I thoroughly enjoyed TED month and I’ll (again) encourage you to check TED out if you haven’t already.

I’ve watched some good videos, some not so good videos – and then there are the other ones. The ones that claw deep into your gut and perform a hostile transformation. You see the description and you think, “Yeah, OK. That could maybe be interesting.” Next thing you know, you’re fighting back the sting of tears and your heart is aching with a physicality that shouldn’t be possible. The words of the speaker pierce the soul you weren’t entirely sure you had.

There’s a good chance you think I’m being over-dramatic. How could a fifteen to twenty minute video on the internet possibly have that kind of effect in a world where nothing is off limits to the television programmers? But I dare you to watch Zainab Salbi talk about the women on the “backlines” of war, and tell me you’re the same person you were before you started the video. (I’m entirely serious about this one. If you only watch ONE of these videos, make this the one.)

And if you’re heart isn’t broken enough, take a look at the images of the nearly-decimated Lakota tribe captured by Aaron Huey in his presentation: America’s Native Prisoners of War. For a different kind of experience, watch some of the most amazing African wildlife footage taken by Beverly and Dereck Joubert, who have lived fascinating lives. (And during the elephant scene: Trust me, it’s worth it to watch it through to the end.)

I’ve been watching these videos all month. I’ve blogged about some and tweeted about some, but I wanted to put them all in one place – both because I want to share them with you and because I want to be able to have them in one easily accessible location for myself. 🙂

• Lesley Hazleton (a Jewish Brit) discusses her experience with reading the Koran (I blogged about this here) ♥
• Jessa Gamble talks about sleep cycles (I blogged briefly about this here)
• Neil Pasricha’s Three A’s of Awesome (I blogged about this here)
• Jill Bolte Taylor’s “stroke” of insight (I blogged about this here) ♥
• Barry Schwartz and Practical Wisdom (Blog here)
• Sheryl Sandberg on Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders (blog) ♥
• 11-year-old Birke Baehr talking about “What’s wrong with our food system” (blog)
• Denis Dutton discussing “A Darwinian theory of beauty” (blog)
• Heribert Watzke talking about “The brain in your gut” (blog)
• Brene Brown and “The power of vulnerability” (blog) ♥
• Liza Donnelly Drawing Upon Humor for Change – I thought this was amusing and had some good little insights.
• Elizabeth Lesser urges you to “Take ‘the Other’ to Lunch.” This video didn’t start like I expected, but it got to the promise of the title soon. She made some good points about how, in political discussions especially, people are so quick to demonize the other side, making modern politics impossible.
• Naomi Klein talks about how our society is “Addicted to Risk.” Of our current energy practices, she says, “This is how civilizations commit suicide.” She reminds us that, “there is no escape hatch.” If you’ve never heard of the oil extraction from the Tar Sands, you should check this video out. ♥
• In the same vein, you can watch Van Jones talk about the “Economic Injustice of Plastic.” He says, “when you create a world where you don’t trash people, you can’t trash the planet.”
• I loved this video of Jason Fried discussing “Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work.” ♥
• Tony Porter sends out “A Call to Men.” He discusses how always telling our sons to “act like a man” can lead men to mistreat, disrespect and abuse women – and each other.
• Stacey Kramer shares a very emotional, but short story about “The Best Gift I Ever Survived.”
• I really enjoyed Steven Johnson exploring “Where Good Ideas Come From.” He starts by saying that coffee houses “are places where ideas have sex” (though I think he was quoting) and ends with: “chance favors the connected mind.” He says that “ideas are cobbled together” piece by piece or “fade into view over time.” ♥
• Arianna Huffington shares her secret on “How to Succeed? Get more Sleep.”
• Here’s a purely entertaining video with Jake Shimabukuro playing “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the ukulele.
• A rather dorkily adorable Heather Knight presents “Silicon Based Comedy.”
• Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams shares “A Realistic Vision for World Peace.” She gives some brief profiles on some truly awe-inspiring women who are changing our world in their own ways. She says, “we need to redefine what makes us secure in this world” and “working together is what changes our world.” She wants us to “reclaim the meaning of peace; it’s not a dirty word.” ♥
• Diana Laufenberg, a teacher: “How to Learn? From Mistakes.” She says we need to “let go of the paradigms of the past” and “allow kids to fail as part of the learning process.” I thought this was a short, interesting chat.
• This video from Jonathan Harris about “The Web’s Secret Stories” didn’t really impress me, but I thought I’d throw it out there anyway.
• Amber Case says “We Are All Cyborgs Now.” This is another video I wasn’t too fond of, though it ends on a happy note.
• Ali Carr-Chellman talks about “Gaming to Re-engage Boys in Learning.” Now I’ll admit that I don’t know anything about educating young boys, but this talk rubbed me the wrong way, though I’m not sure why.

♥ = my favorites

Let me know if you watch/watched any of these and what you think!