TED-Ed
TED-Ed: To Make Use of Water by Safia Elhillo
An animated interpretation of Safia Elhillo's poem "To Make Use of Water"
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Alex Gendler: Why should you read "The Master and Margarita"?
The Devil has come to town. But don't worry– all he wants to do is stage a magic show. This absurd premise forms the central plot of Mikhail Bulgakov's masterpiece, "The Master and Margarita." Its blend of political satire, historical...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What are those floaty things in your eye? - Michael Mauser
Sometimes, against a uniform, bright background such as a clear sky or a blank computer screen, you might see things floating across your field of vision. What are these moving objects, and how are you seeing them? Michael Mauser...
TED Talks
The music of a war child - Emmanuel Jal
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. For five years, young Emmanuel Jal fought as a child soldier in the Sudan. Rescued by an aid worker, he's become an...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Should we get rid of standardized testing? - Arlo Kempf
Although standardized testing is a particularly hot topic in education right now, this approach to measurement has been in use for two millennia. And while the results of standardized testing can help us understand some things, they can...
TED Talks
TED: Sci-fi stories that imagine a future Africa | Nnedi Okorafor
My science fiction has different ancestors -- African ones, says writer Nnedi Okorafor. In between excerpts from her "Binti" series and her novel "Lagoon," Okorafor discusses the inspiration and roots of her work -- and how she opens...
Crash Course
Educational Technology: Crash Course Computer Science
Today we’re going to go a little meta and talk about how computer science can support learning with educational technology. We here at Crash Course are big fans of interactive in-class learning and hands-on experiences, but we also...
Crash Course
100 Years of Solitude Part 1: Crash Course Literature 306
Our first of two episodes about Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, 100 Years of Solitude. This week, we're looking at the Buendia family, and their many generations of people with the same names. We'll also look at the fascinating way the...
PBS
Are MP3s & Vinyl Better than Live Music?
If you've ever talked to a vinyl purist (or are one yourself) you know that people can be pretty passionate about what format is king when it comes to music. And based on how much people like to brag about what band they saw live and how...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can love and independence coexist? | Tanya Boucicaut
Baritone thunder. Snarling winds. Consuming downpours. Okeechobee, the hurricane of 1928, forced many to flee their ruined communities. But for Janie Crawford, it inspired an unexpected homecoming. So begins Zora Neale Hurston's...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How to master your sense of smell - Alexandra Horowitz
Some perfumers can distinguish individual odors in a fragrance made of hundreds of scents; tea-experts have been known to sniff out the exact location of a particular tea; and the NYC Transit Authority once had a employee responsible...
Crash Course
Pride and Prejudice, Part 1: Crash Course Literature 411
In which a series about literature, which is wanting of an episode on Jane Austen, gets the first of two episodes. It's Pride and Prejudice, everybody! John Green talks about Pride and Prejudice as a product of Regency England, gives you...
TED Talks
Parul Sehgal: An ode to envy
What is jealousy? What drives it, and why do we secretly love it? No study has ever been able to capture its "loneliness, longevity, grim thrill" -- that is, says Parul Sehgal, except for fiction. In an eloquent meditation she scours...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: If superpowers were real: Super strength - Joy Lin
What if super strength wasn't just the stuff of epic comic book stories? Is it scientifically possible to be super strong? In this series, Joy Lin tackles six superpowers and reveals just how scientifically realistic they can be to us...
Crash Course
The Parable of the Sower: Crash Course Literature 406
This week, John is teaching you about the near-future dystopia in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower. Parable of the Sower tells the story of Lauren Oya Olamina, and her life growing up in a post-climate change, semi-lawless America....
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "Moby Dick"? | Sascha Morrell
A mountain separating two lakes. A room papered floor to ceiling with bridal satins. The lid of an immense snuffbox. These seemingly unrelated images take us on a tour of a sperm whale's head in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick." Though the...
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-Ed
TED-Ed: The myth of Sisyphus - Alex Gendler
Sisyphus was both a clever ruler who made his city prosperous, and a devious tyrant who seduced his niece and killed visitors to show off his power. While his violation of the sacred hospitality tradition greatly angered the gods, it was...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How we see color - Colm Kelleher
There are three types of color receptors in your eye: red, green and blue. But how do we see the amazing kaleidoscope of other colors that make up our world? Colm Kelleher explains how humans can see everything from auburn to aquamarine.
Crash Course
Aliens, Time Travel, and Dresden -Slaughterhouse-Five Part I: Crash Course Literature 212
In which John Green teaches you about Kurt Vonnegut's most famous novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut wrote the book in the Vietnam era, and it closely mirrors his personal experiences in World War II, as long as you throw out the time...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The tragic myth of the Sun God's son | Iseult Gillespie
Every morning, Helios unleashed his golden chariot, and set out across the sky. As the Sun God transformed dawn into day, he thought of his son, Phaethon, below. To prove to Phaethon that he was truly his father, Helios decided to grant...
Crash Course
Frankenstein Part II: Crash Course Literature 206
In which John Green continues to teach you about Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. You'll learn about romantic vs Romantic, the latter of which is a literary movement. John will also look at a few different critical readings of Frankenstein,...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The true story of 'true' - Gina Cooke
The older the word, the longer (and more fascinating) the story. With roots in Old English, 'true' shares etymological ancestors with words like betroth and truce...but also with the word tree. In fact, trees have been metaphors for...
Crash Course
Holden, JD, and the Red Cap- The Catcher in the Rye Part 2: Crash Course English Literature
In which John continues the discussion of JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. This week John reads the novel with Salinger's life story in mind. John explores how Salinger's war experience, educational background, and romantic life inform...