TED and TEDx conferences are the ultimate intellectual/cultural/creative idea fests. Everyone I know who has been exposed to TED, TEDx or TED talks almost immediately becomes a fan.

(In case you don't what TED is, learn the basics here, and see some cool examples of TED Talks here. And a word of advice: whoever you are, wherever you are, register for the next and closest TEDx event within reach –  the worldwide list is here.)

But nothing, not even TED, is perfect.

Like most conferences, TED suffers a dearth of women speakers on its worldwide stages. That’s an issue. But it’s also an opportunity.??

TEDx events in particular are ideal vehicles for making giant grassroots steps to solving the problem, because their gender parity record is worse than that of the main TED events, which average of 20 – 40% women speakers.

A few months ago, I randomly selected a group of 10 TEDx events from around the world, and looked at the female to male ratio in their speaker lineups.

Hanna Rosin reviews startling new data that shows women actually surpassing men in several important measures, such as college graduation rates.

Do these trends, both US-centric and global, signal the "end of men"? Probably not -- but they point toward an important societal shift worth deep discussion.

Hanna Rosin isn’t afraid to shine a skeptical spotlight on people’s cherished ideals, whether it’s politically correct dogma or the conservative Christian agenda.

Kiran Bedi has a surprising resume. Before becoming Director General of the Indian Police Service, she managed one of the country's toughest prisons -- and used a new focus on prevention and education to turn it into a center of learning and meditation.

She shares her thoughts on visionary leadership at TEDWomen.

Halla Tomasdottir managed to take her company Audur Capital through the eye of the financial storm in Iceland by applying 5 traditionally "feminine" values to financial services. At TEDWomen, she talks about these values and the importance of balance.

Halla Tomasdottir believes that women’s values are key to solving Iceland’s economic crisis. In 2007, Halla and her business partner, Kristin Petursdottir, co-founded Audur Capital to bring greater diversity, social responsibility, and “feminine values” to the financial services industry.

These values include independence, risk awareness, straight talk, emotional capital, and profit with principles. And Audur’s approach appears to be working. The investment firm’s innovative offerings—such as the national green-tech investment fund they set up with pop icon and homegirl Björk—may just help save banking in Iceland.

Hanna Rosin is a co-founder of DoubleX, a women's site connected to Slate. She is also a contributing editor at the Atlantic. She has written for the Washington Post, The New Yorker, GQ and New York after beginning her career as a staff writer for The New Republic.

Rosin has also appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.. A character portrayed by actress Chloë Sevigny in the movie Shattered Glass about Rosin's colleague at The New Republic, Stephen Glass, was loosely based on Rosin.

Rosin is writing a book based on her 2010 Atlantic story, "The End of Men". In the past she has specialized in writing about religious-political issues, in particular the influence of evangelical Christians on the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign.

Several years ago, she and her husband conducted an interesting experiment in proximity - here's the video: