How Ted Turner Changed the World

Today's tech bros should follow his lead

There is a small number of people to whom I owe my career, and one of them is Ted Turner. In 1998, he famously pledged a billion dollars to support UN causes, leading to the creation of the United Nations Foundation. The UN Foundation, in turn, was one of my key backers early in my career when I launched the first blog about the UN, UN Dispatch.

There's a new six-part documentary on MAX about Ted Turner that I cannot recommend more highly. Call Me Ted delves deeply into both his personal history and business ventures, including the founding of CNN. But for me, the most intriguing part of the documentary is its exploration of Ted Turner's deep commitment to philanthropy. As I discuss in my interview with filmmaker Keith Clarke, his example stands in stark contrast to that of today's social media moguls.

This interview takes a deep dive into Ted’s life, business career—and, most importantly, his pioneering approach to philanthropy. Enjoy!

This episode of the Global Dispatches podcast is freely available across all podcast listening platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. However, if you are inspired by Ted’s story and want to support humanitarian journalism and our reporting on the UN, please back our work with your paid subscription.