TED Talks
Marc Pachter: The art of the interview
Marc Pachter has conducted live interviews with some of the most intriguing characters in recent American history as part of a remarkable series created for the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery. He reveals the secret to a great...
TED Talks
TED: My journey from Marine to actor | Adam Driver
Before he fought in the galactic battles of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Adam Driver was a united States Marine with 1/1 Weapons Company. He tells the story of how and why he became a Marine, the complex transition from soldier to...
TED Talks
TED: An art made of trust, vulnerability and connection | Marina Abramovic
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Marina Abramovi's art pushes the boundary between audience and artist in pursuit of heightened consciousness and...
Crash Course
China, Zaju, and Beijing Opera: Crash Course Theater #25
This week we're headed to China to learn about the ancient origins of theater there. We'll look at the early days of wizard theater (not a typo), the development of classical Chinese theater, and the evolution of Beijing Opera.
TED Talks
TED: Silicon-based comedy | Heather Knight
In this first-of-its-kind demo, Heather Knight introduces Data, a robotic stand-up comedian that does much more than rattle off one-liners -- it gathers audience feedback (using software co-developed with Scott Satkin and Varun...
TED Talks
TED: How we're harnessing nature's hidden superpowers | Oded Shoseyov
What do you get when you combine the strongest materials from the plant world with the most elastic ones from the insect kingdom? Super-performing materials that might transform ... everything. Nanobiotechnologist Oded Shoseyov walks us...
TED Talks
Kaki King: Playing "Pink Noise" on guitar
Kaki King, the first female on Rolling Stone's "guitar god" list, rocks out to a full live set at TED2008, including her breakout single, "Playing with Pink Noise." Jaw-dropping virtuosity meets a guitar technique that truly stands out.
TED Talks
TED: Enough with the fear of fat | Kelli Jean Drinkwater
In a society obsessed with body image and marked by a fear of fat, Kelli Jean Drinkwater engages in radical body politics through art. She confronts the public's perception of bigger bodies by bringing them into spaces that were once off...
SciShow
You’re More Likeable Than You Think!
Meeting new people is exciting, but also kind of overwhelming and you might have found yourself wondering if they really liked you. But turns out, they do really like you most of the time, and you might be just too hard on yourself.
TED Talks
TED: What to do when everything feels broken | Daniel Alexander Jones
Some call me a soul sonic superstar, says Jomama Jones, the alter ego of TED Fellow and theater artist Daniel Alexander Jones. In this stunning talk and performance, Jomama Jones invites us to consider how coming undone can be the first...
TED Talks
Ahn Trio: A modern take on piano, violin, cello
The three Ahn sisters (cellist Maria, pianist Lucia, violinist Angella) breathe new life into the piano trio with their passionate musicmaking. At TEDWomen, they start with the bright and poppy "Skylife," by David Balakrishnan, then play...
SciShow
Performance Enhancing Drugs
You've heard about them, but do you how they work? Or why they suck? Hank explains the science behind performance enhancers, including steroids, blood doping, and that stuff supposedly made out of deer antlers. You'll never look at...
PBS
Is Dubstep the New Musical Avant-Garde?
While some people may hear noise, some hear amazing musical genius in the creativity of Dubstep. There is a long history of avant garde musicians and thinkers promoting the concept of noise and non-instrumental sounds as music, much to...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Why incompetent people think they're amazing - David Dunning
How good are you with money? What about reading people's emotions? How healthy are you, compared to other people you know? Knowing how our skills stack up against others is useful in many ways. But psychological research suggests that...
Crash Course
North America Gets a Theater...Riot: Crash Course Theater #29
It's lights up in America! This week, we're headed to North America. We'll look at Native American storytelling traditions, the theater that Europeans brought along starting in the 17th century, and how theater developed before and after...
TED Talks
TED: Poetry, music and identity | Jorge Drexler
One night in 2002, a friend gave Jorge Drexler the chorus to a song and challenged him to write the rest of it using a complex, poetic form known as the "Decima." In this fascinating talk, Drexler examines the blended nature of identity,...
Crash Course
The Death and Resurrection of Theater as...Liturgical Drama: Crash Course Theater #8
As the Roman Empire fell, so did the theater. If there's anyone who hates theater and actors more than Romans, it's early Christians. As Christianity ascended in the west, theater declined. But, fear not. This isn't the end of the...
TED Talks
TED: A visual history of social dance in 25 moves | Camille A. Brown
Why do we dance? African-American social dances started as a way for enslaved Africans to keep cultural traditions alive and retain a sense of inner freedom. They remain an affirmation of identity and independence. In this electric...
TED Talks
Judith Jamison and members of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Revelations from a lifetime of dance
"Dance can elevate our human experience beyond words," says Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In between performances of excerpts from Alvin Ailey's classic works "Revelations" and...
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...
SciShow
Why Do You Sabotage Yourself Before a Big Test? Self-Handicapping
It’s pretty common to procrastinate before a big exam or an important presentation, and those self-handicapping has to do with protecting yourself from negative feelings.
TED Talks
Using your voice is a political choice | Amanda Gorman
For anyone who believes poetry is stuffy or elitist, Amanda Gorman -- the youngest inaugural poet in US history -- has some characteristically well-chosen words. Poetry is for everyone, she says, and at its core it's all about connection...
TED Talks
TED: Please don't take my Air Jordans | Lemon Andersen
Would you kill for a pair of Air Jordans? Lemon Andersen spins a tale of someone who did, reciting a poem by Reg E. Gaines. These verses taught Lemon that poetry could be about more than self-expression, and could sound like music when...
TED Talks
TED: A beatboxing lesson from a father-daughter duo | Nicole Paris and ed Cage
Nicole Paris was raised to be a beatboxer -- when she was young, her father, ed Cage, used to beatbox her to sleep at night. Now the duo is known for their beatbox battles and jam sessions, which mix classic rap beats with electronic...