TED Talks <p>The slam poet/tech artist/paper sculptor <a href="/speakers/view/id/27" target="_blank">Rives</a> does eight minutes of lyrical origami, folding history into a series of coincidences surrounding that most surreal of hours, 4 o'clock in the morning. This elusive hour, both very late and very early, appears often in art in literature as a way to describe the most extreme states of affairs. Rives -- aided by a nimble mind and extensive online research -- reveals 4 a.m. as an iconic moment, drawing hilarious historical connections.</p><p>New: <a href="http://ted.streamguys.net/ted_rives_4am_2007_480.mp4">Download this talk in high resolution (480p) >></a></p>
TED Talks <p>What is happiness, and how can we all get some? Buddhist monk, photographer and author <a href="/speakers/view/id/171" target="_blank">Matthieu Ricard</a> has devoted his life to these questions, and his answer is influenced by his faith as well as by his scientific turn of mind: We can train our minds in habits of happiness. Interwoven with his talk are stunning photographs of the Himalayas and of his spiritual community.</p>
TED Talks Comedian and playwright <a href="/index.php/speakers/view/id/85" target="_blank">Julia Sweeney</a> performs the first 15 minutes of her 2006 solo show <em>Letting Go of God.</em> It begins on the morning of her seventh birthday, when Julia learns from her Catholic parents that she has reached the age of reason, capable of being judged by God. That morning she also learns another great truth, equally devastating. This sets the stage for Sweeney's freewheeling, conversational examination of her own faith. <em>(Filmed at the <a href="/index.php/pages/view/id/7" target="_blank">TED Conference</a>.)</em>