COVID canceled a lot last year, including our chance to hear local TEDx speakers share their innovative ideas live on stage. But they're back this fall in a new Downtown Jacksonville venue.

TEDxJacksonville continues a series of free, virtual Small Great Conversations on Racism this Saturday featuring Pastor Michael Smith, a TEDxJacksonville speaker the talk Black Murder Is Normal. (Event link)This series highlights previous TEDx speakers and their ideas for confronting the challenges currently facing our community and the world. These events bring TEDxJacksonville speaker alumni to our audience in an online conversation on topics that cover systemic racism, activism and public policy debates. Those talks are now shared via the TEDx Talks YouTube channel with more than 20 million subscribers. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Dr. Joy Wolfram of the Mayo Clinic is the first TEDxJacksonville speaker to have her TEDx talk promoted to TED.com. Wolframs talk on The Promise of Nanomedicine was shared Friday afternoon on TED.com. Our audience in Jacksonville was wowed by Joy Wolframs talk and the implications of her work in the field of nanomedicine and the fight against cancer. This is the pinnacle achievement for a TEDx speaker.The link to Wolframs talk is live here. TEDxJacksonville returns for its eighth conference event on Saturday with TEDxJacksonville: POP at The Florida Theatre.