TED Talks
Laura Rovner: What happens to people in solitary confinement
Imagine living with no significant human contact for years, even decades, in a cell the size of a small bathroom. This is the reality for those in long-term solitary confinement, a form of imprisonment regularly imposed in US prisons. In...
TED Talks
Carole Cadwalladr: Facebook's role in Brexit -- and the threat to democracy
In an unmissable talk, journalist Carole Cadwalladr digs into one of the most perplexing events in recent times: the UK's super-close 2016 vote to leave the European Union. Tracking the result to a barrage of misleading Facebook ads...
TED Talks
TED: The tech-forward rejuvenation of "underdog" cities | Irma L. Olguin Jr.
Computer skills aren't what's stopping people from breaking into the tech industry, says social entrepreneur Irma L. Olguin Jr. More often, the biggest hurdles are things like access to childcare, transportation and financial stability....
TED Talks
TED: Why the passport needs an upgrade | Karoli Hindriks
It's time to give paper passports a digital upgrade, says entrepreneur Karoli Hindriks. Looking to Estonia's technology-driven government for inspiration, she envisions a world where immigration is no longer hindered by bureaucracy and...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why should you read “Dune” by Frank Herbert? - Dan Kwartler
A mother and son trek across an endless desert. Wearing special suits to dissipate heat and recycle moisture, the travelers aren’t worried about dying of thirst. Their fears are much greater. Soon, the sound of the desert is drowned out...
TED Talks
Matt Cutts: What happens when a Silicon Valley technologist works for the government
What if the government ran more like Silicon Valley? Engineer Matt Cutts shares why he decided to leave Google (where he worked for nearly 17 years) for a career in the US government -- and makes the case that if you really want to make...
TED Talks
TED: The lies we tell pregnant women | Sofia Jawed-Wessel
When we tell women that sex isn't worth the risk during pregnancy, what we're telling her is that her sexual pleasure doesn't matter ... that she in fact doesn't matter, says sex researcher Sofia Jawed-Wessel. In this eye-opening talk,...
TED Talks
Andrew Mwenda: Aid for Africa? No thanks.
In this provocative talk, journalist Andrew Mwenda asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness...
TED Talks
TED: We can fight terror without sacrificing our rights | Rebecca MacKinnon
Can we fight terror without destroying democracy? Internet freedom activist Rebecca MacKinnon thinks that we'll lose the battle against extremism and demagoguery if we censor the internet and press. In this critical talk, she calls for a...
TED Talks
TED: A prosecutor's vision for a better justice system | Adam Foss
When a kid commits a crime, the uS justice system has a choice: prosecute to the full extent of the law, or take a step back and ask if saddling young people with criminal records is the right thing to do every time. In this searching...
TED Talks
TED: Coding a better government | Jennifer Pahlka
Can government be run like the Internet, permissionless and open? Coder and activist Jennifer Pahlka believes it can -- and that apps, built quickly and cheaply, are a powerful new way to connect citizens to their governments -- and...
TED Talks
Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim
There is a corruption at the heart of American politics, caused by the dependence of Congressional candidates on funding from the tiniest percentage of citizens. That's the argument at the core of this blistering talk by legal scholar...
TED Talks
TED: A few ways to fix a government | Charity Wayua
Charity Wayua put her skills as a cancer researcher to use on an unlikely patient: the government of her native Kenya. She shares how she helped her government drastically improve its process for opening up new businesses, a crucial part...
TED Talks
Samantha Power: A complicated hero in the war on dictatorship
Would you negotiate with someone you knew to be evil, to save lives? Samantha Power tells a story of a complicated hero, Sergio Vieira de Mello. This UN diplomat walked a thin moral line, negotiating with the world's worst dictators to...
TED Talks
TED: Why good hackers make good citizens | Catherine Bracy
Hacking is about more than mischief-making or political subversion. As Catherine Bracy describes in this spirited talk, it can be just as much a force for good as it is for evil. She spins through some inspiring civically-minded projects...
SciShow
Our Roadmap to Fix Climate Change | SciShow News
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the final part of its sixth assessment report. In it, they steer away from the gloom and doom and remind us of a future that's still remarkably possible.
TED Talks
TED: 3 ways to spot a bad statistic | Mona Chalabi
Sometimes it's hard to know what statistics are worthy of trust. But we shouldn't count out stats altogether ... instead, we should learn to look behind them. In this delightful, hilarious talk, data journalist Mona Chalabi shares handy...
TED Talks
Michael Tubbs: The political power of being a good neighbor
Michael Tubbs is the youngest mayor in American history to represent a city with more than 100,000 people -- and his policies are sparking national conversations. In this rousing talk, he shares how growing up amid poverty and violence...
Crash Course
Bureaucracy Basics: Crash Course Government and Politics
This week Craig Benzine discuses bureaucracies. Bureaucracies tend to be associated with unintelligible rules and time-wasting procedures, but they play an important, though controversial, role in governing. From the FDA to the EPA,...
Crash Course
Discrimination: Crash Course Government and Politics
Today, Craig is going to wrap up our discussion of discrimination by looking more closely at those “discrete and insular minorities” referenced in the 14th Amendment. We’ll talk about instances of discrimination of Asian, European, and...
TED Talks
John Hunter: Teaching with the World Peace Game
John Hunter puts all the problems of the world on a 4'x5' plywood board -- and lets his 4th-graders solve them. At TED2011, he explains how his World Peace Game engages schoolkids, and why the complex lessons it teaches -- spontaneous,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Is inequality inevitable? | TED-Ed
Income and wealth inequality are not new. In fact, economists and historians who have charted economic inequality throughout history haven't found a single society without it. Which raises a bleak question: is inequality ... inevitable?...
TED Talks
TED: How tech companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy | Finn Lutzow-Holm Myrstad
Have you ever actually read the terms and conditions for the apps you use? Finn Lutzow-Holm Myrstad and his team at the Norwegian Consumer Council have, and it took them nearly a day and a half to read the terms of all the apps on an...
TED Talks
Eric Berlow: Simplifying complexity
Ecologist Eric Berlow doesn't feel overwhelmed when faced with complex systems. He knows that more information can lead to a better, simpler solution. Illustrating the tips and tricks for breaking down big issues, he distills an...