TED Talks
Rives: A story of mixed emoticons
Rives tells a typographical fairy tale that's short and bittersweet ;)
TED Talks
AJ Jacobs: My year of living biblically
Author, philosopher, prankster and journalist AJ Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.
TED Talks
Liza Donnelly: Drawing on humor for change
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly shares a portfolio of her wise and funny cartoons about modern life -- and talks about how humor can empower women to change the rules.
TED Talks
Reggie Watts: Beats that defy boxes
Reggie Watts' beats defy boxes. Unplug your logic board and watch as he blends poetry and crosses musical genres in this larger-than-life performance.
TED Talks
"Mother of Pearl," "If I Had You" - Nellie McKay
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. The wonderful Nellie McKay sings "Mother of Pearl" (with the immortal first line "Feminists don't have a sense of...
TED Talks
Ze Frank: My web playroom
On the web, a new "Friend" may be just a click away, but true connection is harder to find and express. Ze Frank presents a medley of zany Internet toys that require deep participation -- and reward it with something more nourishing....
TED Talks
Andy Hobsbawm: Do the green thing
Andy Hobsbawm shares a fresh ad campaign about going green -- and some of the fringe benefits.
TED Talks
Bruce McCall: What is retro-futurism?
Bruce McCall paints a retro-future that never happened -- full of flying cars, polo-playing tanks and the RMS Tyrannic, "The Biggest Thing in All the World." At Serious Play '08, he narrates a brisk and funny slideshow of his...
TED Talks
TED: A pro wrestler's guide to confidence | Mike Kinney
You are more than you think you are, says former pro wrestler Mike Kinney -- you just have to find what makes you unique and use it to your advantage. For years Kinney "turned up" the parts of himself that made him special as he invented...
TED Talks
Jack Horner: Where are the baby dinosaurs?
In a spellbinding talk, paleontologist Jack Horner tells the story of how iconoclastic thinking revealed a shocking secret about some of our most beloved dinosaurs.
TED Talks
Paolo Cardini: Forget multitasking, try monotasking
People don't just cook anymore -- they're cooking, texting, talking on the phone, watching YouTube and uploading photos of the awesome meal they just made. Designer Paolo Cardini questions the efficiency of our multitasking world and...
TED Talks
Uldus Bakhtiozina: Wry photos that turn stereotypes upside down
Artist Uldus Bakhtiozina uses photographs to poke fun at societal norms in her native Russia. A glimpse into Russian youth culture and a short, fun reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.
TED Talks
TED: Fashion and creativity - Isaac Mizrahi
Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi spins through a dizzying array of inspirations -- from '50s pinups to a fleeting glimpse of a woman on the street who makes him shout "Stop the cab!" Inside this rambling talk are real clues to living a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The cockroach beatbox - Greg Gage
By dissecting a cockroach ... yes, live on stage ... TED Fellow and neuroscientist Greg Gage shows how brains receive and deliver electric impulses -- and how legs can respond. (Launching a series on Awesome Nature) "The Cockroach...
TED Talks
TED: The search for "aha!" moments | Matt Goldman
In 1988, Matt Goldman co-founded Blue Man Group, an off-Broadway production that became a sensation known for its humor, blue body paint and wild stunts. The show works on the premise that certain conditions can create "aha moments" --...
TED Talks
Marlene Zuk: What we learn from insects' sex lives
In this enlightening, funny talk, Marlene Zuk shares just some of the ways that insects are truly astonishing -- and not least for the creative ways they have sex.
TED Talks
Sebastian Wernicke: Lies, damned lies and statistics (about TEDTalks)
In a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek analysis, Sebastian Wernicke turns the tools of statistical analysis on TEDTalks, to come up with a metric for creating "the optimum TEDTalk" based on user ratings. How do you rate it? "Jaw-dropping"?...
TED Talks
Chris Abani: On humanity
Chris Abani tells stories of people: People standing up to soldiers. People being compassionate. People being human and reclaiming their humanity. It's "ubuntu," he says: the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity...
TED Talks
TED: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator | Tim urban
Tim urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense, but he's never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, urban takes us on a journey through YouTube...
TED Talks
John Lloyd: An animated tour of the invisible
Gravity. The stars in day. Thoughts. The human genome. Time. Atoms. So much of what really matters in the world is impossible to see. A stunning animation of John Lloyd's classic TEDTalk from 2009, which will make you question what you...
SciShow
What Makes Something Funny?
It's said that the quickest way to kill a joke is to explain it, but scientists are still interested in finding out just what tickles our brains and makes us find something funny.
TED Talks
TED: You are fluent in this language (and don't even know it) | Christoph Niemann
Without realizing it, we're fluent in the language of pictures, says illustrator Christoph Niemann. In a charming talk packed with witty, whimsical drawings, Niemann takes us on a hilarious visual tour that shows how artists tap into our...
TED Talks
TED: My journey to thank all the people responsible for my morning coffee | AJ Jacobs
Author AJ Jacobs embarked on a quest with a deceptively simple idea at its heart: to personally thank every person who helped make his morning cup of coffee. More than one thousand "thank yous" later, Jacobs reflects on the...
Be Smart
Why Do We Laugh?
Laughing is a universal human behavior, one that transcends borders of language and culture. But it's also REALLY WEIRD. Why do we do it? The answer has less to do with humor than you might think