Theme: The Great Unknown

Unknown. The secret protagonist of our human existence, who has changed the way we perceive the world. Sometimes as the greatest driving force of creation and other times, as an obstacle towards evolution. In the midst of the unknown we have created Gods and Demons, fought wars, found longevity and soon we’ll be able to claim we’ve settled on Mars.

The Unknown defines a future without rules, limitations and misbeliefs. A space of infinite possibilities. So chaotic, our human mind seems unable to comprehend it. As adults, instead of being aware of the unknown for what it truly is, we let our uncertainty and fear of it determine our lives. However, all adventures we are about to live, await in this exact space. A place we haven’t yet navigated to.

The Unknown is Great. It gives meaning to our being, redefining our need for discovery and knowledge. As children, we face it with awe, like a blank canvas ready to welcome everything we can imagine. And everything we can imagine, we can realize.

TEDxAthens returns, daring us to become kids once more, diving deep into a Great Unknown. And who knows, this journey may lead us to the discovery of new, unknown so far, destinations. Will you accept the challenge?

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center
Leof. Andrea Siggrou 364
Athens, Attiki, 17674
Greece

Agni Mariakaki

Agnes Mariakaki is a Psychologist and Social Researcher. Since 1996 she has been leading the research company MindSearch, and has developed over 4,000 focus groups, for more than 300 brands, in over 15 countries. She has been awarded by Google for the design of an application that acquaints children with history. She is a writer, post lockdown YouTuber and member of the Women in Business Committee. She is a certified PTSD therapist in collaboration with the University of Alberta, accredited Lego Serious Play Expert and postdoctoral specialized in nonverbal communication.

Alexandra Sieti

Alexandra Sieti is a soul, jazz, R’n’B and funk singer born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1994. Her involvement in music, dance and theatre has begun from a very young age. In 2007 she started studying music theory, harmony and piano in “The Music College of Thessaloniki”, while taking part in various musicals such as “Grease”(2009), “Camelot”(2010) and “Anything Goes”(2011). In 2011 she commenced her studies in Jazz singing and improvisation in the “Contemporary Conservatorium of Thessaloniki” with Vicky Almazidou as her teacher. In 2014-2016 she attends Jazz Masterclasses at the New Bulgarian University of Sofia(Bulgaria) with world class musicians such as the legendary Billy Cobham(Grammy nominated), Milcho Leviev(Grammy awarded), David Murray, Craig Bailey and Marc Halbeer, receiving an honorary distinction for three consecutive years. She also attended vocal improvisation seminars with be-pop pioneer Sheila Jordan(2014) and Grammy nominated Thana Alexa(2019). In 2016 she gets into the studio for the first time with established trumpeter George Avramides for his album “Voyager”, which led to an ongoing collaboration for two more albums and various singles such as “Blind Week” and “Phoenix”(2021). She is also featured in Cayetano’s “Melanie” album, with the track “My Job Is Done”(2018). Meanwhile, she performs in Jazz Festivals touring Greece with established jazz musicians such as Dimitris Angelakis(Berklee College), Nick Vargiamidis(Berklee College), Tasos Korkovelos(Berklee College) and many others. In 2018 she enrolls in soul band “Souled Out”, with whom she tours in Greece and makes a few gigs abroad, until today. In 2021 they release singles “Let me in your heart” and “Madness”, receiving thriving critiques. In 2022 their third single “Love School” is released, as well as their debut album “Sunny Side Up”, being characterized as the most soulful Greek album, involving soul, funk and neo-soul original tunes. In 2019 she starts collaborating with legendary Greek songwriter Dionyssis Savvopoulos in music performance “Tribute to Woodstock”, along with established musicians Stavros Lantsias, Yiotis Kiourtsoglou and Sakis Dovolis, singing all time classic blues and rock songs performed in Woodstock Festival. The Tribute premieres for the first time in Sani Festival(June 2019), and continues for a full sold out season at “Alsos Theatre” with weekly performances. In 2020 they perform in “Athens Music Hall” and television program “Home with Mega Channel”. In 2021 she takes part in television show “The Voice of Greece”, winning the second place, with purely soul, blues and rock repertoire. She also performed “Let me in your heart” with Souled Out at TV show “Radio Arvyla”(2021). In 2022 she was invited to perform in TV music show “Music Box”, Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and Black Pumas’ “Colors”. In 2022 she moves to Athens and performs with established songwriter Phoevos Delivorias, along with George Avramides in the context of concerts of Municipality of South Macedonia, while continuing touring with her band Souled Out.

