Crash Course Kids
Poetry explained (Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhhà Lại): Crash Course Kids Literature #5
New ReviewRoses are red, violets are blue… What on Earth CAN’T a poem do? In this episode of Crash Course Kids Literature, we dive into the poems that make up Thanhhà Lại’s verse novel, “Inside Out and Back Again” and the figurative language that...
TED Talks
The poetry of family | Duncan Keegan
Duncan Keegan doesn't consider himself a poet, but this deeply beautiful talk shows otherwise. With simple grace and quiet eloquence, he celebrates family, connection and togetherness, often most called for at the hardest of times.
TED Talks
TED: A meditation on Rumi and the power of poetry | Leili Anvar
In an ode to the Persian language, author Leili Anvar unfurls the work of 13th-century mystic poet Rumi and reflects on how poetry gives meaning to our lives.
TED Talks
TED: The power of unconventional thinking | David McWilliams
From World War I to the 2008 economic collapse and beyond, history shows that economists don't always see the future as clearly as they think they do, says economist David McWilliams. Using the words of W.B. Yeats, McWilliams makes the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A day in the Islamic Golden Age | Birte Kristiansen and Petra Sijpesteijn
It's 791 CE. As the morning sun shines on the Golden Gate Palace, brother and sister Hisham and Asma prepare for the journey of a lifetime: the hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca. They intend to travel with the big hajj caravan— but a...
PBS
Poet writes slam-dunking kids' novel
How do you get reluctant readers to fall in love with a book? Writer and literacy activist Kwame Alexander says you have to offer them something relatable. In "The Crossover," basketball is the hook to persuade kids to pick up a novel...
PBS
Finding Emily Dickinson in the power of her poetry
Who was Emily Dickinson? A new exhibition at the Morgan Library and Museum in New York takes a closer look at the iconic American cultural figure through her poems and the remnants of her life, and finds a less reclusive woman than we...
PBS
Why This Poet Says There Is No 'Single Story Spun On A Single Tongue'
Erica Dawson, a professor and writer, said she was surprised while on book tour recently to be faced with the same question over and over again, about speaking for "the black experience." Black poets never went away. We don't only...
PBS
Why this poet says there is no single story spun on a single tongue
Erica Dawson, a professor and writer, said she was surprised while on book tour recently to be faced with the same question over and over again, about speaking for “the black experience.” Black poets never went away. We don’t only...
PBS
Author Elizabeth Acevedo On Writing A Coming-Of-Age Novel - Extended Interview
Our November pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, "Now Read This," is "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo. She spoke to Jeffrey Brown about finding her voice through poetry and why she wrote a novel in verse.
PBS
Poet Amanda Gorman On How She Prepared For Inauguration Day
The poet who will carry on a tradition and present her new work, "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration this week is already quite accomplished at the age of 22. Jeffrey Brown talked to Amanda Gorman to learn more, as part of our...
PBS
Poet Franny Choi on the value of imagining alternate realities
What’s the value of asking questions to which we don’t know the answer? Poet Franny Choi’s “Introduction to Quantum Theory” does just that, and she calls it “one of the scariest things” she’s ever written. Choi offers her brief but...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The secret messages of Viking runestones | Jesse Byock
With their navigational skills and advanced longships, the Vikings sustained their seafaring for over 300 years. But for all their might, they left few monuments. Instead, fragments of stone, bark and bone found in the sites of ancient...
TED Talks
Stephen Burt: Why people need poetry
"We're all going to die -- and poems can help us live with that." In a charming and funny talk, literary critic Stephen Burt takes us on a lyrical journey with some of his favorite poets, all the way down to a line break and back up to...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why Shakespeare loved iambic pentameter - David T. Freeman and Gregory Taylor
Shakespeare sometimes gets a bad rap in high schools for his complex plots and antiquated language. But a quick peek into the rhythm of his words reveals a poet deeply rooted in the way people spoke in his time - and still speak today....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How Phillis Wheatley captured the attention of the world | Charita Gainey
In 1775, General George Washington received a poem from one of colonial America's most famous writers. Its verses praised the burgeoning revolution, invoking the goddess of their new nation to aid the general's cause. But this ode to...
TED Talks
TED: How I'm fighting bias in algorithms | Joy Buolamwini
MIT grad student Joy Buolamwini was working with facial analysis software when she noticed a problem: the software didn't detect her face -- because the people who coded the algorithm hadn't taught it to identify a broad range of skin...
TED Talks
TED: The surprising spread of Idol TV | Cynthia Schneider
Cynthia Schneider looks at two international "American Idol"-style shows -- one in Afghanistan, and one in the United Arab Emirates -- and shows the surprising effect that these reality-TV competitions are creating in their societies.
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The poet who painted with his words - Genevieve Emy
Among the great poets of literary history, certain names like Homer, Shakespeare and Whitman are instantly recognizable. However, there's an early 20th century great poet whose name you may not know: Guillaume Apollinaire. Genevieve Emy...
Crash Course
Before I Got My Eye Put Out - The Poetry of Emily Dickinson: Crash Course English Lit
In which John Green concludes the Crash Course Literature mini-series with an examination of the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Sure, John explores the creepy biographical details of Dickinson's life, but he also gets into why her poems have...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The pleasure of poetic pattern - David Silverstein
Humans are creatures of rhythm and repetition. From our breath to our gait: rhythm is central to our experience, and often brings us pleasure. We can find pleasure in the rhythm of a song, or even the rows of an orchard. Of course, too...
TED Talks
TED: Give yourself permission to be creative | Ethan Hawke
Reflecting on moments that shaped his life, actor Ethan Hawke examines how courageous expression promotes healing and connection with one another -- and invites you to discover your own unabashed creativity. "There is no path till you...
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...
PBS
Author Elizabeth Acevedo On Writing A Coming-Of-Age Novel
Our November pick for the NewsHour-New York Times book club, "Now Read This," is "The Poet X" by Elizabeth Acevedo. She spoke to Jeffrey Brown about finding her voice through poetry and why she wrote a novel in verse.