plastic bottles — researching, testing and tweaking the system using social media, trying many variations at once and quickly arriving at the optimal system. Call it distributed DIY. And the results? Delicious.

Pam Warhurst – How we can eat our landscapes

What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into communal vegetable gardens, and to change the narrative of food in their community.

David Byrne, Ethel + Thomas Dolby – “(Nothing But) Flowers” with string quartet

David Byrne sings the Talking Heads’ 1988 hit, “(Nothing But) Flowers.” He’s accompanied by Thomas Dolby and string quartet Ethel, who made up the TED2010 house band.