No one truly understands AI, not even experts, says Helen Toner, an AI policy researcher and former board member of OpenAI. But that doesn't mean we can't govern it. She shows how we can make smart policies to regulate this technology...

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, Black Americans were searching for ways to think about how and where they would fit into a post-slavery society. There were several competing schools of thought. Booker T. Washington and W.E.B....

Strange geologic landmarks in the Pacific Northwest are the lingering remains of a mystery that took nearly half a century to solve. These features turned out to be a result one of the most powerful and bizarre episodes in geologic...

Olympic National Park is temporarily closed as Washington, the US, and the world work to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We filmed this series in early January and are currently at home practicing social distancing. We hope...

Working in the White House in the 1840s may have been more hazardous than we thought.

What killed George Washington? Turns out it was probably related to the bloodletting and other 18th-century medicine his doctors applied.

Things can go wrong in scientific experiments sometimes, but when it comes to engineering, getting things wrong can be disastrous.

Names like Bayard Rustin, Frances Thompson and William Dorsey Swann have been largely erased from US history, but they and other Black queer leaders played central roles in monumental movements like emancipation, civil rights and LGBTQ+...

The March on Washington of 1963 is an enduring and widely-known event of the Civil Rights movement. But the March has its roots in an earlier planned March on Washington that didn't happen. In 1941, labor leader A. Philip Randolph began...

At age 81, actor and activist Jane Fonda is putting herself on the line for the planet -- literally. In a video interview with TEDWomen curator Pat Mitchell, Fonda speaks about getting arrested multiple times during Fire Drill Fridays,...

Former Republican member of the u.S. Congress Bob Inglis shares an optimistic message about how conservatives can lead on climate change and other pressing problems -- and how free enterprise (and working together across ideologies) hold...

Even though there are no volcanoes on the Olympic Peninsula, you can find lots of volcanic rocks on the beaches. This bizarre circumstance might have to do with how the ancient island transformed Washington state.

Freedom from cars, freedom from sprawl, freedom to walk your city! City planner Jeff Speck shares his "general theory of walkability" -- four planning principles to transform sprawling cities of six-lane highways and 600-foot blocks into...

Olympic National Park is temporarily closed as Washington, the US, and the world work to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus. We filmed this series in early January and are currently at home practicing social distancing. We hope...

Stefan and Alexis are headed to Olympic National Park in Washington state to bring you some of the coolest geology stories there. This week, they explore why Mount Olympus should be taller than Mount Everest.

We don't need another Carl Sagan. Because he lives on.

Sheikha Al Mayassa, a patron of artists, storytellers and filmmakers in Qatar, talks about how art and culture create a country's identity -- and allow every country to share its unique identity with the wider world. As she says: "We...

It's a fateful moment in history. We've seen divisive elections, divided societies and the growth of extremism -- all fueled by anxiety and uncertainty. "Is there something we can do, each of us, to be able to face the future without...

Most politicians choose their words carefully, to shape the reality they hope to create. But does it work? Etymologist Mark Forsyth shares a few entertaining word-origin stories from British and American history (for instance, did you...

Working in the White House in the 1840s may have been more hazardous than we thought.

Black Americans have long fought in America's wars, very often fighting for a country that doesn't always fight for them. Today we'll learn about the experience of Black Americans in World War II. We'll look at the ways Black men and...

When we talk about the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, the discussion often involves lofty ideals like liberty, and freedom, and justice. The Declaration of Independence even opens with the idea that "all men are created...

Explore how the Women’s Suffrage Parade on Washington in 1913 helped women secure the right to vote in the United States through the 19th amendment. -- On March 3, 1913, after months of strategic planning and controversy, thousands...

In which John Green teaches you about the American Revolution. And the Revolutionary War. I know we've labored the point here, but they weren't the same thing. In any case, John will teach you about the major battles of the war, and...