TED Announces Speaker Line-up for TEDGlobal 2011 Conference, "The Stuff of Life"

NEW YORK, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Four-day stage program in Edinburgh, Scotland to feature 70 talks, performances and tech demos

TED, the nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading, announces today its speaker program for TEDGlobal 2011, the organization's annual Europe-based conference. Held for the first time this year in Edinburgh, Scotland, TEDGlobal will run from July 11 through July 15, and feature a range of inspired thinkers from around the globe. The conference theme is "The Stuff of Life."

"Our program this year gets at the heart of the latest discoveries and debates about life itself -- what it is, and how it can it be better lived," says TED's European Director Bruno Giussani, who curated the speaker's lineup. "The TEDGlobal 2011 speakers will celebrate life in all its forms. We've assembled a program that explores life from the secrets of the biological processes that take place in our body, to the cultural constructs that take place in our society; from the technologies and resources that make life possible, to the themes that define our humanity -- or threaten it."

    
    The TEDGlobal 2011 speakers (in alphabetical order):

    David Adjaye, Architect
    Nadia Al-Sakkaf, Journalist
    Asaf Avidan, Singer
    Julia Bacha, Filmmaker
    Michael Biddle, Plastic recycler
    Phillip Blond, Political theorist
    Paul Bloom, Psychologist
    Alain de Botton, Philosopher
    Karol Boudreaux, Economist
    Joe Castillo, Sand artist
    Pauline Chen, Transplant surgeon
    Lee Cronin, Chemist
    Danielle De Niese, Soprano
    Anna Mracek Dietrich, Co-creator of a flying car
    Hasan Elahi, Transparency artist
    Peter Fankhauser, Roboticist
    Niall Ferguson, Historian
    Markus Fischer, Designer
    Jeremy Gilley, Founder, Peace One Day
    Daisy Ginsberg, Interactive designer
    Misha Glenny, Crime expert
    Ben Goldacre, Science writer
    Alison Gopnik, Child development psychologist
    Robert Gupta, Violinist
    Harald Haas, Technologist
    Justin Hall-Tipping, Science investor
    Jo Hamilton, Singer
    Balazs Havasi, Pianist
    Charles Hazlewood, Conductor
    Yasheng Huang, Economist
    Mikko Hypponen, Cyber-security expert
    Robin Ince, Comedian
    Allan Jones, Neuroscientist
    Ben Kacyra, Head of Cyark
    Cynthia Kenyon, Expert on ageing
    Todd Kuiken, Biomedical engineer
    Yang Lan, Media mogul
    Jae Rhim Lee, Artist
    Pamela Meyer, Deception detective
    Neil MacGregor, British Museum director
    Rebecca MacKinnon, Network advocate
    Jarreth Merz, Filmmaker
    Elizabeth Murchison, Cancer specialist
    Maajid Nawaz, Former radical Islamist
    Thandie Newton, Actress
    Svante Paabo, geneticist
    Mark Pagel, Linguist
    Annie Murphy Paul, Science writer
    Eddi Reader, Singer
    Yves Rossy, Jetman
    Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy, Educator
    Alice Russell, Singer
    Josette Sheeran, Director UN Food Program
    Shohei Shigematsu, Architect
    Kevin Slavin, Algoworld expert
    Rory Stewart, Politician
    Paul Snelgrove, Marine biologist
    Pavan Sukhdev, Banker
    Marco Tempest, Cybermagician
    Karen Tse, Anti-torture activist
    Abraham Verghese, Writer and doctor
    Vertigo Dance Company
    Geoffrey West, Theorist
    Richard Wilkinson, Epidemiologist
    Daniel Wolpert, Neuroscientist
    Paul Zak, Neuroeconomist

The detailed program and more information can be found online here: http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2011/.

TEDGlobal2011 conference is very nearly sold out. To apply for one of the last 20 places, visit http://conferences.ted.com/TEDGlobal2011/.

800 people from over 30 countries are expected to attend. TEDGlobal associate memberships, offering the possibility to watch the conference via a private webcast channel, are still available. Information on the conference's website.

About TED

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. The annual TED Conference invites the world's leading thinkers and doers to speak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual TED Conference takes place each spring in Long Beach, California, along with the TEDActive simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED's media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide. TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world, and the TEDFellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED

Contact: Margaret Sullivan, ted@groupsjr.com, +1-646-833-0205