Amit Katwala

Amit Katwala is a senior writer at WIRED with a focus on longform features, science and culture. His work has appeared in The Times, the Guardian, FourFourTwo and Sport magazine, for which he interviewed some of the world’s most iconic athletes. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in Experimental Psychology and is the author of two books: a WIRED guide to quantum computing, as well as “The Athletic Brain”, which is about the rise of neuroscience in sport and weaves together cutting-edge science and interviews with elite athletes. Katwala has appeared on the BBC, CNN, Sky Sports and BT Sport and has spoken at the SXSW conference and other events. His upcoming third book, “Tremors in The Blood”, blends true crime stories with the birth of the lie detector.

Angelo Pentaris

Angelo Pentaris spent his early years in and out of hospitals. Born prematurely and hooked up to machines in order to breathe, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and was told he was a tetraplegic. According to the doctors, Angelo would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair and would be permanently unable to live independently. At 9 months old, Angelo began intensive physical therapy, which became his first priority for the next 17 years of his life. At age 14, an injury caused Angelo to use a wheelchair for the following 2 years. After having worked hard to develop an active lifestyle, he was once again told that his chances of walking again were less than 20%. At that time, Angelo discovered the drums. Lighting a fire within him, drumming became his primary motivation towards getting better. Fast-forward to today, Angelo has managed to overcome a disability that could have taken over his life. He is a drummer, a motivational speaker and a fitness enthusiast. Angelo believes that everything starts with a positive mindset. As he never gave up nor taken “no” for an answer, he is eager to share his story with the world.

Christian Sarkar

Christian Sarkar is an author, entrepreneur, artist, and consultant. He is the editor of The Marketing Journal, an online publication that focuses on insights and new practices of marketing. He is also involved in numerous non-profit and public-education projects, including The Wicked7 Project, ActivistBrands.com, FIXCapitalism.com, and the $300 House Project. In 2021, Christian was included in the Thinkers50 Radar of Global Management Thinkers primarily for his work on brand activism. Christian is the co-author of two books: “Regenerative Marketing: The Future of Community” (2022), which he co-wrote with Philip Kotler and Enrico Foglia, and “Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action” (2018), co-written with Philip Kotler. Along with Philip Kotler and Enrico Foglia, Christian also co-founded the Regenerative Marketing Institute, which is about nurturing communities and building local prosperity.

Constantinos Mavrantonis

Dr Constantinos Mavrantonis is a colorectal surgeon. He graduated from Athens Medical School in 1987 and completed his General Surgery Residency at the Aretaion University Hospital, where he obtained a PhD. He then completed a fellowship in Colorectal Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Florida, USA. He is the Director of the 6th Department of Surgery – Hygeia Hospital, and Member of the Hospital’s Scientific Board. He is a nationally recognized expert in the field of colorectal surgery and has the largest laparoscopic colorectal surgery series in the country. Between 2005 and 2012, he served as Chief of Surgery at the “Henri Dunant” Hospital, Hellenic Red Cross, where he also served as Vice-chairman of the Scientific Committee. He served as a Committee Member of the ASCRS Colon and Rectal Surgery Educational Program and is member of the Editorial Board of the Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery and the Techniques in Coloproctology. He has served as Board Vice-Chairman of the Hellenic Society of Medical Studies and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Red Cross. He has been an invited speaker in numerous meetings in Europe and the United States. He has authored over 140 free papers and published 19 scientific papers in Medical Journals, with 2528 citations. He has also authored several book chapters in medical volumes. He teaches colorectal surgery at the European Surgical Institute in Hamburg. He is Founder and Chairman of the NoDE Institute, a Not-for-profit Organization for easy access to specialized postgraduate tutoring and proctorship.

