Stories are necessary, but they're not as magical as they seem, says writer Sisonke Msimang. In this funny and thoughtful talk, Msimang questions our emphasis on storytelling and spotlights the decline of facts. During a critical time...

Brené Brown studies human connection -- our ability to empathize, belong, love. In a poignant, funny talk, she shares a deep insight from her research, one that sent her on a personal quest to know herself as well as to understand...

Film has the power to change the way we think about ourselves and our culture. Documentarian and TED Fellow Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy uses it to fight violence against women, turning her camera on the tradition of honor killings in Pakistan....

The fairies of Celtic traditions trace their origin back to an ancient race of otherworldly royalty - the Tuatha Dé Danann. As fairy nobility, the Tuatha Dé Danann were alternatively seen as gods, monsters, demons, and even the real...

At a time when Jim Crow laws made racial segregation legal across much of the United States, author Richard Wright gave voice to a struggle – as the first African American author to achieve widespread critical and commercial success.

Known as the Father of American Literature, Mark Twain used satire and a sharp wit to explore and reveal the realities of US society in the 19th century. In doing so he developed an all-new “American style” of writing.

As the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Alice Walker helped to bring the Black experience to readers across the globe. A true trailblazer, her work continues to entertain and enlighten.

A trailblazer in more ways than one, Sandra Cisneros was the first Mexican-American woman to be published by a mainstream publisher. Her work brought Hispanic culture to a wider audience of readers.

First popularized as a genre of literature in the 1920s, for decades science fiction was dominated by white male authors. That is until Octavia Butler, an African American woman, rewrote the script.

There lots of benefits to storytelling, especially for leaders. It's a key communication skill for leaders and this video looks at all of the ways telling stories help leaders. From Johnson and Hackman's book on leadership.

How do economists seek to establish their so-called laws? What is the scientific status of such laws? Are they always valid or merely useful rules-of-thumb?
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These, and more questions, are answered in this fifth lecture...

Can an unreliable narrator help readers see the world through multiple lenses?

Bino and Fino learn about the West African Tradition of the Griot.

In this video, students will explore an old object, then sculpt their own and develop a story based on fact and fiction.

Who is the most powerful character in fiction? Villains may doom the world, heroes may save it, but no one has more control over the plot than the narrator - expositing the who, what, where, when and how directly into the reader’s mind....