logo
episode-header-image
Sep 2025
12m 32s

Floating farms, sponge cities and the cl...

TED
About this episode

What if every dollar you spend today could save you 10 dollars tomorrow? Development expert Harjeet Singh reveals how climate solutions like floating farms and “sponge cities” that absorb floodwater aren’t just clever adaptations — they’re smart economics. He explains why wealthy nations must fund the adaptation efforts of developing countries and shows how anybody can build resilience to climate change no matter where they are.



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Today
Origami, the ancient art form solving modern problems | Miles Wu
14-year-old student Miles Wu is obsessed with origami, transforming everyday scraps of paper into unexpected creations. In a joyful talk, he explores the ancient art form — from making Christmas ornaments and pigeons to folding patterns that can hold 10,000 times their weight — a ... Show More
10m 49s
Yesterday
How Community Notes reduce viral misinformation | Keith Coleman, Jay Baxter
Community Notes on X started with a wild idea: Instead of tech companies deciding what's true, what if you let people fact-check each other? Jay Baxter and Keith Coleman, who helped build the crowdsourced system adding context to misleading posts, discuss how the program reduces ... Show More
28m 30s
Jun 9
How to build a career you actually love | Bill Gurley
Passion doesn't drive work — fascination does, says venture capitalist and author Bill Gurley. Drawing on years of research into the lives of high achievers, he shows why obsessive, lifelong learning is the real engine of career excellence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ... Show More
20m 12s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2025
Floating farms, sponge cities and the climate solutions already working | Harjeet Singh
What if every dollar you spend today could save you 10 dollars tomorrow? Development expert Harjeet Singh reveals how climate solutions like floating farms and “sponge cities” that absorb floodwater aren’t just clever adaptations — they’re smart economics. He explains why wealthy ... Show More
12m 32s
Aug 2025
The trillion dollar paradox | George Zaidan
Global warming is very, very expensive: extreme weather, rising sea levels, crop failures, health issues, and industry disruptions all cost money. So, what’s the best way forward? Is the estimated trillion-dollar price tag that comes with transitioning the world to clean energy w ... Show More
9m 2s
Sep 2025
How displaced people are driving local economies | Julienne Oyler
The number of forcibly displaced people across the world is on the rise. While aid systems often focus on providing basic necessities like food and shelter, Julienne Oyler and her team at the nonprofit Inkomoko have a more ambitious plan: invest in refugee entrepreneurs in order ... Show More
10m 8s
Oct 2025
How to pull the emergency brake on global warming | Mohamed A. Sultan
Landfills across African cities are catching fire and releasing methane, an invisible greenhouse gas with more short-term warming potential than CO2. Sustainable strategist Mohamed A. Sultan reveals how local communities are turning this crisis into opportunity, diverting hundred ... Show More
13m 23s
Aug 2025
Do schools kill creativity? | Sir Ken Robinson (re-release)
Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.This episode originally aired in 2006. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 
20m 20s
Aug 2025
A bold idea to rebuild the working class | Molly Hemstreet
Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning texti ... Show More
24m 10s
Sep 2025
How do you rethink how the world works? An entrepreneur and an engineer answer | Yancey Strickler and Jenny Du
What happens when following the “right” path leads you to the “wrong” place? Kickstarter cofounder Yancey Strickler and scientist Jenny Du discuss how they’ve made careers out of rethinking old systems and imagining new ones. They dive into the spark that led to their success — a ... Show More
26m 17s
Oct 2025
Tax the rich — and save the planet | Esther Duflo
Nobel Prize-winning economist Esther Duflo brings her data-driven precision to the climate crisis — and the numbers are damning. While world leaders haggle over finances at endless summits, rising temperatures will kill millions in the poorest countries by the end of this century ... Show More
12m 5s
Apr 2021
Listen Again: The Life Cycles Of Cities
Original broadcast date: November 13, 2020. Cities are never static; they can transform in months, years, or centuries. This hour, TED speakers explore how today's cities are informed by the past, and how they'll need to evolve for the future. Guests include archaeologist Alyssa ... Show More
50m 6s