TED Talks
Jared Diamond: Why do societies collapse?
Why do societies fail? With lessons from the Norse of Iron Age Greenland, deforested Easter Island and present-day Montana, Jared Diamond talks about the signs that collapse is near, and how -- if we see it in time -- we can prevent it.
TED Talks
Nicholas Christakis: The hidden influence of social networks
We're all embedded in vast social networks of friends, family, co-workers and more. Nicholas Christakis tracks how a wide variety of traits -- from happiness to obesity -- can spread from person to person, showing how your location in...
TED Talks
TED: Activism needs introverts | Sarah Corbett
For the introverts among us, traditional forms activism like marches, protests and door-to-door canvassing can be intimidating and stressful. Take it from Sarah Corbett, a former professional campaigner and self-proclaimed introvert. She...
TED Talks
TED: Our story of rape and reconciliation | Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In 1996, Thordis Elva shared a teenage romance with Tom Stranger, an exchange student from Australia. After a...
Crash Course
Max Weber & Modernity: Crash Course Sociology
This week we are wrapping up our overview of sociology’s core frameworks and founding theorists with a look Max Weber and his understanding of the modern world. We’ll explore rationalization and the transition from traditional to modern...
TED Talks
TED: The trans story includes you | Nicole Maines
As actress Nicole Maines points out, we all unwittingly play supporting roles in each others' life stories -- for better or worse. With charm and aplomb, she shares her experience growing up as a trans youth, emphasizing the big and...
TED Talks
TED: Your smartphone is a civil rights issue | Christopher Soghoian
The smartphone you use reflects more than just personal taste ... it could determine how closely you can be tracked, too. Privacy expert and TED Fellow Christopher Soghoian details a glaring difference between the encryption used on...
TED Talks
TED: A young scientist's quest for clean water | Deepika Kurup
Deepika Kurup has been determined to solve the global water crisis since she was 14 years old, after she saw kids outside her grandparents' house in India drinking water that looked too dirty even to touch. Her research began in her...
SciShow
Homophobia and Consumerism
Hank discusses some new research that studied what makes us unhappy with ourselves and with other people, focusing on homophobia and consumerism.
TED Talks
TED: Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care | Cleo Wade
Artist and poet Cleo Wade recites a moving poem about being an advocate for love and acceptance in a time when both seem in short supply. Woven between stories of people at the beginning and end of their lives, she shares some truths...
TED Talks
TED: The urgency of intersectionality | Kimberle Crenshaw
Now more than ever, it's important to look boldly at the reality of race and gender bias -- and understand how the two can combine to create even more harm. Kimberle Crenshaw uses the term "intersectionality" to describe this phenomenon;...
TED Talks
TED: How I went from child refugee to international model | Halima Aden
Halima Aden made history when she became the first hijab-wearing model on the cover of Vogue magazine. Now she returns to Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp -- where she was born and lived until the age of seven -- to share an inspiring message...
TED Talks
TED: What if we eliminated one of the world's oldest diseases? | Caroline Harper
Thousands of years ago, ancient Nubians drew pictures on tomb walls of a terrible disease that turns the eyelids inside out and causes blindness. This disease, trachoma, is still a scourge in many parts of the world today -- but it's...
TED Talks
TED: Inside the mind of a former radical jihadist | Manwar Ali
For a long time, I lived for death, says Manwar Ali, a former radical jihadist who participated in violent, armed campaigns in the Middle east and Asia in the 1980s. In this moving talk, he reflects on his experience with radicalization...
Crash Course
Human Evolution: Crash Course Big History
In which John Green and Hank Green teach you about how human primates moved out of Africa and turned Earth into a real-life Planet of the Apes. And the apes are people! John and Hank teach you about how humans evolved, and the sort of...
TED Talks
TED: How to make peace? Get angry | Kailash Satyarthi
How did a young man born into a high caste in India come to free 83,000 children from slavery? Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi offers a surprising piece of advice to anyone who wants to change the world for the better: Get...
TED Talks
Kathryn Bouskill: The unforeseen consequences of a fast-paced world
Why does modern technology promise efficiency, but leave us constantly feeling pressed for time? Anthropologist Kathryn Bouskill explores the paradoxes of living in a fast-paced society and explains why we need to reconsider the...
TED Talks
TED: Architecture that's built to heal | Michael Murphy
Architecture is more than a clever arrangement of bricks. In this eloquent talk, Michael Murphy shows how he and his team look far beyond the blueprint when they're designing. Considering factors from airflow to light, theirs is a...
TED Talks
TED: The business benefits of doing good | Wendy Woods
The only way we're going to make substantial progress on the challenging problems of our time is for business to drive the solutions, says social impact strategist Wendy Woods. In a data-packed talk, Woods shares a fresh way to assess...
TED Talks
TED: 3 myths about racism that keep the US from progress | Candis Watts Smith
Racism morphs, spreading and hiding behind numerous half-truths and full-blown falsities about where it lives and who embodies it. In this actionable talk, political scientist Candis Watts Smith debunks three widely accepted myths about...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy? | Laura Wright
Set in a small town in India, "The God of Small Things" revolves around fraternal twins Rahel and Estha, who are separated for 23 years after the fateful hours in which their cousin drowns, their mother's affair is revealed, and her...
TED Talks
TED: The radical, revolutionary resilience of Black joy | Miracle Jones
In the face of trauma, happiness is resilience: a revolutionary act of thriving despite all odds, rather than wilting or surrendering. Community organizer and activist Miracle Jones offers a heart-to-heart meditation on the role of joy...
TED Talks
TED: How to raise successful kids -- without over-parenting | Julie Lythcott-Haims
By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren't actually helping. At least, that's how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it. With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford...
TED Talks
TED: How we can design timeless cities for our collective future | Vishaan Chakrabarti
There's a creeping sameness in many of our newest urban buildings and streetscapes, says architect Vishaan Chakrabarti. And this physical homogeneity -- the result of regulations, mass production, safety issues and cost considerations,...