Synthetic Happiness

Today's TEDs

Neil Turok: 2008 TED Prize wish: An African Einstein
Karen Armstrong: 2008 TED Prize wish: Charter for Compassion
Dave Eggers: 2008 TED Prize wish: Once Upon a School
Paul Collier: 4 ways to improve the lives of the "bottom billion"
Nathan Myhrvold: A life of fascinations

Daylight Robbery

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama | Daylight Robbery:

"Daylight Robbery: BBC One 9pm Tuesday 10 June 2008. Panorama investigates claims that as much as $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or not properly accounted for in Iraq."

Secret History of the Credit Card

"In 'Secret History of the Credit Card,' FRONTLINE® and The New York Times join forces to investigate an industry few Americans fully understand. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt."

Life After People

What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? From the ruins of ancient civilizations to present day cities devastated by natural disasters, history gives us clues to these questions and many more in the visually stunning and thought-provoking new special LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, on The History Channel®.

Sherpa Blues

CBC News: Sunday: "Nepal's Sherpa community is in mourning over the death of the man they called 'a second father': Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to conquer Everest. But when foreign climbers seek the glory of Mount Everest's summit, what's left for the Sherpas who did the grunt work? We examine how the life of the Sherpa has changed since Sir Edmund made it to the peak."

Our cell phones, ourselves

Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase's investigation into the ways we interact with technology has led him from the villages of Uganda to the insides of our pockets. Along the way, he's made some unexpected discoveries: about the novel ways illiterate people interface with their cellphones, or the role the cellphone can sometimes play in commerce, or the deep emotional bonds we all seem to share with our phones. And watch for his surefire trick to keep you from misplacing your keys.