Random Talks

Beth Carroll, an Instructor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Purdue University, highlights the importance of shopping from small local business o

Sometimes a single unlikely idea can have massive impact across the world. Sir Harold Evans, the author of They Made America, describes how frustratio

Raised in Africa and schooled in the UK and the U.S., Anthony Willoughby was 22 when he bought a one-way ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express to Japan

Ken Okuyama has spent a lifetime fashioning exotic yet practical things of surpassing beauty. The prizewinning car designer has shaped models for Gene

Art Director and Designer Cook, preserve, store, serve—the core sequence of events in any kitchen—is simpler now thanks to the OSORO smart tableware s

Everyone poops. The problem, says John Kluge, is that 2.5 billion of us have no clean place to go, and that lack is generating massive troubles with g

Suppleness and steely toughness—two seemingly incompatible attributes—describe a supermaterial many have dreamed of. Now Kazuhide Sekiyama and Spiber

A mysterious person who caused a sensation on Twitter with a parody bot account of the nationally recognized character. With philosophical remarks and

Jun Aoki is known as a leader in customized rental properties, but started his career working in regular real estate brokerage and managing an interne

Batteries made from wood. Stone transformed into paper. Coffee turned in biochemicals to absorb odors and protect our skin from UV rays. Bioplastics a

Sungene Ryang wants to coax a new generation of Asian entrepreneurs and venture businesses into the fray. As an associate partner at visionary global

Yoko Ishikura is reinvigorating education and Japan’s economy through various channels to foster creativity, innovation, and learning. With a fo

Blind football is a universal sport that was originally conceived for the visually impaired, but can be taken part in by anyone through the use of an

Are we living in the era of the bold eccentric, the realm of the unfettered visionary? Masaki Takeuchi thinks so, and he should know: he’s the man in

Masashi Kawamura has an idea lab. In that lab, called PARTY, he and several fellow creatives perform the advertising equivalent of alchemy, fusing raw

Before becoming TED’s licensing director in 2007, Lara Stein was deeply involved in broadband entertainment programming, animation and interacti