Danai Nielsen

Danai Nielsen is a solo dream-pop, synth-based composer and singer, who uses voice FX to create musical dialogues between her male and her female alter ego persona by using synths, loops and samples while most of the times she creates her unique costumes for each of her performances. Since 2004 she’s been active, as main member of the Greek band Rosebleed, who signed a contract with Sony Music (2007) and has shared the stage with several know artists such as Santana, Hooverphonic, Cranberries etc. In 2014 she becomes the lead singer of the band Than.Eye, which was based in Germany and released their first EP in 2016. Meanwhile she collaborates with JIM Bespoke (Ninja Tunes) as a vocalist for synch music and participates as a musician in several art performances. Since the beginning of 2019 she is performing solo and has completed a tour across Europe by performing at festivals such as Taste the Music, Fifty Lab & Reeperbahn (Athens, Belgium, Hamburg). Danai released her first personal album titled “Who are They” on October 2021. She is going to be at the upcoming Eject Festival, the greek supporting act for the Muse band.

Eleni Andreadis

Eleni Andreadis is a writer, sustainability specialist and educator. Born in London, she has worked in many countries, including the U.S., where she focused on environmental policy and media at Harvard University. She is the founder of the non-profit organisation Planet Agents, empowering children to take action on environmental issues. Over the last fifteen years, the organization’s experiential environmental programs for primary school children have been awarded by the Hellenic Ministry of Education and are offered as part of the national curriculum. She’s the author of eight best-selling environmental books for children that have been translated in many countries worldwide. Her first book “Become a Planet Agent” received the Greek State Children’s Book Award in the Knowledge Book category. Eleni has been a contributor and consultant for a variety of media, such as the BBC, Participant and Green TV, as well as corporate organisations on sustainability issues, and corporate organisations on sustainability issues. For her work in the intersection of sustainability and tourism, she recently received the Sustainability Hero of the Year award at the London TTG Awards. She’s a member of the Greek Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Emer MacSweeney

With a determination and passion to provide a solution for the unacceptable problem of dementia, Emer founded Re:Cognition Health in 2011. With her medical knowledge and training in neurosciences, corporate experience, personal credibility, contacts and charisma Emer assembled a team of Brain and Mind Experts to create Re:Cognition Health; an internationally recognized expert provider of the best diagnosis, treatment and hope for people with memory and other cognitive symptoms. Focusing, initially on the Global Pandemic, Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and working closely with providers of sophisticated biomarkers and pharmaceutical sponsor’s R&D to provide new medications; Emer’s team have enabled thousands of individuals to gain early access to novel diagnostic tests and new mediations, designed to halt or slow progression of AD, through international clinical trials. This work, for which Emer was awarded an UK “EY Entrepreneur of the Year” award for Societal Impact in 2019 and multiple other awards, continues. Emer and her team are also focusing, now, on the hugely under recognized complication of repetitive brain injury, from contact sports: Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE). Emer’s Tedx talk addresses CTE: awareness, risks, pathology, new diagnostic tests and potential for treatment. Parallels with AD, may accelerate understanding and treatment of CTE.

Erika Lust

Erika Lust is a mother, a feminist, and an award-winning erotic filmmaker. Her sex-positive adult cinema is a more inclusive and cinematic alternative to mass-produced mainstream porn. In 2019, she was named as one of the BBC 100 Women’s most influential women of the year and in 2022, her alternative vision of porn was featured in The New York Times. Erika has been instrumental in promoting the benefits of the female gaze in adult cinema. In addition to filmmaking, she has written several books, and her story was featured in the Netflix documentary series ‘Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On (“Women on Top”)’, directed by Rashida Jones, and ‘Principles of Pleasure’, directed by Niharika Desai. Erika has a strong voice that emphasizes the need for inclusive and informative sex education. The Porn Conversation is her non-profit platform, which she created along with her husband, giving families and educators the tools to give ‘The Talk’ and provide comprehensive sex education to the younger generation – starting with the topic of porn literacy.

