TED Talks
TED: Beethoven the businessman | José Bowen
The revolution that made music more marketable, more personal and easier to pirate began ... at the dawn of the 19th century. José Bowen outlines how new printing technology and an improved piano gave rise to the first music industry.
TED Talks
Julie Burstein: 4 lessons in creativity
Radio host Julie Burstein talks with creative people for a living -- and shares four lessons about how to create in the face of challenge, self-doubt and loss. Hear insights from filmmaker Mira Nair, writer Richard Ford, sculptor Richard...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The Sun's surprising movement across the sky - Gordon Williamson
Suppose you placed a camera at a fixed position, took a picture of the sky at the same time every day for an entire year, and overlaid all of the photos on top of each other. What would the sun look like in that combined image? A...
TED Talks
TED: The joyful, perplexing world of puzzle hunts | Alex Rosenthal
* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Welcome to the strange, deviously difficult and incredibly joyful world of puzzle hunts. Follow along as Alex...
TED Talks
Beau Lotto: Optical illusions show how we see
Beau Lotto's color games puzzle your vision, but they also spotlight what you can't normally see: how your brain works. This fun, first-hand look at your own versatile sense of sight reveals how evolution tints your perception of what's...
SciShow
Are the Meat Sweats a Real Thing?
Some people might bemoan the inevitable onset of the meat sweats after a particularly meaty meal, but this phenomenon may not be as inevitable—or real—as we're led to believe.
TED Talks
TED: Drawings that show the beauty and fragility of earth | Zaria Forman
Zaria Forman's large-scale compositions of melting glaciers, icebergs floating in glassy water and waves cresting with foam explore moments of transition, turbulence and tranquility. Join her as she discusses the meditative process of...
TED Talks
TED: We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too | Hector Garcia
Before soldiers are sent into combat, they're trained on how to function in an immensely dangerous environment. But they also need training on how to return from the battlefield to civilian life, says psychologist Hector Garcia. Applying...
SciShow
The Magic of Being 'In the Zone'
When you feel like you can get so much done, and nobody can stop you, you might be experiencing what psychologists call "flow." But what’s actually happening to your brain when you're in that state?
TED Talks
TED: Let's crowdsource the world's goals | Jamie Drummond
In 2000, the UN laid out 8 goals to make the world better by reducing poverty and disease -- with a deadline of 2015. As that deadline approaches, Jamie Drummond of ONE.org runs down the surprising successes of the 8 Millennium...
TED Talks
Chade-Meng Tan: Everyday compassion at Google
Google's "Jolly Good Fellow," Chade-Meng Tan, talks about how the company practices compassion in its everyday business -- and its bold side projects.
SciShow
Understanding the Voices in Our Heads
Psychologists are only just beginning to study that voice in your head that narrates your thoughts, and it's more complicated than you probably realize.
SciShow
The Dark Side of Disgust
We’re all super familiar with the feeling we get when we smell rotten food or see gross bodily fluids. But this visceral emotion does a lot more than that, and it’s important understand to how the darker side of disgust can influence us.
Crash Course
Three Colors - Blue: Crash Course Film Criticism
Movies are really good at making us feel. Happy, sad, excited, etc... Part of that is because they use so many different types of media all at once. Photography, music, performance, and editing all play into their ability to communicate...
TED Talks
TED: How to stop languishing and start finding flow | Adam Grant
Have you found yourself staying up late, joylessly bingeing TV shows and doomscrolling through the news, or simply navigating your day uninspired and aimless? Chances are you're languishing, says organizational psychologist Adam Grant --...
TED Talks
TED: Don't ask where I'm from, ask where I'm a local | Taiye Selasi
When someone asks you where you're from … do you sometimes not know how to answer? Writer Taiye Selasi speaks on behalf of "multi-local" people, who feel at home in the town where they grew up, the city they live now and maybe another...
SciShow
How Going to Space Changes the Way You Think Forever
A trip into space produces physiological effects in human beings, but it can also change a person in a profound, psychological way.
TED Talks
TED: New ways to understand life in a pandemic | Aaron Maniam
Poet and policymaker Aaron Maniam describes how the language we use to explain COVID-19 shapes the way we think about it -- whether it's as a "war," a "journey" or, as he suggests, an "ecology." He encourages us to explore a range of...
SciShow
Why Does Music Give Us Chills?
When a musician rips into a totally sweet solo, it can give you goosebumps and send a chill down your spine, but how does that happen?
TED Talks
TED: What's so funny about mental illness? | Ruby Wax
Diseases of the body garner sympathy, says comedian Ruby Wax -- except those of the brain. Why is that? With dazzling energy and humor, Wax, diagnosed a decade ago with clinical depression, urges us to put an end to the stigma of mental...
TED Talks
Jinha Lee: Reach into the computer and grab a pixel
The border between our physical world and the digital information surrounding us has been getting thinner and thinner. Designer and engineer Jinha Lee wants to dissolve it altogether. As he demonstrates in this short, gasp-inducing talk,...
TED Talks
Tan Le: A headset that reads your brainwaves
Tan Le's astonishing new computer interface reads its user's brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: What makes something "Kafkaesque"? - Noah Tavlin
The term Kafkaesque has entered the vernacular to describe unnecessarily complicated and frustrating experiences, especially with bureaucracy. But does standing in a long line to fill out confusing paperwork really capture the richness...
TED Talks
TED: Does money make you mean? | Paul Piff
It's amazing what a rigged game of Monopoly can reveal. In this entertaining but sobering talk, social psychologist Paul Piff shares his research into how people behave when they feel wealthy. (Hint: badly.) But while the problem of...