I was held hostage for 317 days. Here’s what I thought about…

From the TED.com YouTube site: Vincent Cochetel was held hostage for 317 days in 1998, while working for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees in Chechnya. For the first time, he recounts the experience — from what it was like to live in a dark, underground chamber, chained to his bed, to the unexpected conversations he had with his captors. With lyricism and power, he explains why he continues his work today. Since 2000, attacks on humanitarian aid workers have tripled — and he wonders what that rise may signal to the world.

4 Lessons in Creativity (inspirational video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: Radio host Julie Burstein talks with creative people for a living — and shares four lessons about how to create in the face of challenge, self-doubt and loss. Hear insights from filmmaker Mira Nair, writer Richard Ford, sculptor Richard Serra and photographer Joel Meyerowitz.

Photographic Stories from the Ocean (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: Experience the colorful lives of underwater animals through the lens of art photography. Learn about the surprising sex lives of famous animated fish, the bizarre mating habits of punk-rock nudibranchs, and the majestic grace of the largest fish in the ocean. See the adorable playfulness of sea lions up close, and the consider the message they teach us about our relationship to the ocean. Tom Gruber was co-founder and head of design for Siri, and continues the Siri vision at Apple. He also has a passion for underwater photography, and has traveled the world capturing the surprising beauty of ocean life.

Gratitude: Louie Schwartzberg (environmental video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: Nature’s beauty can be easily missed — but not through Louie Schwartzberg’s lens. His stunning time-lapse photography, accompanied by powerful words from Benedictine monk Brother David Steindl-Rast, serves as a meditation on being grateful for every day. (Filmed at TEDxSF.)

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images that celebrate life — revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty.

Louie’s notable career spans feature films, television shows, commercials and documentaries. He won two Clio Awards for TV advertising, including best environmental broadcast spot, an Emmy nomination for best cinematography and the Heartland Film Festival’s Truly Moving Picture Award for the feature film “America’s Heart & Soul.” Schwartzberg founded Moving Art to use the power of media to inspire and entertain through television programming, DVD products, and full-length motion picture and IMAX films. His new film “Wings of Life” will be released by Disneynature. Read more

Photos that bear witness to modern slavery (educational video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: For the past two years, photographer Lisa Kristine has traveled the world, documenting the unbearably harsh realities of modern-day slavery. She shares hauntingly beautiful images — miners in the Congo, brick layers in Nepal — illuminating the plight of the 27 million souls enslaved worldwide. Filmed at TEDxMaui.

How to combat modern slavery (educational video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research — and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.

Human trafficking is all around you. This is how it works…

From the TED.com YouTube site: Behind the everyday bargains we all love — the $10 manicure, the unlimited shrimp buffet — is a hidden world of people bought and sold to keep those prices at rock bottom. Noy Thrupkaew investigates the human trafficking industry – which flourishes in the US and Europe, as well as developing countries – and shows us the human faces behind the illegal labor that feeds global consumers.

A warrior’s cry against child marriage (inspirational video)

From the TED.com YouTube site: Memory Banda’s life took a divergent path from her sister’s. When her sister reached puberty, she was sent to a traditional “initiation camp” that teaches girls “how to sexually please a man.” She got pregnant there — at age 11. Banda, however, refused to go. Instead, she organized others and asked her community’s leader to issue a bylaw that no girl should be forced to marry before turning 18. She pushed on to the national level … with incredible results for girls across Malawi.

I was held hostage for 317 days. Here’s what I thought about

From the TED.com YouTube site: Vincent Cochetel was held hostage for 317 days in 1998, while working for the UN High Commissioner on Refugees in Chechnya. For the first time, he recounts the experience — from what it was like to live in a dark, underground chamber, chained to his bed, to the unexpected conversations he had with his captors. With lyricism and power, he explains why he continues his work today. Since 2000, attacks on humanitarian aid workers have tripled — and he wonders what that rise may signal to the world.

An 11-year-old prodigy performs old-school jazz

Always wonderful to see someone so young discover and live their passion and purpose:-)

From the TED.com YouTube site: Raised listening to his dad’s old records, Joey Alexander plays a brand of sharp, modern piano jazz that you likely wouldn’t expect to hear from a pre-teenager. Listen as the 11-year-old delights the TED crowd with his very special performance of a Thelonious Monk classic.

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