In the US, youth in foster care are nearly twice as likely as war veterans to suffer from PTSD. Placed in foster care at just 11 months old, 2023 Audacious Project grantee Sixto Cancel experienced the faults of the system firsthand. Now, he's the founder of Think of Us, an organization working to reform child welfare by centering kinship care, or placing a child with an extended family member or a familiar adult. Learn more about his plan to help thousands of kids searching for a loving home with one simple, systemic switch. (This ambitious idea is a part of the Audacious Project, TED's initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

Lots of people talk about the need to be physically fit, but mentally fit? Not as much. In a powerful talk, mental health advocate Gus Worland shares how an experience of deep grief from his own life sparked his mission to advocate for suicide prevention -- and shows why "looking after your own village" can be as simple as sending a text message, right now, to the person you cannot imagine living without.

Using found materials and mesmerizing structures that unearth deep-rooted emotions, Wangechi Mutu's visual creations celebrate our collective history and explore how art communicates into the future. From ancient rock carvings in the Sahel to her own chimeric abstractions, she shares her journey of self-discovery and reminds us all that we already speak the most ancient language of all.

AI-generated media that looks and sounds exactly like the real world will soon permeate our lives. How should we prepare for it? AI developer Tom Graham discusses the extraordinary power of this rapidly advancing technology, demoing cutting-edge examples -- including real-time face swaps and voice cloning -- live from the TED stage. In conversation with head of TED Chris Anderson, Graham digs into the creative potential of this hyperreal content (often referred to as "deepfakes") as well as its risk for exploitation and the new legal rights we'll need in order to maintain control over our photorealistic AI avatars.

Why are "good colleges" often the ones that accept the fewest students? Exposing the harmful consequences of society's obsession with highly rejective (and expensive) universities, educator Cecilia M. Orphan asks us to rethink what makes institutions "prestigious" and consider directing funds and attention to where they're needed most: regional public universities that serve all students. A call for schools to be judged by the opportunities they create -- not the ones they stifle.