TED Talks
Simon Anholt: Which country does the most good for the world?
It's an unexpected side effect of globalization: problems that once would have stayed local—say, a bank lending out too much money—now have consequences worldwide. But still, countries operate independently, as if alone on the planet....
TED Talks
Alex Tabarrok: How ideas trump crises
The "dismal science" truly shines in this optimistic talk, as economist Alex Tabarrok argues free trade and globalization are shaping our once-divided world into a community of idea-sharing more healthy, happy and prosperous than...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: How to create cleaner coal - Emma Bryce
It takes a lot of fuel to heat our homes, preserve our food, and power our gadgets. And for 40 percent of the world, cheap, plentiful coal gets the job done. But coal also releases pollutants into the air, causing environmental damage...
TED Talks
TED: The ancient, earth-friendly wisdom of Mongolian nomads | Khulan Batkhuyag
There's a lot we can learn from Mongolian nomads about how to survive in the years to come, says environmental activist Khulan Batkhuyag. Taking us on a journey through the country's stunning rural landscape, she shows how Mongolian...
TED Talks
TED: How small countries can make a big impact on climate change | Nicola Sturgeon
When it comes to tackling climate change, the size of a country doesn't matter -- it's their ambition that counts, says First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. In a rousing talk, she shares examples of small nations -- from Bhutan...
TED Talks
TED: How to build a company where the best ideas win | Ray Dalio
What if you knew what your coworkers really thought about you and what they were really like? Ray Dalio makes the business case for using radical transparency and algorithmic decision-making to create an idea meritocracy where people can...
TED Talks
TED: Global ethic vs. national interest | Gordon Brown
Can the interests of an individual nation be reconciled with humanity's greater good? Can a patriotic, nationally elected politician really give people in other countries equal consideration? Following his TEDTalk calling for a global...
TED Talks
TED: See how the rest of the world lives, organized by income | Anna Rosling Rönnlund
What does it look like when someone in Sweden brushes their teeth or when someone in Rwanda makes their bed? Anna Rosling Rönnlund wants all of us to find out, so she sent photographers to 264 homes in 50 countries (and counting!) to...
TED Talks
TED: How fear of nuclear power is hurting the environment | Michael Shellenberger
We're not in a clean energy revolution; we're in a clean energy crisis, says climate policy expert Michael Shellenberger. His surprising solution: nuclear. In this passionate talk, he explains why it's time to overcome longstanding fears...
Crash Course
The Economics of Happiness: Crash Course Econ
They say money can't buy happiness, but who are they? Can money buy happiness? The answer is: sort of. While money may not be able to buy true happiness, lack of money can cause very real misery. Today, we look at the economics of...
Crash Course
Market Failures, Taxes, and Subsidies: Crash Course Economics
This week on Crash Course Econ, Jacob and Adriene are talking about failure. Specifically, we're talking about market failures. When markets don't provide a good or service efficiently, that's a market failure. When markets fail, often...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Would winning the lottery make you happier? - Raj Raghunathan
Imagine winning a multi-million dollar lottery tomorrow. If you're like many of us, you'd be ecstatic, unable to believe your good luck. But would that joy still be there a few years later? Raj Raghunathan describes a phenomenon called...
Crash Course
The Weaponization of Outbreaks - Crash Course Outbreak Science
A sad reality that we have to face when studying outbreak science is that sometimes groups of people use outbreaks intentionally to inflict harm on another group. We call this "weaponizing an outbreak", and it's the focus of this episode...
TED Talks
TED: What if we eliminated one of the world's oldest diseases? | Caroline Harper
Thousands of years ago, ancient Nubians drew pictures on tomb walls of a terrible disease that turns the eyelids inside out and causes blindness. This disease, trachoma, is still a scourge in many parts of the world today -- but it's...
TED Talks
Iqbal Quadir: How mobile phones can fight poverty
Iqbal Quadir tells how his experiences as a kid in poor Bangladesh, and later as a banker in New York, led him to start a mobile phone operator connecting 80 million rural Bangladeshi -- and to become a champion of bottom-up development.
TED Talks
Nicholas Negroponte: Taking OLPC to Colombia
TED follows Nicholas Negroponte to Colombia as he delivers laptops inside territory once controlled by guerrillas. His partner? Colombia's Defense Department, who see One Laptop per Child as an investment in the region. (And you too can...
TED Talks
TED: Why it's too hard to start a business in Africa -- and how to change it | Magatte Wade
Many African countries are poor for a simple reason, says entrepreneur Magatte Wade: governments have created far too many obstacles to starting and running a business. In this passionate talk, Wade breaks down the challenges of doing...
Crash Course
Productivity and Growth: Crash Course Economics
Why are some countries rich? Why are some countries poor? In the end it comes down to Productivity. This week on Crash Course Econ, Adriene and Jacob investigate just why some economies are more productive than others, and what happens...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Should we eat bugs? - Emma Bryce
What's tasty, abundant and high in protein? Bugs! Although less common outside the tropics, entomophagy, the practice of eating bugs, was once extremely widespread throughout cultures. You may feel icky about munching on insects, but...
Crash Course
Foreign Aid and Remittance: Crash Course Econ
What is foreign aid? How much foreign aid does the United States distribute each year. Comparatively, not much. In fact, foreign aid only accounts for a small fraction of most nations' overall spending. But it's hugely important. Foreign...
TED Talks
TED: We can make COVID-19 the last pandemic | Bill Gates
Building a pandemic-free future won't be easy, but Bill Gates believes that we have the tools and strategies to make it possible -- now we just have to fund them. In this forward-looking talk, he proposes a multi-specialty Global...
MinuteEarth
Why Apple Pie Isn't American
Our diets are more global than we realize, because our common food crops and animals were domesticated far away in diverse locations. __________________________________________ If you want to learn more about this topic, start your...
SciShow
The Best Way to Fight the Flu
Each year, we try to fight flu season with the influenza vaccine and this year is no different. But why is there a flu season at all and how do we fight it?
MinuteEarth
Why Do India And China Have So Many People?
India and China have so many people today because they’re good for farming and big, but they’ve always been that way, so they’ve actually had a huge proportion of Earth’s people for thousands of years.