In his new book, “TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking,’’ Chris Anderson, the curator of the wildly popular programs, explains how to electrify a room. Anderson will show how that’s done Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre. Tickets are $5 for the program, which is sponsored by Harvard Book Store.
BOOKS: What are you reading currently?
ANDERSON: I just started Parag Khanna’s “Connectography: Mapping the Future of Global Civilization.’’ He gave a great talk on quite a big idea, so I decided to read the book. What has consumed me the most in the past few months is “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind’’ by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s an amazing, big picture history.
BOOKS: How often do TED Talks influence your reading?
ANDERSON: It happens both ways. More often I read or hear about a great book and think this is an idea we need on the TED stage. Occasionally it goes the other way around. About 10 years ago Steven Pinker gave a talk on the decline of violence and the reaction to that, at least in part, encouraged him to make it into a major book.
BOOKS: What’s the last book you read that prompted a TED Talk?
ANDERSON: Adam Grant’s “Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World.’’ He gave a great program.
BOOKS: What kinds of books make for the best talks?
ANDERSON: A novel probably won’t translate into one. A book that is anchored into a core idea will likely turn into a great talk. Some books are harder to do because some ideas take longer to unpack. But you can usually unpack the core of an idea in an 18-minute talk, and then people can dig deeper.
BOOKS: Are you drawn to books about how the world could be improved?
ANDERSON: The books and the ideas that I have engaged in are about understanding the world, understanding who we are, such as Steve Pinker’s “How the Mind Works.’’ I spent three years doing philosophy at Oxford, and in a way I learned more from reading that book.
BOOKS: What kind of books did you have in your household growing up?
ANDERSON: Mostly religious books. As a child I read a lot of C.S. Lewis, both his children’s books and his adult ones. My parents were missionaries in Pakistan. As a teenager I was obsessed with reading physics books. I also enjoyed books like Richard Dawkins’s “The Selfish Gene.’’ The world of the imagination and the world of the future have always been important to me. My sister would say that I live in the future a little bit. That might not be a compliment.
BOOKS: Have you read science fiction?
ANDERSON: Some but not as avidly as I wish I had. I read tons of Isaac Asimov’s novels and short stories. Most recently I read Rob Reid’s “Year Zero,’’ which is hilarious and wonderful.
BOOKS: What was your last best read?
ANDERSON: During the past two years, the book I can’t get out of my head is David Deutsch’s “The Beginning of Infinity.’’ He’s a quantum physicist and leads a reclusive life in Oxford, but he’s got one of the most fertile minds out there.
BOOKS: Have you found any book too hard to read?
ANDERSON: Most modernist novels. I got through David Deutch’s book, but it wasn’t easy. There are lots of books that are really challenging, and I worry that we are all finding it a little bit harder to find time to read. That’s why someone like Harari is a real gift because he’s pulling people into powerful, heady stuff, but in a way that is thrilling.
BOOKS: Is one goal of the TED talks to get people to read more?
ANDERSON: Yeah. It’s to get people excited about ideas. A talk can get you some of the way, but it absolutely can’t take you all the way. If you are interested in a speaker, get the book.
AMY SUTHERLAND
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