Curated Video
Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about Nationalism. Nationalism was everywhere in the 19th century, as people all over the world carved new nation-states out of old empires. Nationalist leaders changed the way people thought of themselves...
SciShow
Marvelous Medicinal Maggots
Although it may sound crazy, many doctors use maggots today to clean wounds of dead and infected tissue. This process, called debridement, is important for preventing the spread of infection in a world of increasing antibiotic...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The imaginary king who changed the real world
In 1165, copies of a strange letter began to circulate throughout Europe. It spoke of a fantastical realm, containing the Tower of Babel and the Fountain of Youth— all ruled over by the letter’s mysterious author: Prester John. Who was...
TED Talks
TED: How the pandemic will shape the near future | Bill Gates
Bill Gates talks best (and worst) case scenarios for the coronavirus pandemic in the months ahead, explaining the challenges of reducing virus transmission, providing an update on promising vaccine candidates, offering his thoughts on...
SciShow
The Bone Wars: A Feud That Rocked U.S. Paleontology
The Bone Wars resulted in the description of some of the most famous dinosaurs we know of today, but not without some pretty big mistakes.
TED Talks
TED: Why we must confront hard historical truths | Hasan Kwame Jeffries
To move forward in the United States, we must look back and confront the difficult history that has shaped widespread injustice. Revisiting a significant yet overlooked piece of the past, Hasan Kwame Jeffries emphasizes the need to weave...
TED Talks
TED: Making peace is a marathon | May El-Khalil
In Lebanon there is one gunshot a year that isn’t part of a scene of routine violence: The opening sound of the Beirut International Marathon. In a moving talk, marathon founder May El-Khalil explains why she believed a 26.2-mile running...
TED Talks
Andrew Mwenda: Aid for Africa? No thanks.
In this provocative talk, journalist Andrew Mwenda asks us to reframe the "African question" -- to look beyond the media's stories of poverty, civil war and helplessness and see the opportunities for creating wealth and happiness...
TED Talks
TED: How common threats can make common (political) ground | Jonathan Haidt
If an asteroid were headed for Earth, we'd all band together and figure out how to stop it, just like in the movies, right? And yet, when faced with major, data-supported, end-of-the-world problems in real life, too often we retreat into...
Crash Course
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-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "One Hundred Years of Solitude"? - Francisco Diez-Buzo
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" brought Latin American literature to the forefront of the global imagination and earned Garcia Marquez the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature. What makes the novel so...
Crash Course
Slavery - Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about America's "peculiar institution," slavery. I wouldn't really call it peculiar. I'd lean more toward horrifying and depressing institution, but nobody asked me. John will talk about what life was like...
TED Talks
TED: How to reduce the wealth gap between Black and white Americans | Kedra Newsom Reeves
The racial wealth gap in the United States is shocking: white families have a median wealth nearly 10 times greater than that of Black families. How did we get here, and how can we stop the gap from growing? Wealth equity strategist...
Crash Course
The Industrial Economy Crash Course US History
In which John Green teaches you about the Industrial Economy that arose in the United States after the Civil War. You know how when you're studying history, and you're reading along and everything seems safely in the past, and then BOOM...
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...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How one piece of legislation divided a nation - Ben Labaree, Jr.
You may think that things are heated in Washington today, but the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 had members of Congress so angry they pulled out their weapons -- and formed the Republican Party. The issues? Slavery and states' rights,...
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...
Crash Course
Ida B. Wells Crash Course Black American History
In this video, we'll learn about the life story of journalist, orator, teacher, suffragette, and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Ida B. Wells made her name writing and speaking and working to improve the lives of Black...
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...
Crash Course
Slavery in the American Colonies Crash Course Black American History
In the 17th century, as the British colonies in the Americas were getting established in places like Jamestown, VA, the system of chattel slavery was also developing. Today, we'll learn about the role that slavery played in early...