Skype at TEDGlobal 2013

June Cohen is Executive Producer of TED Media. She focuses on how to extend TED in fresh directions, particularly those that help spread ideas such as the Open Translation Project. In this Found in Translation Session, June and a global panel of TED Translators explore what it means to connect with other translators via language and technology, and the impact it has had on their lives.

An Xiao Mina is a writer, technologist and researcher who studies how internet culture and humor address political issues around the world. “It turns out that internet culture — a culture of rapid remixing and sharing of memes, or cultural units — is a compelling force against censorship,” Mina says. ”A peek behind the curtain of the world’s most censored internet has so many corners of creativity as people find new ways to speak out.”

In the TED Found in Translation Session following her talk, An explores the culture of the internet with fellow TEDGlobal Speaker, Hetain Patel, and a global panel of TED Translators.

As urban areas have exploded, a dramatic stratification is taking place. While some parts of cities have become playgrounds for the privileged, others have become home to the poor and marginalized. Often these two very different ways of life exist in close proximity, says Teddy Cruz on the TEDGlobal 2013 stage.

Cruz hopes that cities of consumption will give way to neighborhoods of production. “This could become the framework for producing a new social and economic structure in the city,” he says.

In the TED Found in Translation Session following his talk, Teddy explores possible solutions to the pressing issues surrounding urban development with a global panel of TED Translators and experts.

As a child, Patel wanted to be Bruce Lee; later, he wanted to be more like his father, with a different kind of bravery. From this question, his new show Be Like Water examines shifting identities of all kinds, using dance and bold imagery to power a story of self-examination and self-creation.

On the TEDGlobal 2013 stage, Patel plays with our preconceptions of identity and authenticity. “My artwork is about identity and leverage,” he says. “Challenging common assumptions on how we look or where we come from. Gender, race, class. What makes us who we are anyway?”

In the TED Found in Translation session following his talk, Hetain and a global panel of TED translators explore how the languages we speak affect the way we behave.

In this_Found in Translation_ Session, Pico leads a discussion on whether foreignness exists. He notes that with expanded technology, more interaction and increased mixing of languages, it’s getting more and more difficult to find a place that is truly foreign. But is the world growing homogeneously or is it in fact as full of distance as it ever was? The translators offer a unique position as their work with TED helps to preserve and revive languages that have been threatened by politics and demographics.

Technology thriller author, most recently of the book Kill Decision, Daniel Suarez took to the stage with this powerful call to action: “We need an international legal framework for robotic weapons, and we need it before there is a devastating attack or incident which causes nations to rush to adopt weapons. In the TED Found in Translation Session following his talk, Daniel explores the topic of killer robots in greater detail with a global panel of TED Translators.

Erik Hersman nurtures the creativity springing from the African tech community, and helps spread its innovations throughout the world. As he says: “The constant bridging of worlds (African and American) started at such a young age that it has become embedded in my character. I find it easy to switch between cultures and enjoy friends and associates on either side of the ocean.”

On the TEDGlobal 2013 stage, Erik Hersman and Alan Hong led the Session ‘Forces of Change’ that showcased how Africa, Asia and the Middle East are leading a lot of innovation that will positively impact global endemic issues.

In the TED Found in Translation Session following his talk, Erik and a global panel of TED Translators dig deeper into the advancements of innovation in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.