Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On How Ordinary Faces Make a Difference

We are constantly amazed as to how such ordinary faces make a difference as they are--and we commend TED for compiling this that we hereby present as our weekly edition here in our Ordinary Faces property:

TALK OF THE WEEK Why I became a climate activist -- and why you should too 17:43 minutes · Filmed Jul 2019 · Posted Sep 2019 · TEDxYouth@München "I dream of a world where geography classes teach about the climate crisis as this one great challenge that was won by people like you and me," says climate activist Luisa Neubauer. With Greta Thunberg, Neubauer helped initiate "Fridays For Future," the momentous international school strike movement that protests the lack of action on the climate crisis. She shares four first steps that anyone, regardless of age, can take to become a climate activist. "This is not a job for a single generation. This is a job for humanity," she says. Watch now »

PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK The forecast calls for... Your weather report: sunny skies, mild temperatures and a 100 percent chance of atmospheric TED Talks. Watch » Total run time 2:16:47

THIS WEEK'S NEW TED TALKS Inside the bizarre world of internet trolls and propagandists Journalist Andrew Marantz spent three years embedded in the world of internet trolls and social media propagandists, seeking out the people who are propelling fringe talking points into the heart of conversation online and trying to understand how they're making their ideas spread. Go down the rabbit hole of online propaganda and misinformation -- and learn we can start to make the internet less toxic. A climate change solution that's right under our feet There's two times more carbon in the earth's soil than in all of its vegetation and the atmosphere -- combined. Biogeochemist Asmeret Asefaw Berhe dives into the science of soil and shares how we could use its awesome carbon-trapping power to offset climate change. "[Soil] represents the difference between life and lifelessness in the earth system, and it can also help us combat climate change -- if we can only stop treating it like dirt," she says. How porn changes the way teens think about sex "The free, online, mainstream pornography that teenagers are most likely to see is a completely terrible form of sex education," says public health researcher Emily F. Rothman. She shares how her mission to end dating and sexual violence led her to create a pornography literacy program that helps teens learn about consent and respect -- and invites them to think critically about sexually explicit media. What happened when we paired up thousands of strangers to talk politics In spring 2019, more than 17,000 Europeans from 33 countries signed up to have a political argument with a complete stranger. They were part of "Europe Talks," a project that organizes one-on-one conversations between people who disagree -- sort of like a Tinder for politics. Editor Jochen Wegner shares the unexpected things that happened when people met up to talk -- and shows how face-to-face discussions could get a divided world to rethink itself.

Elliot Spitzer

Elliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York, apologized today for something he did not wish to disclose and discuss. Well, reports say that he was invovled in a prostitution ring--a high class one. When these guys get to positions of power, they seem to get beside themselves. I can't understand how this guy--with a wife, kids, money, smarts--can do such a thing What the hell is it about sex? Are such men that insecure ? I guess so....I can't understand how he can call himself a man, espouse all the high and mighty moral standards and then this. The pain on his wife's face said it all. He should at least do the honorable thing and simply resign.