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News Tells You What Happened. Drawing Shows You How It Felt | George Butler | TED

What does a war look like when you sit still long enough to draw it? Reportage artist and TED Fellow George Butler sketches the people that the news passes by: a 99-year-old survivor of the Holodomor famine in Ukraine, a man gathering books blasted into a rose garden, an architect whose home was hit by…

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What does a war look like when you sit still long enough to draw it? Reportage artist and TED Fellow George Butler sketches the people that the news passes by: a 99-year-old survivor of the Holodomor famine in Ukraine, a man gathering books blasted into a rose garden, an architect whose home was hit by a Russian missile. Urging us to slow down in the age of immediate news, Butler shows how a drawing reveals what a headline can’t. (Recorded at TED2026 on April 16, 2026)

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8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. @Kenzukirix

    September 27, 2026 at 11:10 am

    For me drawing is an attempt to understand what I feel about the world I live in.

  2. @BuiNhatAnh-e4j

    September 27, 2026 at 11:14 am

    Chills down my spine… 🥺 News gives us the facts, but drawings like this capture the actual heartbreak. Huge respect to George Butler for showing the human side of war that often gets left behind. 🙏✨

  3. @roycohen3054

    September 27, 2026 at 11:24 am

    Have you been to both sides of the same conflict and drawn people of both sides?

  4. @follow-focus-your-dreams

    September 27, 2026 at 11:38 am

    الله أكبر

  5. @isratibnatlizna293

    September 27, 2026 at 11:39 am

    Truly inspiring work! Thank you George Butler for sharing these stories through your art.

  6. @josephmichel8194

    September 27, 2026 at 3:21 pm

    So very touching… Thank you for sharing!

  7. @user-kq2tc5hy5g

    September 27, 2026 at 5:33 pm

    Obviously it doesn’t bother you to see people suffering, otherwise you wouldn’t continue doing it, let alone give a TED talk about it! that is at best indifference and apathy towards other people’s suffering.

  8. @aiantenor9080

    September 27, 2026 at 8:50 pm

    Cherish human connections through drawing

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The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less) — plus originals, podcasts and exclusive content. Look for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design as well as science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit for our entire library, transcripts, translations and personalized recommendations.

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TED videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with the TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), submit a request at

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