My Top 5 TED Talks

Online talks that will stop and make you go 'huh' in the best way possible

Being an internet addict has its benefits.

‘Students can’t read long books anymore, says Oxford professor’, this is the depressing headline that I read when I opened the newspaper yesterday. I am sure you do not need me to explain why attention spans (apparently these Oxford students used to easily whip through 3 tomes a week, now they can barely manage one), but I will tell you anyway: digital interference.

I gulped because I am struggling to read at the moment. And I have been feeling bad about it. I can still make my way around a non-fiction text. enjoying pulling together themes across disparate chapters, looping and thinking and learning as a I go. Before bed though, I can’t get further than a weekend supplement article.

Look, I reasoned with myself, you are tired. It’s been a big few months. This is ok. But I still felt a bit red-cheeked when I read that headline, because, I too, perhaps like you as well, am also guilty of too much scrolling, of default phone checking, of eroding my own brain for the sake of a pathetic, blue-light tinged dopamine hit.

But then I stopped the spiral inside my brain and thought, hang on, there is a world of wonder on those digital screens, and I will not, blindly, write off my interactions with the internet. I love the internet. It helps me gain new information, it challenges me, it is a conduit to new boots that will protect my damp feet at 8am on a Wednesday morning.

The internet is also a goldmine of TED Talks that make me laugh and sob, that leave me going ‘huh’ and lead me to intellectual crushes on brilliant minds about everything from pasta sauces to religion. And so, as an ode to what is awe inspiring on the WWW, I thought it might be nice to collate my favourite talks here for you today. Most are relatively snappy (no, not just because the phone has frazzled my brain). I like talks that punch hard and don’t require me to make popcorn at the interval.

Oh, and make sure you use the comments to share your favourite online talks, because I want this list to become a digital version of one of those letters we all received in the 1980s (young readers, I’m sorry for being so old), when 65 other girls had added their bit and it took a minute to unfold onto your kitchen floor. Let’s add and share.

Alice’s Top 5 Online Talks

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - The Danger of a Single Story: Watch Here

Adichie is one of my favourite authors, if you haven’t read Half of a Yellow Sun, please go and buy a copy now, put your phone down and be prepared to fall in love with Nigeria. In her TED Talk, she takes the morals woven in her tales and lays one straight out on the table. Why is it so dangerous, she asks, to have or see a single story? Through her exploration, we remember the poisoned root of bias and discrimination, and are reminded of the importance of empathy through diverse narratives. Her voice is intoxicating, and she tells the best stories. Be ready to be entertained and educated.