MinutePhysics
Ye Olde Debunking
Have you ever wondered where "Ye Olde" spelling comes from? Today we unravel this thorny linguistic issue.
TED Talks
Magic Meets AI: Exploring Wonder Through Tech-Enhanced Tricks
Watch as magician David Kwong engages an audience with a demonstration involving ChatGPT, showcasing its ability to generate creative responses and make playful deductions based on input from a volunteer. He sets up scenarios where the...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why don't "tough" and "dough" rhyme? | Arika Okrent
Spelling reformers have been advocating for changes to make English spelling more intuitive and less irregular. One example of its messiness: take the “g-h” sound from “enough,” the “o” sound from “women” and the “t-i” sound from...
Crash Course
The Horrors of the Grand Guignol: Crash Course Theater #35
Prepare to be horrified, and to look into the face of inhumanity with the Grand Guignol. Mike Rugnetta teaches you about one of theater history's most horrible chapters. The Grand Guignol was a French theater based in Paris from the late...
Curated Video
Security around Paris was increased early on Thursday following Osama bin Laden's threats to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and a law that will ban face-covering Muslim veils.
HEADLINE: Paris beefs up security following bin laden threat
CAPTION: Security around Paris was increased early on Thursday following Osama bin Laden's threats to kill French citizens to avenge their country's support for the U.S.-led...
Curated Video
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the United States welcomes Russia's pledge to stop its attacks in Georgia and called on Moscow to follow through on its promise.
HEADLINE: Rice calls for attacks in Georgia to stop
CAPTION: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the United States welcomes Russia's pledge to stop its attacks in Georgia and called on Moscow to follow through on its...
Curated Video
UK: US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE BRIEFS BRITISH AND FRENCH COUNTERPARTS
English/Nat
The U-S Secretary of Defence William Perry has briefed his British and French counterparts in London about his tour of the Middle East in which he sought support for the increased American military presence in the Gulf.
They...
Crash Course
Rules, Rule-Breaking, and French Neoclassicism: Crash Course Theater #20
Everyone knows, you need a bunch of rules to make good theater. That's what the French thought in the 17th century, anyway. The French Neoclassical revival had a BUNCH of French playwrights following a bunch of rules. Unsurprisingly,...
Curated Video
Archdukes, Cynicism, and World War I: Crash Course World History
In which John Green teaches you about the war that was supposed to end all wars. Instead, it solved nothing and set the stage for the world to be back at war just a couple of decades later. As an added bonus, World War I changed the way...
Crash Course
World Cinema - Part 2: Crash Course Film History
Africa, the Middle East, and South America have their own vibrant film communities and filmmakers. From social and political commentary to experimental films, these regions have made some very important pieces of cinema over the last...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: A brief history of Spanish | Ilan Stavans
Beginning in the third century BCE, the Romans conquered the Iberian peninsula. This period gave rise to several regional languages in the area that's now Spain, including Castilian, Catalan, and Galician. One of these would become...
Crash Course
Moliere - Man of Satire and Many Burials: Crash Course Theater #21
This week on CC Theater, Mike Rugnetta teaches you about the greatest playwright of Renaissance France, Moliere. We'l talk a bit about early French theater design, and the kingly love of theater that Louis the XIII and XIV shared, and...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How the world's longest underwater tunnel was built
Flanked by two powerful nations, the English Channel has long been one of the world’s most important maritime passages. Yet for most of its history, crossing was a dangerous prospect. Engineers proposed numerous plans for spanning the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: One of the most difficult words to translate... - Krystian Aparta
As simple as it seems, it's often impossible to accurately translate the word you without knowing a lot more about the situation where it's being said. Krystian Aparta describes the specific reasons why it can be difficult, citing...
Crash Course
Candide: Crash Course Literature 405
John Green teaches you about Voltaire's hugely important Enlightenment novel, Candide. Candide tells a pretty wild story, but for the most part, it's about the best of all possible worlds. Which, spoiler alert, doesn't seem to be the...
TED-Ed
TED-ED: Mysteries of vernacular: Jade - Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel
Now known for its beauty and green hue, the stone jade was previously thought to espouse magical properties, such as kidney treatment. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel explain the word's travels from 15th century to Spain to today (and why...
SciShow
Why Isn't a Kilogram a Kilogram?
The kilogram is the basic unit of mass in the metric system, but there's a serious problem: the standard that defines how much mass a kilogram actually has isn't reliable anymore
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Are Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki and Na'vi real languages? - John McWhorter
What do Game of Thrones' Dothraki, Avatar's Na'vi, Star Trek's Klingon and LOTR's Elvish have in common? They are all fantasy constructed languages, or conlangs. Conlangs have all the delicious complexities of real languages: a high...
TED Talks
TED: Perspective is everything | Rory Sutherland
The circumstances of our lives may matter less than how we see them, says Rory Sutherland. At TEDxAthens, he makes a compelling case for how reframing is the key to happiness.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why is there a "b" in doubt? - Gina Cooke
Say the word "doubt" aloud. What is that "b" doing there? Does it have any purpose? Gina Cooke explains the long and winding history of "doubt" and why the spelling, though it seems random, is a wink to its storied past.
TED Talks
TED: A one-woman global village | Sarah Jones
In this hilariously lively performance, actress Sarah Jones channels an opinionated elderly Jewish woman, a fast-talking Dominican college student and more, giving TED2009 just a sample of her spectacular character range.
SciShow
Déjà Vu
Hank describes some of the best explanations that neurologists have come up with to account for the strange sensation we know as déjà vu.
MinutePhysics
Ye Olde Debunking
Have you ever wondered where "Ye Olde" spelling comes from? Today we unravel this thorny linguistic issue.
TED Talks
TED: How to heal a divided world | Michèle Lamont
How do we define worth in society, and who gets status? Sociologist Michele Lamont studies these questions and investigates ways to broaden the circle of recognition and fight the harm of social stigmatization. She lays out the steps...