Eva Grigoriadou

Eva Grigoriadou studied Architecture at the Technical University of Crete (2013) and attended the ‘International Cooperation, Sustainable Emergency Architecture’ postgraduate program at the International University of Catalonia (2016). She is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Architecture of the Technical University of Crete, focusing on the gender perspective of urban planning and the creation of inclusive urban planning practices and participatory methodologies. In 2019, Eva co-founded the feminist architecture group URBANA: a civil non-profit partnership consisting of architects, social scientists and educators. The group envisions an inclusive city in which different needs are anticipated and where we all feel comfortable and safe.

Felix Ohswald

Felix Ohswald is the Co-Founder and CEO of GoStudent, the Vienna-based digital learning platform that provides tailored and high quality video-based tuition to primary, secondary and college-aged students. In November 2020, Felix was featured in the Forbes “30 under 30” list. In 2015, GoStudent started out as a homework chat service, managed via WhatsApp. At first, it involved support that Felix provided for his younger brother’s classmates. Felix quickly became the go-to expert for the students and the volume of messages he was receiving kept growing. It was clear that there was a systemic lack of support for these students, so he decided to address this issue and inspire a passion for learning to the students that matched his own. What started as a homework chat group evolved into a revolutionary 1:1 tutoring platform, where students receive tailored support by being paired with the best teacher for them, regardless of geographical location. Founded in 2016, the EdTech scale-up is now active in 23 countries. GoStudent has more than 1,800 employees and has opened 24 international offices. Currently, GoStudent works with 19,000 international tutors, with more than 1.5 million tutoring sessions getting booked per month.

Hugo Dixon

Hugo Dixon is a campaigner, journalist, and entrepreneur. He is currently focused on fighting climate change – in particular promoting the Clean Green Initiative, a global plan to help to develop and emerging countries grow in a green way. Previously, he was deputy chair of the People’s Vote campaign, which was campaigning for a new Brexit referendum in the UK. He was also chair and editor-in-chief of InFacts, a journalistic enterprise making the fact-based case against Brexit. Before that, he was chair and editor-in-chief of Reuters Breakingviews, which he founded. Before that, he was editor of the Financial Times’ Lex Column.

Jake Bernstein

Jake Bernstein is an author, a playwright and a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for investigative reporting. He earned his first Pulitzer Prize in 2011 for National Reporting for his coverage of the 2008 financial crisis. He was also the senior reporter on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) team, which broke the Panama Papers story. In 2017, the same project won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. Bernstein’s latest book, The Laundromat, previously published as Secrecy World, was turned into a Netflix film directed by Steven Soderbergh starring Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, and Jeffrey Wright. Bernstein has been the editor of The Texas Observer and is currently the co-author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, The Guardian, ProPublica, and Vice and has appeared on the BBC, NBC, CNN, PBS, and NPR.

Joe Schorge

Joe Schorge is the Founder and Managing Partner of Isomer Capital, a private investment firm based in London and focused on European technology Venture Capital. Joe invests in the future by supporting high-potential young technology companies, all over Europe, through limited partner investments in early-stage VC funds, company co-investments, and secondary purchases of both funds and company positions. Joe has over 25 years of experience as an LP, GP and technology operations executive. He began his career in information technology, having studied Electrical and Computer Engineering, and adding a MBA, after spending quite a few years as “that kid who takes everything apart, and spends too much time on the computer” while growing up in the US.

