The Harlem Renaissance produced many remarkable artists, writers, and thinkers. Today we'll talk about one of the most interesting minds of the time, Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was an anthropologist by training, and spent much of her...

Mounting his skinny steed, Don Quixote charges an army of giants. It is his duty to vanquish these behemoths in the name of his beloved lady, Dulcinea. There's only one problem: the giants are merely windmills. What is it about this tale...

Today, Clint Smith will teach you about the legendary writer Toni Morrison. Morrison is best known for her novels which chronicle the experiences of Black Americans throughout history. She was the first Black American Woman to win a...

In 2007, Hanny van Arkel noticed a blue blob next to a galaxy. Eight years later, scientists are still trying to figure out how it got there.

Your body language can communicate a lot of information to other people, but can striking a power pose revolutionize your life?

You’ve probably heard that taking vitamin C or zinc will keep you from getting sick, but it turns out that those popular cure-alls don't actually work.

Did you know you can fall in love with anyone just by asking them 36 questions? Mandy Len Catron tried this experiment, it worked, and she wrote a viral article about it (that your mom probably sent you). But ... is that real love? Did...

In which John Green teaches you how to assess the sources of information you find on the internet. The growing suspicion of expertise is a growing problem on the internet, and it can be very difficult to figure out which sources are...

How much does the presence of other people affect our willingness to step in when someone needs help?

Saturn’s rings, colored photography, and the discovery of electromagnetic waves all have have one thing in common. James Clerk Maxwell. Discover for yourself all the amazing contributions Maxwell made to science.

In 1958, after receiving a letter describing the deaths of songbirds due to the pesticide known as DDT, Rachel Carson began an investigation into the misuse of chemicals and their toll on nature. In 1962, she published her findings in...

The Five Stages of Grief show up in media everywhere from The Simpsons to Robot Chicken, but scientists have long been working on better ways to think about grief.

People used to say being bilingual was bad for your brain. Now, we know that's not true—but does it actually make you smarter?

Hank gives us a tour of the most important table ever, including the life story of the obsessive man who championed it, Dmitri Mendeleev. The periodic table of elements is a concise, information-dense catalog of all of the...

Get to know Pablo Neruda, one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. -- A romantic and a revolutionary, Pablo Neruda was one of the most celebrated poets of the 20th century, but...

You might have a roommate who rolls their eyes a lot and leaves sassy sticky notes all over the place, but no matter how frustrating it is, it’s probably not a personality disorder.

Learn why an entire field of Psychology is in trouble.

While the concept of a dictionary dates back to ancient civilizations, the first English dictionary wasn't published until 1604. In the centuries that followed, many more dictionaries were written by individual authors who chose what to...

There's not a lot of tried and true ways to get a rowdy classroom in control, with the exception of the Good Behavior Game. But there's one big caveat as to who it helps.

This week, we're learning about sonnets, and English Literature's best-known purveyor of those fourteen-line paeans, William Shakespeare. We'll look at a few of Willy Shakes's biggest hits, including Sonnet 18, "Shall I compare thee to a...

Why do doctors get sued? How can malpractice suits be avoided? It turns out, the answer may be simple. Defensive medicine refers to the idea that doctors are forced to order extra tests, perform extra procedures, or push for more office...

There's just no way to talk about marijuana without someone completely misinterpreting what I say. Some of you are going to call me a fascist for saying anything bad about pot. Others are going to attack me for not coming down on it hard...

Is there a mother out there who doesn't warn their children that going out in the cold is going to make them sick? Have you heard that old chestnut about losing all of your body's heat through your head? Do you think drinking alcohol...

While we have discussed the dangerous effects of alcohol abuse and misuse, that doesn't mean it's always bad. Besides being part of many complex and delicious beverages, there are any number of studies which show that alcohol is linked...