TED Talks
Golan Levin: Art that looks back at you
Golan Levin, an artist and engineer, uses modern tools -- robotics, new software, cognitive research -- to make artworks that surprise and delight. Watch as sounds become shapes, bodies create paintings, and a curious eye looks back at...
TED Talks
Reggie Watts: Beats that defy boxes
Reggie Watts' beats defy boxes. Unplug your logic board and watch as he blends poetry and crosses musical genres in this larger-than-life performance.
TED Talks
Natalie Merchant: Singing old poems to life
Natalie Merchant sings from her poetry-inspired album "Leave Your Sleep," which pairs lyrics from poets -- from Gerard Manley Hopkins to a near-forgotten 10-year-old girl in Brooklyn -- with simple melodies and her unmistakable voice....
TED Talks
Nora York: Singing "What I Want"
Nora York gives a stunning performance of her song "What I Want," with Jamie Lawrence (keyboards), Steve Tarshis (guitar) and Arthur Kell (bass).
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Ancient Greece's greatest popstar | Diane J. Rayor
Over 2,500 years ago, one of ancient Greece's most celebrated popstars and erotic poets enraptured listeners. The singer-songwriter offered a uniquely intimate perspective on love, passion, and longing, and was the first on record to...
TED Talks
TED: A queer vision of love and marriage | Tiq Milan and Kim Katrin Milan
Love is a tool for revolutionary change and a path toward inclusivity and understanding for the LGBTQ+ community. Married activists Tiq and Kim Katrin Milan have imagined their marriage -- as a transgender man and cis woman -- a model of...
Crash Course
Women and the Black Power Movement: Crash Course Black American History #40
Women have been a powerful (and largely underappreciated) force in the movement for Black equality in the United States. The Black Power Movement is no exception to that trend. Today, we'll learn about how women contributed to several...
TED Talks
Morley: "Women of Hope"
Inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi's call to action, "If you're feeling helpless, help someone," Morley composed this song. She sings it at TEDxWomen in her gorgeous, warm voice.
Crash Course
The Poetry of Sylvia Plath: Crash Course Literature 216
In which John Green teaches you about the poetry of Sylvia Plath. When a lot of people think about Sylvia Plath, they think about her struggles with mental illness and her eventual suicide. Her actual work can get lost in the shuffle a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: History's "worst" nun | Theresa A. Yugar
Juana Ramírez de Asbaje sat before a panel of prestigious theologians, jurists, and mathematicians. They had been invited to test Juana's knowledge with the most difficult questions they could muster. But she successfully answered every...
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...
TED Talks
Chris Abani: On humanity
Chris Abani tells stories of people: People standing up to soldiers. People being compassionate. People being human and reclaiming their humanity. It's "ubuntu," he says: the only way for me to be human is for you to reflect my humanity...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of the Celtic warriors | Philip Freeman
One summer evening in 335 BCE, Alexander the Great was resting by the Danube River when a band of strangers approached his camp. Alexander had never seen anything like these tall, fierce-looking warriors with huge golden neck rings and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Brendan Constantine: "The Opposites Game"
This animation is part of the TED-Ed series, "There's a Poem for That," which features animated interpretations of poems both old and new that give language to some of life's biggest feelings. [Poem by Brendan Constantine, directed by...
TED Talks
TED: If I should have a daughter ... | Sarah Kay
If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed...
TED Talks
TED: Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care | Cleo Wade
Artist and poet Cleo Wade recites a moving poem about being an advocate for love and acceptance in a time when both seem in short supply. Woven between stories of people at the beginning and end of their lives, she shares some truths...
TED Talks
John Wooden: The difference between winning and succeeding
With profound simplicity, Coach John Wooden redefines success and urges us all to pursue the best in ourselves. In this inspiring talk he shares the advice he gave his players at UCLA, quotes poetry and remembers his father's wisdom.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Infinity according to Jorge Luis Borges | Ilan Stavans
What would it be like to have a limitless memory? Can the meaning of life be found in an infinite library? Is time a labyrinth or a single moment? Jorge Luis Borges explored these questions of infinity in his many works. His body of...
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-Ed
TED-Ed: Jabberwocky: One of literature's best bits of nonsense | Lewis Carroll
As Alice wanders through the dreamscape of Looking-Glass Land in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There," she happens across a book written in an unintelligible language. Inside, she discovers an epic poem...
TED Talks
Suzanne Talhouk: Don't kill your language
More and more, English is a global language; speaking it is perceived as a sign of being modern. But -- what do we lose when we leave behind our mother tongues? Suzanne Talhouk makes an impassioned case to love your own language, and to...
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: Who was the world's first author? - Soraya Field Fiorio
4,300 years ago in ancient Sumer, the most powerful person in the city of Ur was banished to wander the vast desert. Her name was Enheduanna, and by the time of her exile, she had written forty-two hymns and three epic poems— and Sumer...
TED Talks
TED: How many lives can you live? | Sarah Kay
Spoken-word poet Sarah Kay was stunned to find she couldn't be a princess, ballerina and astronaut all in one lifetime. In this talk, she delivers two powerful poems that show us how we can live other lives. Sarah is also the host of...