TEDucate Yourself This September

Lately I've been obsessed with TED talks. You may have heard of the free lecture series before--the organization has been around for 30 years--where famous and not famous thinkers, researchers, business owners, and leaders give short, punchy talks that make you go huh. I listen to NPR's weekly TED Radio Hour show where host Guy Raz brings back several of the organization's most memorable speakers to recap their talks on central themes. These speakers are so inspiring that I have been known to rent their books from the library because I want to hear more.

Now that you have all the background, I'm excited to tell you about the second annual TEDxFultonStreet taking place on Sunday September 20th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

The x in TEDx means the program was independently organized (TED only hosts 2 official conferences a year if you can believe it), but don't let that fool you as they have an incredible lineup of speakers. The current agenda so far includes:

• Brad Baker (Deep-Sea Treasure Hunter – Chairman of Odyssey Marine Exploration [NASDAQ:OMEX])
• Brian Cohen (First investor in Pinterest — Chairman of New York Angels)
• Richard Stratton (Former Drug Smuggler Turned Publisher/Author/TV Executive)
• Christian Boer (Developed a typeface to aid those challenged by dyslexia)
• Rishon Blumberg (‎Agent for A-list Technology Talent – Founder of 10x Management)
• Debi Silber (The Mojo Coach – Leadership Expert)
• Jen Rozenbaum (Shamelessly Feminine Boudoir Photographer)
• Bruce Rosenbaum (Steampunk Designer – Co-founder of ModVic)
• Christie Marchese (Advocate for films that change the world – Founder of Picture Motion)
• Laura Klahre (Beekeeper and Proponent of the Pollinators)
• IMPACT Repertory Theatre (Urban non-profit program cultivating youth leaders)

In addition to the extraordinary TED Talks, there will be videos, lobby exhibits, and ample opportunities for attendees to network with presenters throughout the day. Tickets are now available for $100.00 via the TEDxFultonStreet website under “attend.” In the educational spirt of TED, any faculty or full-time student from an accredited public or private university or college is eligible for a special 20% discount.

Here's the 2014 TEDxFultonStreet recap:

Deets:

• What: TEDxFultonStreet 2015
• When: 9 am to 6 pm on Sunday September 20th, 2015
• Where: BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Lower Manhattan
• Cost: $100 with 20% discount for faculty or full-time students

Where Does All the Garbage Go?

To any out-of-towner, the way NYC deals with its garbage can be deemed anything from disgusting to stinky to unsanitary. But if you've lived here long enough, you become immune to the sidewalks piled high with plastic trash bags. And if you're anything like me, you make up stories about the people behind the mounds of refuse you pass on your morning commute.

The trash collection process in any sprawling metropolis is a coordinated effort, but in NYC, the current system is built upon decades of learning what has worked, and what hasn't (anyone ever hear about the 1981 sanitation workers strike?). If you want to learn more about why the streets don't fill with garbage or who cleans your streets, join the Museum of the City of New York and the New York Academy of Medicine for the final talk in a series called Garbage and the City this Monday 8/17 at 6:30pm.

NYC Garbage Truck circa 1929; image credit: The New York Academy of Medicine Committee on Public Health archive

Robin Nagle, author of Picking Up: On the Streets and Behind the Trucks with the Sanitation Workers of New York City, is the anthropologist-in-residence with New York's Department of Sanitation. She will be giving a talk entitled Life Along the Curb: Inside the Department of Sanitation of New York at the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street) covering what it takes for the city to deal with the 40,000 tons of garbage produced here every day.

At 8:00 pm, the 2015 short documentary film, "One Man's Trash" (17 mins), will be screened. NYU student Kelly Adams filmed NYC Department of Sanitation employee Nelson Molina, who develops a unique relationship to the objects that fill the garbage bags lining the streets. He has created a collection of found objects in a sanitation garage in East Harlem, which he refers to as a museum of “Treasures in the Trash.”

Deets:

• What: Life Along the Curb: Inside the Department of Sanitation of New York lecture
• Where: Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
• When: Monday 8/17 6:30 to 8:30 pm
• Cost: FREE, but register here