Building essential bridges
It’s impossible to ignore the divisions in the world. But instead of giving into them, in 2024, the TED community focused on talking across differences… and finding common ground. With your support, TED ideas are opening minds and connecting people from every corner of the world.
After October 7, as war broke out, much of the discourse seemed to pick a side. This conversation between Israeli peacemaker Maoz Inon and Palestinian activist and TED Fellow Aziz Abu Sarah — the third most watched talk of 2024 — illuminated where their stories converge and highlighted their shared humanity. As a result, the two were invited to join Pope Francis in May, speaking to a crowd of 13,000.
TED Democracy goes global
Last year, TED Democracy brought together civic leaders in New York City, to share ideas for strengthening democracy and making it more vibrant for citizens of all political beliefs. This year, seven TEDx communities — chosen for their locations in places where democracy has been under threat — picked up that conversation, giving a global problem critical local context.
TEDxLagos in Nigeria held a day of talks, with a special workshop for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. “It was a wakeup call for me,” said one attendee, “that getting involved is not just for adults.”
TEDxKC brought together a diverse community of 2,500 people in Kansas City, Missouri, where attendees took turns in the “civil conversations booth.”
TEDxBlumenau in Brazil invited 150 people from across the the country’s political spectrum, giving them a safe space to talk and exchange opinions in a city where it’s rare.
In TED Intersections, a new series exploring overlaps between different disciplines, former Patagonia CEO Kristine McDivitt Tompkins spoke to theater director Amir Nizar Zuabi about creating change. Zuabi shared a powerful moment, walking his refugee puppet, Amal, along the US-Mexico border. “The border police and the children of immigrants all had the same look on their face,” he said. “For a brief second, they all become one thing.”
AI-adapted talks reach new audiences
In May, TED launched the first AI-adapted TED Talks, bringing talks given in English to speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, Italian and Spanish — while maintaining each talk’s unique voice and style. At the same time, TED-Ed launched new dubbed channels in Swahili, Portuguese and Thai, bringing their total to 12 language-specific channels. Both efforts are helping people across languages learn and connect with new ideas.
By the numbers
In 2024, TED had 180 million followers engaging deeply every month, across our platforms.
That's 1 out of every 43 people on the planet.
In Addition:
In the past 10 years of TED-Ed Student Talks and TED-Ed Clubs, more than 2 million students have developed their ideas into talks, learning more about each other in the process.
More than 44,000 communities have convened through TEDx since the start of the initiative to learn and collaborate together.
