Whacky colour changes, magic disappearing water, blowing up dustbins, clouds of steam, thunder air explosions. Are you ready to fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ‘explosive’ journey?

In his talk, Andrew aims to promote chemistry as the science of remarkable changes, which are often overlooked yet so important in our everyday life. And he does it brilliantly by performing an incredible series of 25 experiments in 15 minutes, totally amazing the audience (who rewards him with a long and deserved standing ovation)!

Andrew Z. Szydło is an internationally acclaimed chemistry teacher. But he’s definitely not the typical chemistry teacher you would expect…

He holds a PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science from UCL, and is an expert on the history of alchemy (his 1994 book ‘Water Which Does Not Wet Hands’ is considered to be the standard reference work on the Polish alchemist Michael Sendivogius.)

But his polymath spirit extends further: he’s a violin, bugle and accordion player, as well as a professional photographer. Throughout the years Andrew has wowed audiences all around the world with his pyrotechnical approach to teaching and demonstrating chemical sciences on stage and has appeared many times on TV. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Lena Kay shares the 3 steps on how she went from being in a homeless shelter with a brain tumour to living the life of her dreams and how you can transform your life using the same process.

Lena Kay is a Transformation coach who was born in North Iraq and raised in London.  A university dropout she managed a chain of 10 gambling establishments before moving onto RBS business banking where she arose as a team leader.

By her mid 20’s she found herself homeless, depressed, overweight with a brain tumour and living on benefits. She discovered neuroscience and quantum physics, used the knowledge to transform her life and helped many people on her journey as she organically fell into coaching.

Lena now empowers individuals, entrepreneurs and groups to transform and become who they need to be, to maximise their potential and live life on their own terms.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

A chance encounter with members of the Ku Klux Klan led black musician Daryl Davis on a quest to determine the source of the hate. His unorthodox, yet simple approach, has wielded surprising results and just might be the solution for all racial discourse.

Daryl Davis graduated from Howard University with a degree in Jazz. As a pianist, vocalist, and guitarist, he performs nationally and internationally with The Daryl Davis Band. He has also worked with such notables as Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley’s Jordanaires, The Legendary Blues Band, and many others.

In 1983, A chance occurrence after one of his performances led him to befriend a member of the Ku Klux Klan. This eventually led Daryl to become the first black author to travel the country interviewing KKK leaders and members, all detailed in his book, Klan-Destine Relationships. Today, Daryl owns numerous Klan robes and hoods, given to him by active members who became his friends and renounced the organization.

Since his journey began, Davis has joined an all-white country band, attended KKK rallies, and accepted a “certificate of friendship” from the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK. He’s even the godfather of former Klan Imperial Wizard Roger Kelly’s granddaughter.

Davis has received the Elliott-Black and MLK awards as well as numerous other local and national awards for his work in race relations, and is often sought by media outlets as a consultant on the KKK and race relations. He is also an actor with stage and screen credits, appearing in the critically acclaimed HBO police drama, The Wire, and most recently, as the subject of the documentary Accidental Courtesy, which filmed his real life encounters with Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi leaders as he helps to dismantle racism across the United States

Davis has received the Elliott-Black and MLK awards as well as numerous other local and national awards for his work in race relations, and is often sought by media outlets as a consultant on the KKK and race relations. He is also an actor with stage and screen credits, appearing in the critically acclaimed HBO police drama, The Wire, and most recently, as the subject of the documentary Accidental Courtesy, which filmed his real life encounters with Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi leaders as he helps to dismantle racism across the United States. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

“My seven year old self learnt to tell people what I thought they wanted to hear. By the age of eight I’d convinced the other kids that my hair was made of sponge… because being black it couldn’t be made of ‘hair’.”

Through her own personal story and the hair-raising experiences of other women and girls, Mena Fombo’s TEDxBristol talk is a witty, yet compelling and sometimes dark exploration of the objectification of black women. Its an issue she has spent a lifetime experiencing and exploring, with both a political and creative lens.

Mena is the driving force behind the international campaign “No. You Cannot Touch My Hair” which has attracted contributions from people across the UK and around the world. Over half the respondents said they had their hair touched on a monthly basis by people they’d never met before. 18% said it happened every week. The vast majority described the touching as intrusive, invasive and unwelcome. 90% of those responding identified as female, and the majority were black or of mixed race origin. Some said it felt like being petted in a zoo. Mena says: “We are not animals in zoos — #DONTTOUCH”.
Mena Fombo describes herself as a British Nigerian Bristolian through and through! She is a purposeful coach, facilitator, motivational speaker, consultant and activist with a background working in the arts, the voluntary sector and educational establishments across Europe, the USA, Africa and South Asia.

She is also the founder of The OJiJi Purple Project, a Bristol based non-profit that campaigns for equality, focusing on working with black women and girls through everyday activism, connecting communities and creativity. She is the curator of Bristol’s first Black Girls
Convention.

As a confident, black woman, who has overcome a lifetime of adversity and personal experiences of injustice, she has carved out a role for herself as a creative activist, working tirelessly to support the political, social and economic equality of black people and women. She is passionate about social change, the development of people, values-based leadership and creating powerful learning experiences. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Dr. Nooshin Razani talks about the healing power of nature as well as why it is her mission to prescribe time in nature as a way to treat health conditions. Watch Dr. Nooshin Razanis talk to learn how and why nature can be an essential part of healthy living.

