TED Talks
Hawa Abdi + Deqo Mohamed: Mother and daughter doctor-heroes
They've been called the "saints of Somalia." Doctor Hawa Abdi and her daughter Deqo Mohamed discuss their medical clinic in Somalia, where -- in the face of civil war and open oppression of women -- they've built a hospital, a school and...
Crash Course
Westward Expansion Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about the Wild, Wild, West, which as it turns out, wasn't as wild as it seemed in the movies. When we think of the western expansion of the United States in the 19th century, we're conditioned to imagine...
TED-Ed
Debunking the myth of the Lost Cause: A lie embedded in American history | Karen L. Cox
In the 1860's, 11 southern states withdrew from the United States and formed the Confederacy. They seceded in response to the growing movement for the nationwide abolition of slavery. Yet barely a year after the Civil War ended, southern...
Crash Course
The Election of 1860 & the Road to Disunion Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about the election of 1860. As you may remember from last week, things were not great at this time in US history. The tensions between the North and South were rising, ultimately due to the single issue of...
Crash Course
Like Pale Gold - The Great Gatsby Part I: Crash Course English Literature
In which John Green explores F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the Jazz Age, The Great Gatsby. John introduces you to Nick Carraway, Jay Gatsby, Daisy and Tom Buchanan, and the other characters in the novel, and tries to look beyond the...
Crash Course
WWI's Civilians, the Homefront, and an Uneasy Peace: Crash Course European History
World War I was a total war for millions of people in Europe. Many men were enlisted in the fighting, but the war work had implications for the daily lives of a huge number of Europeans. Women entered the workforce in huge numbers, and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History vs. Augustus - Alex Gendler and Peta Greenfield
His reign marked the beginning of one of history's greatest empires . . . and the end of one of its first republics. Was Rome's first emperor a visionary leader who guaranteed his civilization's place in history, or a tyrant who...
TED Talks
TED: The link between unemployment and terrorism | Mohamed Ali
For the young and unemployed in the world's big cities, dreams of opportunity and wealth do come true -- but too often because they're heavily recruited by terrorist groups and other violent organizations. Human rights advocate Mohamed...
Curated Video
The Roman Empire. Or Republic. Or...Which Was It?: Crash Course World History
In which John Green explores exactly when Rome went from being the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire. Here's a hint: it had something to do with Julius Caesar, but maybe less than you think. Find out how Caesar came to rule the empire,...
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...
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...
Crash Course
The Rise of Cotton Crash Course Black American History
Cotton is everywhere in our modern world, and it became a hugely important crop in the 19th century United States. Cotton was a huge economic boon to the US, and much of that wealth was built on the backs of enslaved laborers. And cotton...
Crash Course
The Stono Rebellion Crash Course Black American History
Enslaved people resisted their condition in a range of different ways. Oftentimes those ways were small and personal. There were also times when that resistance took on larger, more dramatic forms, like with slave uprisings and...
Crash Course
Communists, Nationalists, and China's Revolutions Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about China's Revolutions. While the rest of the world was off having a couple of World Wars, China was busily uprooting the dynastic system that had ruled there for millennia. Most revolutions have some...
Curated Video
Russia, the Kievan Rus, and the Mongols: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you how Russia evolved from a loose amalgamation of medieval principalities known as the Kievan Rus into the thriving democracy we know today. As you can imagine, there were a few bumps along the road. It...
TED Talks
TED: The path to ending ethnic conflicts | Stefan Wolff
Civil wars and ethnic conflicts have brought the world incredible suffering, but Stefan Wolff's figures show that, in the last 20 years, their number has steadily decreased. He extracts critical lessons from Northern Ireland, Liberia,...
Crash Course
The Civil War Part 2 Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you how the Civil War played a large part in making the United States the country that it is today. He covers some of the key ways in which Abraham Lincoln influenced the outcome of the war, and how the lack...
Crash Course
1984 by George Orwell, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 401
In which John Green returns for a dystopian new season of Crash Course Literature! We're starting with George Orwell's classic look at the totalitarian state that could be in post-war England. Winston Smith is under the eye of Big...
Curated Video
Communists, Nationalists, and China's Revolutions: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about China's Revolutions. While the rest of the world was off having a couple of World Wars, China was busily uprooting the dynastic system that had ruled there for millennia. Most revolutions have some...
Crash Course
Who Won the American Revolution Crash Course US History
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...
Crash Course
Civil Rights & Liberties: Crash Course Government
Today, Craig is going to give you an overview of civil rights and civil liberties. Often these terms are used interchangeably, but they are actually very different. Our civil liberties, contained in the Bill of Rights, once only...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Romance and revolution: the poetry of Pablo Neruda - Ilan Stavans
Get to know Pablo Neruda, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. -- A romantic and a revolutionary, Pablo Neruda was one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, but...
Crash Course
Battles of the Civil War Crash Course US History
Disclaimer: This is very different than the usual Crash Course US History episode. In which John Green lists a whole lot of the battles of the US Civil War in seven and a half minutes. We get a lot of requests for military history, so we...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The rise and fall of the Inca empire - Gordon McEwan
It was the western hemisphere's largest empire ever, with a population of nearly 10 million subjects. Yet within 100 years of its rise in the fifteenth century, the Inca Empire would be no more. What happened? Gordon McEwan details the...