Menas Kafatos

Menas C. Kafatos, PhD, is a quantum physicist, astrophysicist, climate-change researcher, philosopher, working extensively on consciousness. Studied with renown physicist Philip Morrison at M.I.T., a student of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Education: Undergraduate: B.A., Physics, Cornell, 1967. Ph.D., Physics, M.I.T., 1972. He has 47 years of experience in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. He holds seminars and workshops for individuals and organizations on the natural laws that are the foundations of the universe. Menas is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics and Director, Institute for Earth, Computing, Human and Observing, Chapman University, California. He is foreign member of the Romanian Academy of Science and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology; an international advisor with the Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering at Korea University, Seoul, Korea, a collaborator with the Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens, as well as international scholar at several countries. Menas authored 345-plus articles in astrophysics, Earth system science, climate change and impacts on hazards, & agro-ecosystems, computational sciences, data systems, quantum mechanics and the mind, consciousness and the nature of reality. Author or co-authored 22 books, including The Conscious Universe, Science Reality & Everyday Life, on many social media. Co-author with Deepak Chopra of the New York Times bestseller You Are the Universe, translated into more than 20 different languages, the latest being Greek and Korean. Menas is often interviewed for international television networks, newspapers, and radio.

Peter Hammarstedt

Swedish-American Peter Hammarstedt is the Director of Campaigns for Sea Shepherd Global and is Chairman of Sea Shepherd Australia. He is captain of the ocean-going vessel Bob Barker, having spent two decades at-sea including 10 years in Antarctica. In 2014/15, the Bob Barker, with Peter as captain, set the world record for the longest pursuit of a poaching vessel at sea after chasing the Interpol-wanted fishing vessel Thunder for 110 days, covering three oceans and 11,000 nautical miles, before its captain intentionally sank his own vessel in a bid to destroy evidence. Since then, Peter, has provided civilian offshore patrol vessels (COPVs), under so-called 'ship rider' agreements, to many African coastal countries in order to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. On-going partnerships between Sea Shepherd and the law enforcement agents of African coastal and island States have resulted in the arrest of over 70 vessels for illegal fishing and other fisheries crimes over the past five years. The COPVs have served as critical platforms for capacity-building of law enforcement agencies in increasing monitoring, control and surveillance capabilities in the maritime domain.

Soren Gordhamer

Soren Gordhamer is a writer, adventurer and entrepreneur. He has led mindfulness programs for a variety of groups around the world, including youth in New York City’s juvenile halls, trauma workers in Rwanda, teachers in Nigeria - and even employees at Google. Gordhamer is the founder of Wisdom 2.0, an annual conference that brings tech leaders and wisdom teachers together to investigate the intersection between ancient wisdom and modern digital life. As part of the Global Walk for a Liveable World, Soren spent a year walking through parts of the United States, India, Pakistan and Japan. This led him to become the founder of The Lineage Project; a nonprofit that offers awareness-based practices to incarcerated and at-risk teens. More recently, Soren co-founded Wisdom Ventures, which seeks to support the next generation of companies focusing on mindfulness and human connection. Gordhamer focuses on the wisdom of the community, as he believes that the best answers spring from harnessing group intelligence.

Stefanos Kontos

Stefanos Kontos, is an underwater photographer/cinematographer, who does all his work freedivng – using apnea – without the use of any breathing equipment. Born in Ioannina-Greece in 1972 he has been exploring the Greek seas and documenting his work for 3 decades. He is collaborating with organizations, institutions and specialists, worldwide in an effort to advance and promote the unique perspective of freediving photography. His associations include, The Greek ephorate of underwater antiquities, National Geographic, The KORSEAI Institute of Historical & Archaeological Research and others. The work of apnea underwater photography is a truly unique and challenging endeavor. It is the absolute manifestation of “action – wildlife photography” and requires effort and preparation by the photographer and the support – team involved. As well as requiring sound technical skills and physical abilities, the photographer needs to have a deep understanding and awareness of the marine environment and its inhabitants. Some situations may require stalking skills or the use of the environment for concealment and approach, always, on a single breath. Intensive training and both physical and mental preparation is necessary for achieving a high level of competence in freediving photography. However, the element of the “single breath” does not work as a restriction or confinement, it is a liberating factor; the photographs are all–too–real glimpses of the experience and the actual interaction with the deep. The photographer –freediver is liberated; unfettered by definition, free to experience his surroundings completely, and without any interference between him and his subject. Τhe natural, physical and mental abilities of the freediver-photographer allow Stefanos to capture the pulse of the unique Greek underwater world as it is interacting with him, during his dives.