Dr. Nooshin Razani has devoted her career to preserving natural spaces and improving human health through nature. She studied pediatrics and public health at the University of California at San Francisco and Harvard. She was trained as a Nature Champion by the National Environmental Education Fund

In today’s busy distracted world, those who carve out 15 min to walk in a park or forest on a regular basis will have an edge. Research shows time in a park or forest practicing Shinrin Yoku or forest bathing will decrease stress and anxiety, and it will increase the ability to focus, think critically and make better decision.

For the past 25 years Ronna has been exploring ways of connecting people to themselves through time in wild places. This interest has led her to study a variety of practices including leadership development, meditation, storytelling, indigenous traditions, and most recently Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing).

Ronna is one of the first people in Canada to guide the simple yet powerful practice of Shinrin Yoku. As faculty with Leadership Development at the Banff Centre, Ronna has been working with professionals and executives using nature as the teacher to create powerful reflections and transformation. When people feel connected to nature they become connected to themselves, others and everything else in their life becomes clear. Ronna provides effective tools so people can listen to themselves and what nature has to tell them. With our increasingly busy technological world, research shows it is the nature wise who will have the advantage.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

At a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) is predicting depression will be the second biggest illness by 2020 — it’s time we took control of our own lives and those of future generations. Caroline presents the evidence on why our disconnection with nature is resulting in us being ‘fish out of water’ and shares the benefits of being outdoors and immersed in the natural world and how this free medicine or therapy – call it what you will — has benefited her and the young people she works alongside.

From an early age, environmental issues, the great outdoors and an interest in the wider world has defined who I am and the choices I have made about my own life and career. My roles have included Director of an environmental charity on the Thames in London, Government Advisor, University Lecturer and Researcher and senior Local Government Manager -working in the areas of sustainability, environment, waste/resource management, and supporting vulnerable people. All of this has culminated in my current role as the Director at Bore Place www.boreplace.org — a not for profit organisation working to connect people with themselves, to each other and the natural world.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director and producer who captures breathtaking images and stories that celebrate life — revealing connections, universal rhythms, patterns and beauty. His 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 Festivals Truly Moving Picture Award for the feature film «Americas Heart

Through her talk Mada Tsagia-Papadakou shared how she got in an abusive relationship, why she stayed, how she left and how this dark side of her life, gave her the lights to pursue her work against violence and for defending women’s rights. Mada Tsagia-Papadakou is the Founder and CEO of W.I.N. HELLAS, a public benefit organization aiming to prevent and minimize violence against women. Her personal experiences inspired her to found W.I.N Hellas. While recognizing the importance of information, she explains how we let ourselves become victims of violence and stay in an abusive environment and what “tools” and “skills” one needs to get out of such a situation. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Narcissism has not only become a normalized social condition, it is increasingly being incentivized. The framework of narcissism with the central pillars of lack of empathy, entitlement, grandiosity, superficiality, anger, rage, arrogance, and shallow emotion is a manifestation of pathological insecurity – an insecurity that is experienced at both the individual and societal level. The paradox is that we value these patterns – and venerate them through social media, mainstream media, and consumerism, they represent a fast-track to financial and professional success. These traits are endemic in political, corporate, academic, and media leaders. There are few lives which are not personally touched by narcissists – be it your spouse, partner, parent, child, colleague, boss, friend, sibling, or neighbor. Whether societally or individually, the toxic wave of narcissism, entitlement, and pathological insecurity is harming us all. The enticements of charm, charisma, confidence, and success can draw us in or blind us to the damaging truths of narcissism. The invalidation inherent in these relationships infects those are in them with self-doubt, despair, confusion, anxiety, depression and the chronic feeling of being “not enough,” all of which make it so difficult to step away and set boundaries. The illusion of hope and the fantasy of redemption can result in years of second chances for narcissists, and despondency when change never comes. It’s time for a wake-up call. Health and wellness campaigns preach avoidance of unhealthy foods, sedentary lifestyles, tobacco, drugs, alcohol, but rarely preach avoidance of unhealthy or toxic people. Yet the health benefits of removing toxic people from a life may have a far greater benefit to both physical and psychological health than going to the gym. We need to learn to be better gatekeepers for our minds, bodies, and souls. Instead of habituating to the global shift of validating narcissism and other toxic patterns, it’s time to understand it and take our lives back. Dr. Ramani Durvasula is a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice in Santa Monica and Sherman Oaks, CA and Professor of Psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, where she was named Outstanding Professor in 2012. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg.

She is the author of the modern relationship survival manual Should I Stay or Should I Go: Surviving a Relationship With a Narcissist (Post Hill Press) She is also the author of You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life, as well as the author of numerous peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and conference papers.

Dr. Ramani received her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Connecticut, and her MA and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from UCLA.

She brings a wealth of expertise in relationships, sexuality, health and wellness. Dr. Ramani was the co-host of Oxygen’s series My Shopping Addiction, and has also been featured on series on Bravo, the Lifetime Movie Network, National Geographic, the History Channel, Discovery Science, and Investigation Discovery as well as in documentary films on health. She has been a featured commentator on nearly every major television network, as well as radio, print, and Internet media. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx