MinuteEarth
How Many Mass Extinctions Have There Been?
Want to learn more about the topic in this week's video? Here are some keywords/phrases to get your googling started: - Mass Extinction Event: a significant, global decrease in the diversity of life - "Big 5": The five biggest mass...
Crash Course
Who Started World War I: Crash Course World History 210
In which John Green teaches you WHY World War I started. Or tries to anyway. With this kind of thing, it's kind of hard to assign blame to any one of the nations involved. Did the fault lie with Austria-Hungary? Germany? Russia? Julius...
Crash Course
Post-World War II Recovery: Crash Course European History
At the end of World War II, the nations of Europe were a shambles. Today we'll learn about how the various countries and blocs approached the problem of rebuilding their infrastructure and helping their residents recover. You'll learn...
TED Talks
The Future of American Democracy After a Trump Assassination Attempt
Following an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a campaign rally, president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media Ian Bremmer joins TED’s Helen Walters to discuss the broader implications for American politics. They explore...
TED Talks
TED: Time traveling with AI to connect with lost loved ones | Amy Kurzweil
What if AI could bring the past to life? Cartoonist Amy Kurzweil shares how she helped train an AI chatbot on her late grandfather’s archives, allowing her to connect with a family member she never met — and discover family history she...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How could so many people support Hitler? | Joseph Lacey
Philosopher Hannah Arendt was a German Jew who dedicated herself to understanding how the Nazi regime came to power, and more specifically, how it inspired so many atrocities. She believed the true conditions behind the unprecedented...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why don't "tough" and "dough" rhyme? | Arika Okrent
Spelling reformers have been advocating for changes to make English spelling more intuitive and less irregular. One example of its messiness: take the “g-h” sound from “enough,” the “o” sound from “women” and the “t-i” sound from...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: 3 easy steps to build a real utopia | Joseph Lacey
A group of strangers have gathered to design a just society. To ensure none of them rig the system, they’ve been placed under a veil of ignorance. Under this veil, they’re blind to information about age, sex, profession, wealth,...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The Nazis recruited to win the Cold War | Brian Crim
In May of 1945 the Third Reich was in chaos. Adolf Hitler was dead and German surrender was imminent. But while World War II was almost over, a new war was brewing. And the US was eager to recruit the smartest minds in Germany before the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Does math have a major flaw? | Jacqueline Doan and Alex Kazachek
A mathematician with a knife and ball begins slicing and distributing the ball into an infinite number of boxes. She then recombines the parts into five precise sections. Moving and rotating these sections around, she recombines them to...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to prevent political corruption | Stephanie Honchell Smith
Corruption is often defined as misuse of a position of power for personal gain. And while corruption in politics is nothing new, it isn't limited to the political sphere; it can happen in schools, sports, businesses, or religious...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The true story behind the legend of the 47 Rōnin | Adam Clulow
Asano Naganori, lord of Akō domain, fixed his gaze on Kira Yoshinaka, a senior master of ceremony. Asano extended his short sword, charged through the castle, and struck Kira. While the wound wasn’t fatal, its consequences would be. What...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Maya Empire’s most powerful city | Geoffrey E. Braswell
During the 8th century CE, warfare and failing agriculture forced Maya people to move north, to hotter, drier Yucatán. Because of its freshwater access, Chichen Itza became the most powerful Maya city, with nearly 50,000 citizens at its...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What really happened to Oedipus? | Stephen Esposito
When Queen Jocasta of Thebes gave birth to Oedipus, a grim air seized the occasion. Her husband, King Laius, had received a prophecy from Apollo's oracle foretelling that he would die at the hands of his own son. Determined to escape...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Rumi: One of the world's most famous writers | Stephanie Honchell Smith
According to legend, the renowned scholar Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi was giving a lecture when a disheveled man approached and asked him the meaning of his academic books. Rumi didn’t know it yet, but this question and this man would...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you transplant a head to another body? | Max G. Levy
In 1970, neurosurgeon Robert White and his team carted two monkeys into an operating room to conduct an ambitious experiment. The objective was to connect the head of Monkey A to the body of Monkey B, in what he considered a whole-body...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How did ancient civilizations make ice cream? | Vivian Jiang
Ice cream has a unique role in our world’s history, culture, and cravings. The first accounts of cold desserts date back to the first century, in civilizations including ancient Rome, Mughal India, and Tang Dynasty China. Yet the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What happened when these 6 dictators took over | Stephanie Honchell Smith
Under certain conditions, the idea of a dictator can sound appealing, like when a democracy isn’t functioning as it should due to corruption or political polarization. People may believe the solution is a "benevolent dictator"— a leader...
TED Talks
TED: A Palestinian and an Israeli, face to face | Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon
How can Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace? Palestinian peacemaker Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli peacemaker Maoz Inon discuss the immeasurable tragedies they've experienced growing up in the region — and how they choose reconciliation...
TED Talks
TED: What is an AI anyway? | Mustafa Suleyman
When it comes to artificial intelligence, what are we actually creating? Even those closest to its development are struggling to describe exactly where things are headed, says Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman, one of the primary...
TED Talks
TED: The US has a teacher shortage — here's how to fix it | Randy Seriguchi Jr.
How much should we invest in teachers, and what should new investment actually involve? Education innovator Randy Seriguchi Jr. suggests the US should create a "G.I. Bill" for teachers, with a particular emphasis on uplifting Black male...
TED Talks
TED: Ideas change everything — and what's next for TED | Chris Anderson and Monique Ruff-Bell
TED is on a mission to discover and champion the ideas that will shape tomorrow. Reflecting on the evolution of that mission, TED's Chris Anderson and Monique Ruff-Bell cast a visionary gaze on the organization's future — including a...
TED Talks
TED: A futuristic vision for Latin America, rooted in ancient design | Catalina Lotero
What would Latin America look like if colonization hadn't interrupted its ancient civilizations? Imagining a future where ancestral knowledge intertwines with modern aesthetics, designer Catalina Lotero shows how "pre-Columbian futurism"...