TED-Ed
TED-ED: Where did English come from? - Claire Bowern
When we talk about 'English', we often think of it as a single language. But what do the dialects spoken in dozens of countries around the world have in common with each other, or with the writings of Chaucer? Claire Bowern traces the...
TED Talks
Bernie Dunlap: The life-long learner
Wofford College president Bernie Dunlap tells the story of Sandor Teszler, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor who taught him about passionate living and lifelong learning.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class by Clint Smith
An animated interpretation of Clint Smith's poem "Ode to the Only Black Kid in the Class"
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Cannibalism in the animal kingdom - Bill Schutt
Until recently, scientists thought cannibalism was a rare response to starvation or other extreme stress. Well-known cannibals like the praying mantis and black widow were considered bizarre exceptions. But now, we know they more or less...
SciShow
Hank Meets a Giant Squid and Other News
Hank is back in the studio and is very excited to be able again to share news of the universe with you, including his encounter with a giant squid, an English king discovered under a parking lot, new pyramids discovered in Africa, and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Alex Gendler: Why should you read "Crime and Punishment"?
What drives someone to kill in cold blood? What goes through the murderer's mind? And what kind of a society breeds such people? Over 150 years ago Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky took these questions up in what would become one of the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
An animated interpretation of Emma Lazarus' poem "New Colossus"
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How does the Nobel Peace Prize work? - Adeline Cuvelier and Toril Rokseth
Among the top prestigious awards in the world, the Nobel Peace Prize has honored some of the most celebrated and revered international figures and organizations in history. But how does the nomination process work? And who exactly is...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Everything you need to know to read "The Canterbury Tales" - Iseult Gillespie
A portly Miller, barely able to sit on his horse, rambles on about the flighty wife of a crotchety old carpenter and the scholar she takes as her lover. This might sound like a bawdy joke, but it's part of one of the most esteemed works...
Crash Course
Zora Neale Hurston: Crash Course Black American History
The Harlem Renaissance produced many remarkable artists, writers, and thinkers. Today we'll talk about one of the most interesting minds of the time, Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was an anthropologist by training, and spent much of her...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "Don Quixote"? - Ilan Stavans
Mounting his skinny steed, Don Quixote charges an army of giants. It is his duty to vanquish these behemoths in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea. There's only one problem: the giants are merely windmills. What is it about this tale...
Crash Course
Invisible Man: Crash Course Literature 308
This week, we're on to reading Ralph Ellison's great novel about the black experience in America after World War II, Invisible Man. John will teach you about Ellison's nameless narrator, and his attempts to find his way in a social order...
Crash Course
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Part 1: Crash Course Literature
In which John Green teaches you about Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This week, we'll talk a little bit about Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who wrote under the name Mark Twain, and how he mined his early life for decades to...
Crash Course
Toni Morrison: Crash Course Black American History #48
Today, Clint Smith will teach you about the legendary writer Toni Morrison. Morrison is best known for her novels which chronicle the experiences of Black Americans throughout history. She was the first Black American Woman to win a...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The philosophy of Stoicism - Massimo Pigliucci
What is the best life we can live? How can we cope with whatever the universe throws at us and keep thriving nonetheless? The ancient Greco-Roman philosophy of Stoicism explains that while we may not always have control over the events...
TED-Ed
Why should you read Toni Morrison's "Beloved"? | Yen Pham
Two tiny handprints stamped into a cake. A mirror that shatters without warning. A trail of cracker crumbs strewn along the floor. Everyone at 124 Bluestone Road knows their home is haunted— but there's no mystery about the spirit...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How Thor got his hammer - Scott A. Mellor
Loki the mischief-maker, writhes in Thor’s iron grip. The previous night, he’d snuck up on Thor’s wife and shorn off her beautiful hair. To fix what he’d done, Loki rushes to the dwarves and tricks them into making gifts for the gods....
TED-Ed
TED-ED: A poetic experiment: Walt Whitman, interpreted by three animators - Justin Moore
Take a journey through Walt Whitman's poem 'A Noiseless Patient Spider' with the help of three animators who each used a different animation style to bring this beautiful poem to life.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The myth of Prometheus - Iseult Gillespie
Before the creation of humanity, the Greek gods won a great battle against a race of giants called the Titans. Most Titans were destroyed or driven to the eternal hell of Tartarus. But the Titan Prometheus, whose name means foresight,...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The myth of Cupid and Psyche - Brendan Pelsue
Psyche was born so beautiful that she was worshipped as a new incarnation of Venus, the goddess of love. But human lovers were too intimidated to approach her, and Apollo recommended her father abandon her on a crag where she would marry...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why tragedies are alluring - David E. Rivas
The story goes something like this: A royal, rich, or righteous individual - who is otherwise a lot like us - makes a mistake that sends his or her life spiraling into ruin. It's the classic story arc for a Greek tragedy, and we love it...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise
Reading and stories can be an escape from real life, a window into another world -- but have you ever considered how new fictional experiences might change your perspective on real, everyday life? From Pride and Prejudice to Harry...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why should you read Virginia Woolf? - Iseult Gillespie
How best can we understand the internal experience of alienation? In both her essays and her fiction, Virginia Woolf shapes the slippery nature of subjective experience into words, while her characters frequently lead inner lives that...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why should you read "Macbeth"? - Brendan Pelsue
There's a play so powerful that an old superstition says its name should never be uttered in a theater. A play that begins with witchcraft and ends with a bloody, severed head. A play filled with riddles, prophecies, nightmare visions,...