Jonah Spear

Activist, Artist, Brainstormer, Change Agent, Connector, Educator/Teacher, Entrepreneur, Foodie, Investor, Jewish, Musician, Performer, Potential employer, Producer, Real Estate professional, Single, Student, World traveler

Jonah is the creator of the Bay Area Pun-Off, a competitive wordplay event in San Francisco with budding audiences up and down the west coast, and is oddly proud to hold the esteemed title of 2020 O Henry Pun-Off World Championship “Punniest of Show.” After decades running summer camps for young people, and a few years working with Digital Detox’s Camp Grounded, Jonah started Camp Wonderful, a summer camp for Grown-Ups *which he’d love to relaunch when the time is right. As a trauma informed sex educator, Jonah brings humor, patience, and loving presence to difficult conversations about changing bodies, identity, consent, and intimacy. He is currently developing a program for adults to practice asking for what they want, using the art of receiving and giving called Touch Lab - inspired by Betty Martin's groundbreaking work on the Wheel of Consent. Alongside his father, William Spear, he has worked globally for nearly 20 years facilitating somatic-based approaches to trauma relief and PTSD prevention: supporting frontline workers, first responders, and caregivers with humanitarian aid organizations through Second Response. A veteran performer, Jonah has worked on stage with STOMP and Cirque Du Soleil, jumped on and off trampolines with Elizabeth Streb, and appeared on screen in Sex and the City, Across The Universe, and We Are The Hartmans, the last of which he also produced. At TED, Jonah is excited to meet collaborators and new friends. He wants to come to your party! Jonah lives in Seattle with over 100 house plants, his dog, and a budding collection of pots. If you visit, you can expect to leave with a handmade mug of your own.

Affirming the inherent value of all people, and especially showing grown-ups how to respect and value young people. And dogs. I love dogs. I make pottery. I love planting trees. And also rivers. I love a good dip in a river swimming hole. The Wheel of Consent!

The current narrative about reproduction in which sperm heroically fight their way to an egg in a winner-take-all spartan race is a sort of “tired masculine” (yeah, I think I like tired v toxic as a descriptor) representation of the process that omits the amazing role of the female reproductive system in shepherding and guiding these micro-swimmers to their mothership. The meeting of an egg and sperm, the beginning of all human life, is actually a biological miracle made possible by both parts of that equation in a series of physical and chemical sorting and floating, wafting and summoning beacons. I believe that updating this narrative would go a long way towards teaching young people (and all people!) to respect all bodies, identities, and expressions.

Comedy, Dog Cuddling, Flying Trapeze, pottery, Puns, Sex Education, Somatics, Trauma Relief

Josh Spear is my brother. As a long-time TED alum, he has always recommended I take the pilgrimage if I ever have the chance. This ticket is a gift from my parents and I attend with gratitude and humility.

Ping pong. I love ping pong.