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The future of TED

The future of TED

October 16, 2025

Nine months ago, Chris Anderson kicked off a Willy Wonka-esque search for renewing the leadership of TED. At the time, I have to admit that I was pretty skeptical. Maybe it was a fear of the unknown. More likely, a fear that whoever Chris sold TED to would be someone or something that would take TED into a bad direction.

I was also a bit intrigued because this opened up a possibility space for an organization that I invested a lot of sweat equity into from 2009-2016 as a main stage photographer. Lately, TED has felt like it’s stagnating and playing it too safe in its current formula. A little too comfortable with the glossy talks. A desire to be brave with controversial talks, but a bit too cautious of offending someone on either side of the political spectrum.

Therefore, I was nervous — as were many people — to listen in to yesterday’s announcement of the result of the process. I was very relieved to hear that despite the chance to sell out or to transform TED into a for-profit endeavor, Chris doubled-down on the idea that TED meant something and should to be preserved. In the blog post of the announcement, Chris says:

But for me — and for everyone on TED’s leadership team — the answers weren’t just about capital or scale. They were about stewardship, values, and a shared belief in giving ideas away, trusting community, preserving independence, and amplifying human possibility.

When Chris then announced that Sal Khan would be taking the position of Vision Steward, I was initially surprised, and then a mixture of relieved and intrigued. Vision Steward is certainly an interesting title, but it’s clear that Sal is Chris’ replacement as the person who curates and shapes TED’s direction. Sal has done amazing work with Khan Academy and I think he can help TED a lot in this new role and bring a very fresh perspective.

I was also excited to see Logan’s appointment to CEO. I first met Logan at the very first TED I photographed in Long Beach in 2009, and I’ve been a fan of hers since the day I met her. She was so full of potential then and has certainly become a powerhouse now. Her recent work at both the Obama Foundation and with TED Countdown has been amazing to see. And while these are fairly left-leaning credentials these days, she also worked for almost three years at Palantir, which is quite the counter balance.

Look, every change is risky. And I know that there are people in the wider TED community that were underwhelmed by the news. Maybe they were seriously hoping that a firebrand billionaire like Elon Musk would do something like merge TED with what’s left of Twitter. Or maybe they were hoping for a buyer that would move it away from the United States and the current political turbulence there to a safe haven where it couldn’t be repressed into insignificance. Maybe they’re right, and this won’t be enough to revitalize TED. Maybe TED is from a different moment in time that can’t make the jump to the new normal.

I don’t know. We’ll have to see. What I do know is that I have a huge amount of trust in the worldview of both Sal and Logan. If they are truly unshackled and ambitious — and maybe even are more than a bit audacious in really tweaking the formula and running further into the controversial and meaty topics that we need to make progress on both in the United States and in the world at large — and they succeed in reinventing TED, then it’ll be a TED that I will be excited to see in the world again. I hope that’s a TED that can help pull us back from the toxic negative-sum discourse we are drowning in and into a positive-sum discourse that will help us face the future that’s quickly coming, as uncomfortable as it is.

Oakland City Hall at sunrise

Oakland City Hall at sunrise

October 15, 2025

A few months ago, I found myself in the Bay Area for a quick overnight and hotel rooms in San Francisco were outrageously priced. So, I stayed across the bay in a room with a front-row view of Oakland’s City Hall with its distinctive clock tower. Completed in 1914, it’s a beautiful example of American Beaux-Arts architecture and stands in contrast to the more modern buildings around it.

I was jet-lagged and up before dawn, so I was able to enjoy the view from my window as the sun rose over the East Bay hills and bathed the scene in a hazy golden light. This is one of the first frames I captured with the recently released and somewhat controversial Sony RX1R III. I don’t have a judgment yet myself, other than it’s really nice to shoot with that lovely 35mm lens again. It’s a focal length that just agrees with the way I see the world.

Notes on Apple’s ”Awe dropping” event

September 10, 2025

Right on schedule, this year’s Apple September announcements arrived in yesterday’s “Awe Dropping” event, bringing updates to iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches.

