The TEDxAsburyPark Blog

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From exclusive interviews with TEDxAsburyPark speakers and alumni, to details on upcoming events and performers, check out all the news and ideas our blog has to offer.

A pioneer in suburban agriculture

On a winding street tucked away in the woods is a quaint little farm. Here one can skirt past a coop of chickens and goats and end up under an apple tree for an afternoon nap. No, this is not...

Are you experienced? Exploration in the digital age

Technology, namely the Internet, has both its benefits and cons. As Ben Saunders says in his TED talk, we are now able to retrieve information about the world around us at an incredible speed and with minimal effort. Checking the weather doesn’t mean stepping outside, it means pulling out your smartphone. Discovering a new book doesn’t mean meeting a friend for coffee, but relying on an algorithm. What effect is this easy access having on our sense of fulfillment in life? To paraphrase something a certain musician once said: Are you experienced?

How do you slow down high-speed trading?

The State of New Jersey shares a unique relationship with Wall Street. In fact, it might be argued that much of New Jersey’s wealth is derived from the financial services industry, with most of that work confined to Lower and Midtown-Manattan.

How I Discovered TED

My name is Linnea Hjelm, and I’m going to be a senior at Biotechnology High School in Freehold, NJ. I discovered TED probably around my freshman or sophomore year at school, but I feel like I've had...

Export Nat Gas off Sandy Hook?

Truth is often stranger than fiction. That's at the core of TED talks and TEDx events. Ever since we started planning TEDxNavesink: The Next Wave which is about the next generation of shore life, we...

MOOC’s and the future of education

I recently read a great article in the Sunday Review section of the Times about the pros and cons of MOOCs, massive online open courses. I feel the discussion about the value of this way of...

Roddy Wildeman lights up the shore

A natural disaster like superstorm Sandy can trigger several emotions. One can wax nostalgic and settle for an over-glorified past when “things were better in the good ol’ days”. Or you can press on, embrace uncertainty with an open mind and open heart. Out of darkness comes light. No where is this better expressed than in Roddy Wildeman’s art.

Slacktivists and their children

About a year ago when I was walking my 6 year old daughter, Charlie, home from school, she said to me: “Dad, me and my friend Molly want to create posters that say ‘No polluting’ and post them all over town, and we want a website so we can show our posters to friends who don’t live here!” “What made you think of this?” I asked. “Look around! There is trash everywhere!” she said while collecting any litter she could find in her tiny hands.

From Adversity to Aesthetic

I stumbled upon her TED talk from 2009, switching through television channels one late evening. I had missed the set up and stopped because this lovely woman was talking about the art and function of prosthetics. Dying to find out what she had overcome, I waited, never realizing that the beautiful legs in high-heeled pumps were prosthetic.

Asbury Fresh market showcases local creatives

This summer, every Sunday from noon till 6pm Asbury Park will serve as the home of a local farmers’ market. The market is located at Kennedy Park at the corner of Cookman and Grand Avenues. Asbury Fresh is described by its creators as a “local artisan market” that will provide a venue for local farmers and artisans to sell their products, from fresh produce to handcrafted jewelry.

The State of the Garden

Fresh food in the Garden State goes beyond agribusiness. You will find people from all walks of life, in urban, suburban and coastal areas proudly growing their own food. An increasing number of schools are incorporating garden-based learning into nearly every subject to enhance the appreciation of the natural world. These are incredibly important trends, yet too many people turn to fast food and cheap, processed food for nearly every meal.

Tom Walker: Re-Drawing Paradise

Tom Walker says he was not initially a big fan of the Jersey Shore. Having spent much of his youth on the beaches of northern California, the Jersey Shore was different. He really wasn’t familiar with the “vocabulary” of the landscape here. But slowly over the years, visiting Cape May, Asbury Park, Sandy Hook and other points along the Shore, he came around. “For me the Jersey Shore has a very quiet gentleness to it. I think of broad beaches, long weathered boardwalks, the slow rolling thunder of waves crashing on the shore. The light is very soft there.”