SciShow
How Psychology Can Explain the Deadly Medieval Dancing Plagues
From the 1200s through the 1600s, parts of Europe were afflicted with deadly, mysterious outbreaks of seemingly contagious, unstoppable dancing. While it's still unclear exactly why these "dancing plagues" happened, modern psychology may...
TED Talks
Spencer Wells: A family tree for humanity
All humans share some common bits of DNA, passed down to us from our African ancestors. Geneticist Spencer Wells talks about how his Genographic Project will use this shared DNA to figure out how we are -- in all our diversity -- truly...
TED Talks
Tara Houska: The Standing Rock resistance and our fight for indigenous rights
Still invisible and often an afterthought, indigenous peoples are uniting to protect the world's water, lands and history -- while trying to heal from genocide and ongoing inequality. Tribal attorney and Couchiching First Nation citizen...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A brief history of Spanish | Ilan Stavans
Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that's now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become...
TED Talks
Mustafa Akyol: Faith versus tradition in Islam
Journalist Mustafa Akyol talks about the way that some local cultural practices (such as the seclusion of women) have become linked, in the popular mind, to the articles of faith of Islam. Has the world's general idea of the Islamic...
TED Talks
Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work
Work-life balance, says Nigel Marsh, is too important to be left in the hands of your employer. Marsh lays out an ideal day balanced between family time, personal time and productivity -- and offers some stirring encouragement to make it...
TED Talks
TED: The future of storytelling | Shonda Rhimes and Cyndi Stivers
We all feel a compelling need to watch stories, to tell stories ... to discuss the things that tell each one of us that we are not alone in the world, says TV titan Shonda Rhimes. A dominant force in television since "Grey's Anatomy" hit...
TED Talks
Ariana Curtis: Museums should honor the everyday, not just the extraordinary
Who deserves to be in a museum? For too long, the answer has been "the extraordinary" -- those aspirational historymakers who inspire us with their successes. But those stories are limiting, says museum curator Ariana Curtis. In a...
TED Talks
Ali Carr-Chellman: Gaming to re-engage boys in learning
In her talk, Ali Carr-Chellman pinpoints three reasons boys are tuning out of school in droves, and lays out her bold plan to re-engage them: bringing their culture into the classroom, with new rules that let boys be boys, and video...
TED Talks
Yasheng Huang: Does democracy stifle economic growth?
Economist Yasheng Huang compares China to India, and asks how China's authoritarian rule contributed to its astonishing economic growth -- leading to a big question: Is democracy actually holding India back? Huang's answer may surprise you.
TED Talks
TED: Your words may predict your future mental health | Mariano Sigman
Can the way you speak and write today predict your future mental state, even the onset of psychosis? In this fascinating talk, neuroscientist Mariano Sigman reflects on ancient Greece and the origins of introspection to investigate how...
TED Talks
TED: How webtoons are changing movies and TV | Hyeonmi Kim
Pop culture is changing thanks to a different kind of storytelling, says digital strategist Hyeonmi Kim. They're called webtoons: comic-like illustrations published in short segments and meant to be read on a smartphone in five to 10...
TED Talks
Michael Tilson Thomas: Music and emotion through time
In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the record, and the re-mix.
TED Talks
Pam Warhurst: How we can eat our landscapes
What should a community do with its unused land? Plant food, of course. With energy and humor, Pam Warhurst tells at the TEDSalon the story of how she and a growing team of volunteers came together to turn plots of unused land into...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Egyptian myth of the death of Osiris | Alex Gendler
Long jealous of his older brother Osiris, the god who ruled all of Egypt, the warrior god Set plotted to overthrow him. Hosting an extravagant party as a ruse, Set announced a game— whoever could fit perfectly in a wooden chest could...
TED Talks
Chris Anderson: Technology's long tail
Chris Anderson, then the editor of Wired, explores the four key stages of any viable technology: setting the right price, gaining market share, displacing an established technology and, finally, becoming ubiquitous.
TED Talks
Patrick Awuah: How to educate leaders? Liberal arts
A liberal arts education is critical to forming true leaders, says university head Patrick Awuah -- because it builds decision-making skills, an ethical framework and a broad vision. Awuah himself left a career at Microsoft in the US to...
TED Talks
Neil Gershenfeld: Unleash your creativity in a Fab Lab
MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld talks about his Fab Lab -- a low-cost lab that lets people build things they need using digital and analog tools. It's a simple idea with powerful results.
TED Talks
Chris Anderson: TED's nonprofit transition
Chris Anderson gave this talk in 2002, prior to taking over leadership of TED. Co-founder Richard Saul Wurman was leaving, and TED's future was in the balance. He seeks to persuade TEDsters that what was then a for-profit conference had...
TED Talks
Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral
Kevin Allocca is YouTube's Head of Culture & Trends, and he has deep thoughts about silly web video. In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of the moon goddess | Cynthia Fay Davis
The sun god was in love with the moon goddess, Ix Chel. But the goddess' grandfather was very possessive, and would not let the sun god anywhere near his beloved granddaughter. Desperate to be together, they escaped and were ready to...
TED Talks
3 ways companies can support grieving employees | Tilak Mandadi
When we experience loss, grief travels with us everywhere -- even work. What can companies do to support grieving employees? Sharing his own story of unimaginable heartbreak, Tilak Mandadi offers three ways organizations can cultivate a...
TED Talks
Jiabao Li: Art that reveals how technology frames reality
In a talk that could change how you see things, designer and artist Jiabao Li introduces her conceptual projects that expose the inherent bias of digital media. From a helmet that makes you "allergic" to the color red to a browser...
TED Talks
TED: How art can shape America's conversation about freedom | Dread Scott
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. In this quick talk, visual artist Dread Scott tells the story of one of his most transgressive art installations,...