Everything announced seems like a solid update. It’s great to see AirPods Pro 3 get next-gen noise cancellation, better ear fit with new foam-infused ear tips in five sizes, and heart rate monitoring, and the satellite connectivity in the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is a welcome addition to an adventure watch.

As to the iPhones, the new iPhone Air is very cool looking. I find it a really tempting design and I’m sure it will feel really great in hand, and it’s great that bumpers are back, though I want to hear how battery life actually works out in the real world. Of course, I’m camera obsessed enough that I’ll probably skip the Air and upgrade instead to the iPhone 17 Pro — especially now that both sizes feature the same camera specs. And, I’m actually glad that they’ve taken the Pro back to aluminum for heat dissipation. Sure, titanium is nice, but my current iPhone 15 Pro definitely feels the heat in the summer.

There’s always something that only gets mentioned in the supporting material that I get excited about which isn’t ever shown in the events. This time, it’s that Final Cut Camera 2.0 brings open gate recording as well as the ProRes RAW and genlock support that were mentioned. Of course, most people won’t care about being able to do open gate recording — which is where video is captured using the entire 4:3 sensor so that you can choose your crop later — but for those that do, it’s really exciting. It’s the kind of detail I wish I had on some of my big Sony cameras.

One other thing that wasn’t mentioned at the event is that release candidates were released for all the operating systems. I’ve sat out of most of the beta cycle this time, but now that the RCs are out, I’m diving fully in across all my devices. And… I kind of like a lot of what they did with Liquid Glass on iOS in the end. Certainly, I like it more than I thought I would after seeing the demos during WWDC. On the other hand, the big rounded corners on windows in macOS are going to take getting used to.

The event itself was like all of Apple’s events of late, shot on iPhone, tightly edited, and super-produced with swoopy aerial transitions. It’s nice to see them using locations outside of Apple Park, including Apple’s signature stores in San Francisco, Miami, Chicago, and Brooklyn. They have built up a really amazing portfolio of architecture and it’s cool to see them showing it off. On the other hand, it’d be nice to see Apple break a bit out of their current presentation formula. They’ve perfected it to the point where it’s missing something. A je ne sais quoi. They lack emotion and are too clinical now.

But even with that critique, this event has become part of the end-of-summer and back-to-school feel of September. And this year, everything I’m interested in gets a solid update. I have quite a few friends that work at Apple, and I’m always happy to see the things they work on come out.

Summer funemployment

September 04, 2025

Since finishing up at Shopify in June, I’ve been taking it pretty easy. It’s the first time in a decade that I’ve taken this much time away from a job and, honestly, it’s been pretty great. The days have been full of family, travel to the beach and mountains, and a lot of time lounging by a pool or the sea, iced coffee in hand.

Pretty ideal, really. Except for that week mid-summer where my son had Covid. And then another week later in the summer where I caught it myself. But those were just speed bumps in the scheme of things. A few plans had to be changed, but the overall scope of the summer remained the same.

My primary goal this summer, besides spending time with my family, was reflecting over the last 10 years, deciding what lessons I want to carry forward from that time, and thinking about how they shape my goals for the next 10.

Do I have any answers yet? Vague outlines, maybe.

I found a hint in an unexpected source: the story of how Linkin Park reformed late last year. After running into some videos about their new music, I tracked down all the interviews I could find with Mike Shinoda telling the story of how the band had effectively dispersed after Chester Bennington died. Then a few years ago, some of the members started getting together to just be creative again.

They didn’t set out to bring back Linkin Park, but the work that took them there was guided by friendship and creativity rather than business decisions. More so, in the interviews, you can see how Shinoda is an amazing leader — putting his imprint on everything, to be sure, but also making room for everyone else to put theirs.

It’s the kind of work environment that I want to be part of, or even make. One where leadership means both shaping a vision and creating space for others to contribute their best. Intentional positive-sum creativity that leads to something interesting. It aligns with what Rick Rubin wrote in The Creative Act: “The recognition of abundance fills us with hope that our brightest ideas still await us and our greatest work is yet to come.”

As summer starts to fade, I’m off to play in abundance and see what I find.