Connect with us

People & Blogs

Struggling communities need bold new ways to grow wealth #TEDTalks

Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning textile waste into $9-per-pound yarn and factory workers into business owners. Discover…

Published

on

Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning textile waste into $9-per-pound yarn and factory workers into business owners. Discover how her long-haul approach is rebuilding rural economies stitch by stitch, proving that opportunity grows when we stop extracting and start empowering.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. @bklynmyke

    December 23, 2025 at 2:09 pm

    I’m just asking a question here: what if companies stopped outsourcing jobs to other countries to increase profits and opened more factories in the U.S., while at the same time paying a living wage and not raising the price of their products so they could still compete with Wal-Mart? Wouldn’t that help small towns across the country?

  2. @ms_salazar_1984

    December 23, 2025 at 2:10 pm

    ❤❤❤

  3. @amjedahmeh7816

    December 23, 2025 at 2:23 pm

    ❤❤❤

  4. @mojojojo813

    December 23, 2025 at 2:43 pm

    I think the companies would go out of business. How can they pay workers well by US standards if they don’t charge more than Walmart? The goods being sold at Walmart were made by people in other countries where they get paid much less.
    We can’t have it both ways. If we want manufacturing here, we need to get used to paying for it.
    Then again, CEOs don’t need to be paid thousands of times what regular workers are paid.

    • @bklynmyke

      December 23, 2025 at 3:42 pm

      I didn’t mention it in my comment, and that’s my fault, obviously. Most companies can indeed pay their workers a living wage and still make plenty of profit. They don’t have to raise prices to pay their workers fairly and still make money. They would still make more than enough money; it would just cut into profits a little. It’s not like they would lose money. They would still be in the black. They like us to think that if they made their product in the U.S., they would go bankrupt or lose so much money that it wouldn’t be worth it. It’s just that instead of making $50m in profit, they’d only make $48m. Also, as you said, the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, Presidents, and Vice Presidents don’t need to make so much money. The pay gap between workers and high-level management is wider than it’s ever been, by far.

    • @mojojojo813

      December 23, 2025 at 5:59 pm

      Sorry, I meant this to be in reply to @bklynmyke

    • @VagueSpaces

      December 24, 2025 at 5:56 am

      That’s kind of how it works no? You pay people more and they can spend more? That’s the only reason I live in a city at all. I grew up living in the country, but I don’t like pumping gas in a podunk town eating gas station food since there’s no grocery store… I’d rather be paid well enough to support local and not have to shop at walmart either.

  5. @peaceydanckwerts

    December 24, 2025 at 5:21 am

    I like your thinking. It is not directly related, but I thoroughly recommend the late Elinor Ostrom’s book, Governing the Commons, which deals with communities managing their own resources. I believe you will find it useful in your work. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

People & Blogs

When there’s a whale, there’s a way

Animals are communicating — but what are they saying? And can we talk back? Marine biologist David Gruber introduces Project CETI: a team of scientists, linguists and AI specialists hoping to decode sperm whale language. Using noninvasive robots and a machine-learning algorithm to collect and analyze millions of sperm whale vocalizations known as coda, the…

Published

on

Animals are communicating — but what are they saying? And can we talk back? Marine biologist David Gruber introduces Project CETI: a team of scientists, linguists and AI specialists hoping to decode sperm whale language. Using noninvasive robots and a machine-learning algorithm to collect and analyze millions of sperm whale vocalizations known as coda, the team aims to demystify the communication structures and dialects of these majestic creatures — and possibly even crack the interspecies communication code. (This ambitious plan is a part of the Audacious Project, TED’s initiative to inspire and fund global change.)

Continue Reading

People & Blogs

The Secret to Lasting Love | Eli J. Finkel | TED

Social psychologist Eli J. Finkel has spent decades studying what makes partnerships successful. In a practical talk drawing on lessons from pop culture, he explores why so many of us struggle to be true to ourselves in our relationships — and what the happiest couples do differently. (Recorded at TED2026 on April 16, 2026) Join…

Published

on

Social psychologist Eli J. Finkel has spent decades studying what makes partnerships successful. In a practical talk drawing on lessons from pop culture, he explores why so many of us struggle to be true to ourselves in our relationships — and what the happiest couples do differently. (Recorded at TED2026 on April 16, 2026)

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
Facebook:
X:

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.

Watch more:

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

#TED #TEDTalks #Love

Continue Reading

People & Blogs

I Thought I Was Lazy. Turns Out I Had a Sleep Disorder | Lindsay Scola | TED

For more than two decades, sleep health educator Lindsay Scola attributed her never-ending exhaustion to long hours and demanding jobs. When she was diagnosed with narcolepsy, she finally got the wake-up call that transformed her life. In this rousing talk, she discusses the epidemic of undiagnosed sleep disorders and encourages you to ask yourself: Is…

Published

on

For more than two decades, sleep health educator Lindsay Scola attributed her never-ending exhaustion to long hours and demanding jobs. When she was diagnosed with narcolepsy, she finally got the wake-up call that transformed her life. In this rousing talk, she discusses the epidemic of undiagnosed sleep disorders and encourages you to ask yourself: Is your tiredness different? (Recorded at TEDxSonomaCounty on March 7, 2026)

Join us in person at a TED conference:
Become a TED Member to support our mission:
Subscribe to a TED newsletter:

Follow TED!
Instagram:
LinkedIn:
TikTok:
Facebook:
X:

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.

Watch more:

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

#TED #TEDTalks #Health

Continue Reading

Trending