Stelios Kerasidis

The “new Mozart”, as the media around the world likes to call him, the 9 y.o. Greek pianist Stelios Kerasidis amazes with his composing maturity and with his sensitive performance on the piano. With a resume that even successful musicians would envy, as well as with appearances from Carnegie Hall to the Royal Albert Hall, Stelios is probably the revitalising breath of fresh air that classical music needed. His piano compositions “Isolation Waltz” and ”AntiWar Etude”, were heard around the world, gained international recognition and are considered a beacon of hope, peace and humanity, making Stelios a worldwide recognised artist at such a young age.

Suzanna Laskaridis

Suzanna Laskaridis, after her studies in Humanities, turned her academic interest to shipping, completing her studies in Ship Management and her LLM in Maritime Law at City University of London. She is a Director in Lavinia Corp and Laskaridis Shipping where she has been working since 2007, and is involved in all aspects of daily management. She recently (2020) received a Certification from the Cambridge University Judge Business School in Circular Economy and Sustainability Strategies. She is an active member of the Greek Shipping Community, is on the Board of the Hellenic War Risks Association, the United Kingdom Defense Club and RINA decarbonization committee. She is the General Secretary and Treasurer of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, a nonprofit, cultural institution, where she also heads and promotes its environmental initiatives. In 2016 she founded Real Time Graduates, a nonprofit initiative that connects young graduates with valuable work experience within the maritime industry. It is the only free access CV database in Greece. Drawing inspiration from her experience in shipping and her environmental activity, in 2019 she founded BlueCycle, the first integrated company in Europe, focusing on the recycling of marine plastic waste, originating from shipping and fishing activities. As its director, she participates often in Greek and international forums on sustainability and circular economy and the sustainable use of marine plastic. Since 2018 she has served on the Leadership Committee of the UNSDSN (United Nations Sustainability Development Solutions Network). She is also on the Advisory Board of the Center of Excellence in Logistics, Shipping and Transportation of Deree College. In 2020 she was awarded with the Next Generation in Shipping Award from the Lloyd’s List Greek Shipping awards.

Tzef Montana

With a successful career as an artist manager and a non-binary model in Los Angeles and New York, today, she is based in Athens and works as a writer, an actress and LGBTQ + anti-abuse and gender duality recognition activist. She has just published her first book, entitled “From Corinth to non-binary”. She starred in Panos Koutras’s new film, “Dodo” and she presented the closing ceremony of the Thessaloniki Film Festival. She has worked in the international music industry as the music manager of SOPHIE and Slayer and participated in the campaigns of artists such as Rosalia, CL, 30 seconds to Mars, Charli XcX. Vogue has paid tribute to her, she became the muse of David Lachapelle and she was photographed by the biggest fashion photographers on the planet, she has walked on all the international catwalks, she has been chosen as the main person for advertising campaigns of big companies. She has been in front of and behind the cameras with great success. In other words, she went from the music industry to the film industry, with modeling as an intermediate stop. In her words: “Of course, I was thinking a lot to be just a model who is dressed, undressed, set up. What I did was a kind of activism, non binary modeling, and that’s why I did not accept to work with big agencies, because I did not consent to be put on the male or female board. It was not about me reproducing their beauty standards, I wanted to break the stereotypes and claim visibility for a world that was still invisible “.

Yotam Agam

Yotam is a Producer, Sound Designer, Yoga & Meditation Facilitator. He explores our listening Soundscape using elements of outdoor recordings, sound design and healing frequencies. For over 20 years Yotam has been developing “off the beaten track” sound libraries and is constantly creating music, Yotam has developed a Live digital platform using soundscapes to perform meditative listening sets and sound journeys for live audience and to support his teachings as a Yoga & Meditation Facilitator. Based in South Asia he has produced films and live shows with rural and tribal communities around the world, exploring the power of sound and music in the different life ceremonies. His latest work includes capturing the Acoustic Signature (Impulse response) of extremely unique spaces around the world for music, archiving and educational purpose. He is leading retreats and expeditions of recordings and sound experiences around the world.