TED Democracy Philadelphia asks ‘How do you make democracy better?’

Storytellers and innovators from across the globe are in Philadelphia, America’s birthplace, to discuss the ongoing experiment of American democracy.

"TED Democracy Philadelphia: Founding Futures," a full-day of new TED talks exploring the health and future of modern democracy in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, and hosted in the Kimmel Center’s Marian Anderson Hall, features over 30 speakers Saturday, including eight from Philadelphia.

The event, organized by Visit Philadelphia, includes 18-minute TED Talks from voices shaping Philadelphia and the world, including futurist and co-author of Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, Jon Alexander; best-selling novelist and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Xochitl Gonzalez, and Allentown native, writer, and commentator, Sally Kohn.

“We have so many things going on in Philadelphia on the 250th anniversary of our country,” said Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia. “What we felt was still needed was a discussion about democracy in America’s birthplace. Philadelphia is where democracy was born, and its future is being written. We’re still a city of thought leaders.”

Local leaders — including Anuj Gupta, head of the Welcoming Center, a nonprofit finding pathways for immigrants and Jasmine E. Sessoms, president of the 1968 Collective, dedicated to increasing civic engagement among Black women — will also offer three-minute Philly Flash Talks on topics like, race, economic equity, media literacy.

“What it means to participate in a democracy, what it means if we were to lose it,” said Val. “How it affects our everyday lives and influences our media and pop culture. It’s an opportunity to engage, question and reimagine the kind of democracy we want to build together for the next 250 years.”

Laura Beyer, head of TED’s partnerships program, said there is no better place to stage a global conversation about the future of democracy than Philadelphia.

“With TED Democracy, we are surfacing the next generation of ideas to ensure our democratic systems remain resilient,” she said.

Three years in the making — and the culmination of a TED speaker series in Philadelphia last year — the event also features small group discovery sessions, a “Public Square,” featuring local food, books, and crafts, and a “PEW Spotlight Stage,” with live performances and interviews. Partnering with the American Library Association, the event will be livestreamed at more than 65 libraries across the country.

Gonzalez, a staff writer at the Atlantic, who recently published her third novel, Last Night in Brooklyn, said she will discuss social class, a topic she is exploring for a memoir.

“So few people think about the matter of social class or income inequality as having anything to do with democracy, but it very much does,” she said. “It’s exciting to get to have the opportunity to talk about something that, generally speaking, people don’t really like to talk about.

Philly is a perfect spot for the talks, she said.

“This country really started as a bunch of ideas,” she said. “It feels like a very cool and appropriate way to celebrate this country in this moment by sharing ideas, and asking, ‘How do you make democracy better?’”