TED Talks
Greening the ghetto - Majora Carter
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In an emotionally charged talk, MacArthur-winning activist Majora Carter details her fight for environmental...
Crash Course
Why is there Social Stratification?: Crash Course Sociology
As we get into our unit on stratification, we inevitably return to our old friends, the three sociological paradigms. How to structural functionalism, social conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism each think about stratification?...
TED Talks
Clay Shirky: How social media can make history
While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing...
TED Talks
TED: The biggest risks facing cities -- and some solutions | Robert Muggah
With fantastic new maps that show interactive, visual representations of urban fragility, Robert Muggah articulates an ancient but resurging idea: cities shouldn't just be the center of economics -- they should also be the foundation of...
Crash Course
Free Will, Witches, Murder, and Macbeth, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 409
The Sound! The Fury! Today, we're talking about Shakespeare's Scottish play, Macbeth. So, was Macbeth really predestined to do all the murdering and bad kinging and other terrible stuff? That's the big question in Macbeth, and it's one...
TED Talks
TED: How radical hospitality can change the lives of the formerly incarcerated | Reuben Jonathan Miller
For the nearly 20 million Americans with a felony record, punishment doesn't end after their prison sentence. Sociologist Reuben Jonathan Miller sheds light on the aftershocks of mass incarceration through the stories of people who've...
SciShow
The New Era of Negative Campaigns
Negative campaigns—or campaigns that work by painting opposing candidates in a negative light—have been used for decades. But today, thanks to information that can be gained from social media, these campaigns may be even more effective...
Crash Course
Sociology Research Methods: Crash Course Sociology
Today we’re talking about how we actually DO sociology. Nicole explains the research method: form a question and a hypothesis, collect data, and analyze that data to contribute to our theories about society.
TED Talks
TED: Let's design social media that drives real change | Wael Ghonim
Wael Ghonim helped touch off the Arab Spring in his home of egypt ... by setting up a simple Facebook page. As he reveals, once the revolution spilled onto the streets, it turned from hopeful to messy, then ugly and heartbreaking. And...
Crash Course
Wait For It...The Mongols! Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you, at long last, about the most exceptional bunch of empire-building nomads in the history of the world, the Mongols! How did the Mongols go from being a relatively small band of herders who occasionally...
TED Talks
TED: Why we need to end the War on Drugs | Ethan Nadelmann
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Is the War on Drugs doing more harm than good? In a bold talk, drug policy reformist Ethan Nadelmann makes an...
Crash Course
Columbus, de Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about the beginning of the so-called Age of Discovery. You've probably heard of Christopher Columbus, who "discovered" America in 1492, but what about Vasco da Gama? How about Zheng He? Columbus gets a bad...
TED Talks
TED: How megacities are changing the map of the world | Parag Khanna
I want you to reimagine how life is organized on earth, says global strategist Parag Khanna. As our expanding cities grow ever more connected through transportation, energy and communications networks, we evolve from geography to what he...
TED Talks
Yasheng Huang: Does democracy stifle economic growth?
Economist Yasheng Huang compares China to India, and asks how China's authoritarian rule contributed to its astonishing economic growth -- leading to a big question: Is democracy actually holding India back? Huang's answer may surprise you.
Crash Course
Gilded Age Politics Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about the Gilded Age and its politics. What, you may ask, is the Gilded Age? The term comes from a book by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner titled, "The Gilded Age." You may see a pattern emerging...
TED Talks
TED: The politics of fiction | Elif Shafak
Listening to stories widens the imagination; telling them lets us leap over cultural walls, embrace different experiences, feel what others feel. Elif Shafak builds on this simple idea to argue that fiction can overcome identity politics.
TED Talks
TED: How art can shape America's conversation about freedom | Dread Scott
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In this quick talk, visual artist Dread Scott tells the story of one of his most transgressive art installations,...
TED Talks
TED: What to trust in a "post-truth" world | Alex Edmans
Only if you are truly open to the possibility of being wrong can you ever learn, says researcher Alex Edmans. In an insightful talk, he explores how confirmation bias -- the tendency to only accept information that supports your personal...
Crash Course
Political Campaigns: Crash Course Government and Politics
So political campaigns are a pretty big deal in the United States. For instance the 2012 presidential election clocked in at the most expensive ever - at around $6 billion dollars! Needless to say, money plays a very big role in American...
PBS
How will the Animated GIF affect the Presidential Election?
The animated GIF has had a long and fascinating history, but the GIF took a giant leap forward this year when it became part of the 2012 Presidential Election!!! This election season, GIFs of Obama, Romney, Biden and Ryan, populated not...
Crash Course
Racial/Ethnic Prejudice Discrimination Crash Course Sociology
We can’t talk about race without also discussing racism, so today we are going to define and explain prejudice, stereotypes, and racism. We’ll look at five theories for why prejudice exists. We’ll discuss discrimination and the legacies...
TED Talks
Neil MacGregor: 2600 years of history in one object
A clay cylinder covered in Akkadian cuneiform script, damaged and broken, the Cyrus Cylinder is a powerful symbol of religious tolerance and multi-culturalism. In this enthralling talk Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum,...
TED Talks
TED: There's no such thing as not voting | eric Liu
Many people like to talk about how important voting is, how it's your civic duty and responsibility as an adult. eric Liu agrees with all that, but he also thinks it's time to bring joy back to the ballot box. The former political...
Crash Course
Karl Marx & Conflict Theory: Crash Course Sociology
Today we’ll continue to explore sociology’s founding theorists with a look at Karl Marx and his idea of historical materialism. We’ll discuss modes of production, their development, and how they fit into Marx’s overall theory of...