TEDx talks coming to Hackney libraries this winter

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The first TEDx talks took place in Hackney libraries earlier this month. Credit: Hackney Council.

 

A new series of TEDx Talks chosen by local residents will be screened at Hackney libraries.

Following the popularity of the first selection of screenings, which took place earlier this month, Hackney Council has organised eight new TEDxHackneyCouncilLibraries events, starting October 22.

TED is a non-profit organisation devoted to “making great ideas accessible and sparking conversation” through 18-minute recorded talks.

The TEDx programme was set up to help communities, organisations and individuals to produce TED-style events in their local area.

Luica Scazzocchio, who is hosting the events, told Eastlondonlines that they are different from most people’s experiences of TED Talks.

“Rather than being based around the format of listening and watching someone give a live talk about a specific topic, these events place much more emphasis on participation,” she said.

Each event features two talks from the TED archive around a particular theme that have been chosen by local participants.

Scazzocchio introduces each talk and after the screenings leads a group discussion, inviting the audience to share their thoughts on the set topics.

Hawa Khan, who took part in a previous TEDx event at Homerton Library, said: “It was great! I loved the content and I found it extremely useful with a good group discussion and the host was wonderful at facilitating.”

Scazzocchio said: “I think it is this active discussion element that has made the talks so popular as the diversity of people who attend means that people are able to approach quite big universal themes with people they may not usually talk to in everyday life.”

The eight talks coming up will cover a variety of topics including “A different kind of power”, “How social is social media?” and “Feminism and masculinity”.

Councillor Jonathan MacShane said that people who have taken part in previous events “really engaged” with the topics and made new friends “along the way”.

“All of the events are free so visit a library and get inspired by TEDx this winter,” he said.

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