TED Talks
Steven Johnson: How the "ghost map" helped end a killer disease
Author Steven Johnson takes us on a 10-minute tour of The Ghost Map, his book about a cholera outbreak in 1854 London and the impact it had on science, cities and modern society.
TED Talks
Steven Johnson: The Web as a city
Outside.in's Steven Johnson says the Web is like a city: built by many people, completely controlled by no one, intricately interconnected and yet functioning as many independent parts. While disaster strikes in one place, elsewhere,...
TED Talks
Dave Troy: Social maps that reveal a city's intersections — and separations
Every city has its neighborhoods, cliques and clubs, the hidden lines that join and divide people in the same town. What can we learn about cities by looking at what people share online? Starting with his own home town of Baltimore, Dave...
TED Talks
Noah Wilson-Rich: Every city needs healthy honey bees
Bees have been rapidly and mysteriously disappearing from rural areas, with grave implications for agriculture. But bees seem to flourish in urban environments -- and cities need their help, too. Noah Wilson-Rich suggests that urban...
TED Talks
TED: What happens when a city runs out of room for its dead | Alison Killing
If you want to go out and start your own cemetery in the uK, says Alison Killing, "you kind of can." She thinks a lot about where we die and are buried -- and in this talk, the architect and TED Fellow offers an eye-opening economic and...
TED Talks
TED: How to solve traffic jams | Jonas Eliasson
It's an unfortunate reality in nearly every major city—road congestion, especially during rush hours. Jonas Eliasson reveals how subtly nudging just a small percentage of drivers to stay off major roads can make traffic jams a thing of...
TED Talks
TED: How kids can help design cities | Mara Mintzer
Adults tend to think of kids as "future citizens" -- their ideas and opinions will matter someday, just not today. But kids make up a quarter of the population, so shouldn't they have a say in what the world they'll inherit will look...
TED Talks
Moshe Safdie: Building uniqueness
Looking back over his long career, architect Moshe Safdie delves into four of his design projects and explains how he labored to make each one truly unique for its site and its users.
TED Talks
TED: Why ordinary people need to understand power | Eric Liu
Far too many Americans are illiterate in power — what it is, how it operates and why some people have it. As a result, those few who do understand power wield disproportionate influence over everyone else. "We need to make civics sexy...
SciShow
4 Buildings Too Awesome to Be Real (For Now)
Humans take up a lot of space, but engineers are already coming up with some amazing solutions for the future.
SciShow
Why Do We Keep Planting Trees That Smell Like Semen?
What's that awful smell? Cat urine? Semen? Rancid butter? Possibly one of these gorgeous city trees?
TED Talks
TED: How cohousing can make us happier (and live longer) | Grace Kim
Loneliness doesn't always stem from being alone. For architect Grace Kim, loneliness is a function of how socially connected we feel to the people around us -- and it's often the result of the homes we live in. She shares an age-old...
TED Talks
Dale Dougherty: We are makers
America was built by makers -- curious, enthusiastic amateur inventors whose tinkering habit sparked whole new industries. At TED@MotorCity, MAKE magazine publisher Dale Dougherty says we're all makers at heart, and shows cool new tools...
TED Talks
Edi Rama: Take back your city with paint
Make a city beautiful, curb corruption. Edi Rama took this deceptively simple path as mayor of Tirana, Albania, where he instilled pride in his citizens by transforming public spaces with colorful designs.
TED-Ed
How much land does it take to power the world? | TED-Ed
No matter how we make electricity, it takes up space. Coal requires mines, and plants to convert it into electricity. Nuclear power takes uranium mines, facilities to refine it, a reactor, and a place to store the spent fuel safely....
TED Talks
TED: The future we're building -- and boring | elon Musk
elon Musk discusses his new project digging tunnels under LA, the latest from Tesla and SpaceX and his motivation for building a future on Mars in conversation with TeD's Head Curator, Chris Anderson.
TED Talks
Stefon Harris: There are no mistakes on the bandstand
What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don't react to them appropriately.
SciShow
Why Are Some U.S. Cities Declaring Racism a Public Health Crisis?
In addition to being a serious social issue, racism is also a serious challenge to public health. In fact, over the last year and a half, dozens of cities have declared racism a public health crisis - and today, we here at SciShow will...
MinuteEarth
Why do Some Species Thrive in Cities?
Urban development can be tough on wildlife. But some plants and animals are adapting to our cities in surprising ways.
TED Talks
Julian Treasure: The 4 ways sound affects us
Playing sound effects both pleasant and awful, Julian Treasure shows how sound affects us in four significant ways. Listen carefully for a shocking fact about noisy open-plan offices.
Crash Course
War and Civilization: Crash Course World History 205
In which John Green investigates war, and what exactly it may or may not be good for. Was war a result of human beings organizing into larger and more complex agricultural social orders, or did war maybe create agriculture and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What would happen if every human suddenly disappeared? - Dan Kwartler
Human beings are everywhere. With settlements on every continent, we can be found in the most isolated corners of Earth's jungles, oceans and tundras. Our impact is so profound, most scientists believe humanity has left a permanent mark...
TED Talks
Ben Wellington: How we found the worst place to park in New York City -- using big data
City agencies have access to a wealth of data and statistics reflecting every part of urban life. But as data analyst Ben Wellington suggests in this entertaining talk, sometimes they just don't know what to do with it. He shows how a...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Blood, concrete, and dynamite: Building the Hoover Dam | Alex Gendler
In the early 20th century, the US had expanded from coast to coast, but many cities in the southwest still lacked reliable water sources. The Colorado River's erratic flow and frequent floods made it unreliable for agriculture, and the...