TED-Ed
A brief history of the devil | Brian A. Pavlac
Satan, the beast crunching sinners' bones. Lucifer, the fallen angel. Mephistopheles, the trickster striking deals. These three divergent devils are all based on Satan of the Old Testament. But unlike any of these literary devils, the...
Crash Course
Imperialism Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about European Imperialism in the 19th century. European powers started to create colonial empires way back in the 16th century, but businesses really took off in the 19th century, especially in Asia and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Epic Engineering: Building the Brooklyn Bridge | Alex Gendler
In the mid-19th century, suspension bridges were collapsing all across Europe. Their industrial cables frayed and snapped under the weight of their decks. So when German American engineer John Roebling proposed building the largest and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Iseult Gillespie: The wicked wit of Jane Austen
Whether she's describing bickering families, quiet declarations of love, or juicy gossip, Jane Austen's writing often feels as though it was written just for you. Her dry wit and cheeky playfulness informs her heroines, whose...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: First person vs. Second person vs. Third person | Rebekah Bergman
Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, are some of the most important choices an author makes. Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. Third person, first person, and second person perspectives...
Crash Course
Battles of the Civil War Crash Course US History
Disclaimer: This is very different than the usual Crash Course US History episode. In which John Green lists a whole lot of the battles of the US Civil War in seven and a half minutes. We get a lot of requests for military history, so we...
Crash Course
Latin American Revolutions Crash Course World History
In which John Green talks about the many revolutions of Latin America in the 19th century. At the beginning of the 1800s, Latin America was firmly under the control of Spain and Portugal. The revolutionary zeal that had recently created...
Crash Course
The French Revolution Crash Course World History
In which John Green examines the French Revolution, and gets into how and why it differed from the American Revolution. Was it the serial authoritarian regimes? The guillotine? The Reign of Terror? All of this and more contributed to the...
Crash Course
The Civil War, Part I Crash Course US History
In which John Green ACTUALLY teaches about the Civil War. In part one of our two part look at the US Civil War, John looks into the causes of the war, and the motivations of the individuals who went to war. The overarching causes and the...
Crash Course
World War II Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about World War II, aka The Great Patriotic War, aka The Big One. So how did this war happen? And what does it mean? We've all learned the facts about World War II many times over, thanks to repeated...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you outsmart the slippery slope fallacy? | Elizabeth Cox
It's 1954. Vietnamese nationalists are on the verge of securing an independent Vietnam under communist leader Ho Chi Minh. U.S. President Eisenhower claims that by virtue of the "falling domino principle," communist control of Vietnam...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The paradox at the heart of mathematics: Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem | Marcus du Sautoy
Consider the following sentence: "This statement is false." Is that true? If so, that would make the statement false. But if it's false, then the statement is true. This sentence creates an unsolvable paradox; if it's not true and it's...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A year in the life of one of Earth's weirdest animals | Gilad Bino
Waddling along the parched Australian earth, a female platypus is searching for fresh water. Over the past year, a severe drought turned rivers and streams to mere trickles. She barely survived and was unable to reproduce. Could the next...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the giant spider riddle? | Dan Finkel
Once every century, the world's greatest spiders gather to compete in a series of grueling games. The winner will become the next arachnomonarch, able to command all the world's spiders to their will. That day is today, and for the first...
Crash Course
The Black Legend, Native Americans, and Spaniards Crash Course US History
In which John Green kicks off Crash Course US History! Why, you may ask, are we covering US History, and not more World History, or the history of some other country, or the very specific history of your home region? Well, the reasons...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: You could have a secret twin (but not the way you think) | Kayla Mandel Sheets
While searching for a kidney donor, Karen Keegan stumbled upon a mystery. After undergoing genetic testing, it turned out that some of her cells had a completely different set of genes from the others. And this second set of genes...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Can you solve the Trojan War riddle? | Dennis Shasha
On Olympus, you've been waiting for an opportunity to bring the bloody Trojan War to its conclusion. The two sides have agreed to a brief truce, and when you consult the Fates, they advise: should the peace last for 10 days, all will end...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: The rise and fall of history's first empire | Soraya Field Fiorio
History's first empire rose out of a hot, dry landscape, without rainfall to nourish crops, without trees or stones for building. In spite of all this, its inhabitants built the world's first cities, with monumental architecture and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What really happened during the Salem Witch Trials
You’ve been accused of a crime you did not commit. It’s impossible to prove your innocence. If you insist that you’re innocent anyway, you’ll likely be found guilty and executed. But if you confess, apologize, and implicate others,...
Crash Course
Capitalism and Socialism Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about capitalism and socialism in a way that is sure to please commenters from both sides of the debate. Learn how capitalism arose from the industrial revolution, and then gave rise to socialism. Learn...
Crash Course
The Persians & Greeks Crash Course World History
In which John compares and contrasts Greek civilization and the Persian Empire. Of course we're glad that Greek civilization spawned modern western civilization, right? Maybe not. From Socrates and Plato to Darius and Xerxes, John...
TED-Ed
What's in the air you breathe? | Amy Hrdina and Jesse Kroll
Take a deep breath. In a single intake of air, your lungs swell with roughly 25 sextillion molecules, ranging from days-old compounds, to those formed billions of years in the past. In fact, many of the molecules you're breathing were...
TED-Ed
What really happened during the Attica Prison Rebellion | Orisanmi Burton
On September 9th 1971, a spontaneous uprising began in a New York State prison. A group of prisoners overpowered guards, broke windows, started fires, and captured supplies, sparking the Attica Rebellion. Soon, over 1,200 prisoners had...
Crash Course
The Silk Road and Ancient Trade Crash Course World History
The Silk Road and Ancient Trade: In which John Green teaches you about the so-called Silk Road, a network of trade routes where goods such as ivory, silver, iron, wine, and yes, silk were exchanged across the ancient world, from China to...