TED Talks
TED: What makes someone vote against their political party? | Sarah Longwell
Our brains are hardwired to crave community and belonging — a tribal instinct that drives politics in the United States, says political strategist Sarah Longwell. She shares what she learned trying to convince people to vote against...
TED Talks
TED: A comedian's take on how to save democracy | Jordan Klepper
Conversation is a battlefield with only one winner. Or is it? Comedian and author Jordan Klepper believes we can get better at talking to each other (and perhaps save democracy) by learning how to lose.
TED Talks
TED: How business leaders can renew democracy | Daniella Ballou-Aares
How much should business leaders speak out about threats to democracy? It's a question many corporations are wrestling with these days. Business and democracy leader Daniella Ballou-Aares shows why companies have both the ability and the...
TED Talks
TED: What the world can learn from Ukraine's fight for democracy | Olesya Khromeychuk
A flourishing democracy next door is a scary thing for an autocrat, says Ukrainian historian Olesya Khromeychuk. Detailing the history of Ukraine's long struggle for sovereignty and freedom — against Russian tsars, communist dictators...
TED Talks
TED: How sci-fi informs our climate future — and what to do next | Zainab Usman
Science fiction authors have warned us for decades: division among global leaders can quickly create dystopia. Political economist Zainab Usman thinks present-day power struggles may seriously hinder the world's ability to fight climate...
TED Talks
TED: How to build democracy — in an authoritarian country | Tessza Udvarhelyi
Today, Hungary is in the gray zone between a dictatorship and a democracy, says activist Tessza Udvarhelyi. "This did not happen overnight." In a rousing talk, she reminds us just how close any country can come to authoritarianism — and...
PBS
Political experts examine America’s divisions heading into 2024 election
All this year, Judy Woodruff has been exploring the deep divisions we see playing out every day in the country. She’s distilled much of that reporting into a special airing Tuesday night on PBS. For that, she recently sat down with a...
TED Talks
TED: A crash course in making political change | Katie Fahey
You don't need political power to make real change, says activist Katie Fahey. She tells the story of how she led a successful movement in Michigan to end gerrymandering — the practice of drawing district lines to favor one political...
TED Talks
TED: It's time to rethink the role of First Lady | Irina Karamanos Adrian
Irina Karamanos Adrian didn't plan on becoming Chile's First Lady — but she set out to transform the role all the same. She shares how she's fighting gender stereotypes and protecting democracy by shifting political power back to where...
TED Talks
TED: Lessons from my father, Alexey Navalny | Dasha Navalnaya
Dasha Navalnaya is the daughter of Alexey Navalny, the politician and leader of the Russian opposition to Vladimir Putin. Sharing the story of her father's poisoning, persecution and current imprisonment, she details what it was like...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What really caused the Irish Potato Famine | Stephanie Honchell Smith
For over 200 years, potatoes thrived in Ireland; roughly half the country’s residents lived almost entirely on potatoes. But when harvesting began in 1845, farmers found their potatoes blackened and shriveled. While this failed harvest...
TED Talks
TED: The Israel-Hamas war — and what it means for the world | Ian Bremmer
The Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023 stunned the world. In this timely conversation, political scientist Ian Bremmer explains the historical context of the conflict, how Israel might respond and what it means for Jews,...
TED Talks
TED: When Biden met Xi (and what's going on with the US and China) | Ian Bremmer
US President Joe Biden and President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping recently met in San Francisco. It was the first time Xi had visited the US in six years — and the first time the two leaders had met in person in a year....
TED Talks
TED: Democracy works — we just need better leaders | Lindiwe Mazibuko
South Africa transitioned to democracy in the 1990s with a visionary constitution, but the promises of that constitution are largely unfulfilled to this day. Public leader Lindiwe Mazibuko explores how poor leadership failed to deliver a...
TED Talks
TED: The ordinary people doing extraordinary things in Ukraine | Oleksandra Matviichuk
How do we defend people's freedom and dignity against authoritarianism, when the "law of war" doesn't seem to apply anymore? In the face of the Russian occupation of Ukraine, human rights lawyer and Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk...
PBS
Families with transgender children struggle to navigate wave of anti-trans politics
Texas is the largest state in the country to ban transition-related medical care for minors, joining 19 other states that have restricted access. Laura Barrón-López recently spent time in Texas to learn more about the law and spoke with...
TED Talks
TED: Is the US headed towards another civil war? | Barbara F. Walter
Based on her work for a CIA task force aimed at predicting civil wars, political scientist Barbara F. Walter examines the rise in extremism and threats to democracies around the globe -- and paints an unsettling picture of the increasing...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The merciless mercenaries of the Italian Renaissance | Stephanie Honchell Smith
During the 14th and 15th centuries, mercenaries known as condottieri dominated Italian warfare, profiting from— and encouraging— the region's intense political rivalries. As rulers competed for power and prestige, their disputes often...
Crash Course
Political Ideology: Crash Course Government and Politics #35
So today Craig is going to look at political ideology in America. We're going to focus on liberals and conservatives and talk about the influencers of both of these viewpoints. Now, it's important to remember that political ideologies...
SciShow
NASA Needs You
Hank usually likes to keep science and politics separated, but the reality is that a lot of scientific research in the United States is funded by the government. This is a problem right now because the disfunction in the world of...
TED Talks
TED: Pussy Riot's powerful message to Vladimir Putin | Nadya Tolokonnikova
Nadya Tolokonnikova, founding member of the anti-Putin resistance group Pussy Riot, was named a top enemy of Russia for speaking out against Vladimir Putin's dictatorship throughout the last decade. In this inspiring talk, she tells the...
TED Talks
TED: The next global superpower isn't who you think | Ian Bremmer
Who runs the world? Political scientist Ian Bremmer argues it's not as simple as it used to be. With some eye-opening questions about the nature of leadership, he asks us to consider the impact of the evolving global order and our...
PBS
New book ‘The Aftermath’ examines the political influence and legacy of the baby boomers
The impact of the baby boom generation is impossible to ignore. The roughly 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964 have reshaped American society at each stage of their lives. Philip Bump of The Washington Post takes a closer look...
TED Talks
TED: How to transform your climate concern into action | Jane Fonda
Actor and activist Jane Fonda discusses her frontline work fighting for climate action, including recent efforts to support climate-minded candidates running for office in the US and to break the fossil fuel industry's stranglehold on...