Curated Video
Reading Authorship
Ben Nelson (Minerva) recounts one of his formative educational experiences at the University of Pennsylvania that helped inspire him to later create a new top-tier university.
Curated Video
Raising the Level of Debate
Andrew Hoffman, Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan, argues that scientists should become more involved in public debates on the environment.
Curated Video
Population Effects
Karl Gerth, Professor of History and Hsiu Chair in Chinese Studies at UC San Diego, discusses the impact of China’s burgeoning population on its history.
Curated Video
Origins of Mass and Elite
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) relates how his personal exposure to aspects of class structure inadvertently prepared him for better understanding Demosthenes.
Curated Video
Not So Bad After All?
Primatologist Frans de Waal (Emory) describes how conventional wisdom has moved from believing that humans were inherently selfish to now viewing us as “super-cooperators.”
Curated Video
Missing the Jokes?
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University, suggests that the celebrated English comic tradition might simply be a result of translation.
Curated Video
Making Decisions
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) describes how decisions in the social sciences necessarily involve interpreting intentionality.
Curated Video
Thinking With Your Liver
Linguist Carol Padden (UC San Diego), describes how different cultural reference points sometimes make it particularly difficult for us to learn foreign languages.
Curated Video
Changing Societal Values
Political scientist Mark Bevir (UC Berkeley) examines the evolution of societal values, taking as an example our notions of sexuality.
Curated Video
YouTube ASL
Linguist Carol Padden (UC San Diego), reflects on how technology might affect the future use of sign languages.
Curated Video
Willful Ignorance
Author and independent scholar Pankaj Mishra describes how many Eastern ideas and perspectives have been routinely ignored by the West.
Curated Video
Walking in Another's Shoes
Author and independent scholar Pankaj Mishra describes the importance of looking at matters from others points of view, even if we strongly disagree with the eventual outcome.
Curated Video
Vietnam's Shadow
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) describes how the experience of the Vietnam War affected his research on classical Athens.
Curated Video
Universal English
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University, describes his search for a “middle form” between British and American English.
Curated Video
Truth and Totalitarianism
Historian Martin Jay (UC Berkeley) discusses how it is dangerous in politics to believe that we should be heading towards some version of absolute truth.
Curated Video
Translating Humor
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University, describes false stereotypes, and challenges, associated with translating humor.
Curated Video
Towards a Civilized Discussion
Primatologist Frans de Waal (Emory) relates his frustration with both fundamentalists and so-called neo-atheists, both of whom he believes inhibit an open discussion on morality.
Curated Video
Worldly Protestants
Historian David Hollinger (UC Berkeley) describes the Ecumenical Protestant movement and how it can be distinguished from its Evangelical counterpart.
Curated Video
Universal Education
Classicist and political theorist Josiah Ober (Stanford) reminisces on the personal importance of accessible, high-level university education.
Curated Video
Understanding Incentives
Legal scholar Emilie Hafner-Burton (UCSD) discusses the importance of understanding the incentives of those who commit human rights abuses.
Curated Video
Translational Advice
Chinese scholar and literary translator Michael Berry (UCLA) gives some key pointers to young translators.
Curated Video
Translation and Turf
David Bellos, Director of the Program in Translation and Intercultural Communication at Princeton University, argues that scholars who look down upon reading literature in translation are really trying to protect their own academic turf.
Curated Video
Towards An Open Debate
Historian David Hollinger (UC Berkeley) relates his frustration of having religious beliefs being simultaneously private and independent of the American political culture.
Curated Video
What Is Trade?
What Is Trade? defines the term trade and explains some advantages and disadvantages of trading.