TED-Ed
TED-Ed: One of history's most dangerous myths | Anneliese Mehnert
From the 1650s through the late 1800's, European colonists descended on South Africa. They sought to claim the region, becoming even more aggressive after discovering the area's abundant natural resources. To support their claims to the...
TED Talks
TED: 3 stories of Pakistani resilience, told in film | Jawad Sharif
TED Fellow Jawad Sharif was born with a rebellious streak -- and he's used it in his documentary films to amplify the unheard voices of Pakistan. Sharing three stories of everyday heroes -- a high-altitude mountaineer, a folk musician of...
TED Talks
TED: Where does your sense of self come from? A scientific look | Anil Ananthaswamy
Our memories and bodies give us clues about who we are, but what happens when this guidance shifts? In this mind-bending talk, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy shares how the experiences of "altered selves" -- resulting from...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: One of the most banned books of all time | Mollie Godfrey
In 1998, a school district removed one of American literature's most acclaimed works from its curriculum. Parents pushing for the ban said the book was both "sexually explicit" and "anti-white." The book at the center of this debate was...
PBS
Poetry helps youth at a juvenile detention center find peace
Free Write Jail Arts and Literacy aims to help troubled youths in Chicago's Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center address their personal issues by writing poetry about their circumstances and upbringing. Jeffrey Brown talks...
TED Talks
Darrick Hamilton: How "baby bonds" could help close the wealth gap
Hard work, resilience and grit lead to success, right? This narrative pervades the way we think, says economist Darrick Hamilton, but the truth is that our chances at economic security have less to do with what we do and more to do with...
Crash Course
Of Pentameter & Bear Baiting - Romeo & Juliet Part I: Crash Course English Literature
In which John Green examines Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. John delves into the world of Bill Shakespeare's famous star-crossed lovers and examines what the play is about, its structure, and the context in which it was written....
TED Talks
LaToya Ruby Frazier: A visual history of inequality in industrial America
For the last 12 years, LaToya Ruby Frazier has photographed friends, neighbors and family in Braddock, Pennsylvania. But though the steel town has lately been hailed as a posterchild of "rustbelt revitalization," Frazier's pictures tell...
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-Ed
TED-Ed: Capturing authentic narratives - Michele Weldon
Journalism can be much more than reporting. An authentic, human narrative touches audiences and keeps them reading. Learn how to shape a human-centered news story, and the importance of facts, context and heart.
TED Talks
Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film
Movies have the power to create a shared narrative experience and to shape memories and worldviews. British film director Beeban Kidron invokes iconic film scenes -- from Miracle in Milan to Boyz n the Hood -- as she shows how her group...
Crash Course
LARP: Crash Course Games
Today we're going to talk about LARPs or live action role-playing games. Larping tends to conjure up the image of a bunch of nerds hitting each other with foam weapons but it's much more than that. LARPs merge performance, community, and...
TED Talks
Naomi Klein: Addicted to risk
Days before this talk, journalist Naomi Klein was on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, looking at the catastrophic results of BP's risky pursuit of oil. Our societies have become addicted to extreme risk in finding new energy, new financial...
Crash Course
Open World Games: Crash Course Games
Today we're going to talk about open world games. Open world games are different than most video games because although they often have goals and tasks, they usually encourage what is known as ��_emergent stories.��_ These are...
Crash Course
The Handmaid's Tale, Part 2: Crash Course Literature 404
This week, John Green continues to teach you about Margaret Atwood's speculative fiction, The Handmaid's Tale. In this installment, we're looking at Atwood's desire to tell a story from a female point of view, and what exactly it means...
TED Talks
TED: How moms shape the world | Anna Malaika Tubbs
Mothers undeniably impact and shape history -- but their stories are often left out or misrepresented, says sociologist and author Anna Malaika Tubbs. This erasure limits policies to support mothers and their essential roles in society....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "Don Quixote"? - Ilan Stavans
Mounting his skinny steed, Don Quixote charges an army of giants. It is his duty to vanquish these behemoths in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea. There's only one problem: the giants are merely windmills. What is it about this tale...
TED Talks
Sheena Iyengar: The art of choosing
Sheena Iyengar studies how we make choices -- and how we feel about the choices we make. At TEDGlobal, she talks about both trivial choices (Coke v. Pepsi) and profound ones, and shares her groundbreaking research that has uncovered some...
Crash Course
To the Lighthouse: Crash Course Literature 408
John Green teaches you about Virginia Woolf's modernist novel, To the Lighthouse. Let's face it. You're not reading To the Lighthouse for the plot. There's not a whole lot of plot, unless you count the tension about the beef stew. You're...
TED Talks
TED: The powerful stories that shaped Africa | Gus Casely-Hayford
In the vast sweep of history, even an empire can be forgotten. In this wide-ranging talk, Gus Casely-Hayford shares origin stories of Africa that are too often unwritten, lost, unshared. Travel to Great Zimbabwe, the ancient city whose...
TED Talks
TED: Fashion that celebrates African strength and spirit | Wale Oyejide
To be African is to be inspired by culture and to be filled with undying hope for the future, says designer and TED Fellow Wale Oyejide. With his label Ikire Jones (you'll see their work in Marvel's "Black Panther"), he uses classic...
Crash Course
What History Was, Is, and Will Be: Crash Course European History
At the end of our journey through modern European history, we're taking an episode to look back at how the practice of history developed and what the aim and goals and purpose of history have been. We'll also take time to consider how we...
TED Talks
TED: My love letter to cosplay | Adam Savage
Adam Savage makes things and builds experiments, and he uses costumes to add humor, color and clarity to the stories he tells. Tracing his lifelong love of costumes -- from a childhood space helmet made of an ice cream tub to a No-Face...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Everything you need to know to read Homer's "Odyssey" - Jill Dash
An encounter with a man-eating giant. A sorceress who turns men into pigs. A long-lost king taking back his throne. On their own, any of these make great stories. But each is just one episode in the "Odyssey," a 12,000-line poem spanning...