SciShow
That Time North America Tried to Tear Itself Apart
Looking at a map, you would never know that North America once almost ripped itself in half. But 1.1 billion years ago, it tried to - and had it succeeded, there would now be an ocean where Lake Superior is!
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why should you read "Don Quixote"? - Ilan Stavans
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...
Crash Course
Invisible Man: Crash Course Literature 308
This week, we're on to reading Ralph Ellison's great novel about the black experience in America after World War II, Invisible Man. John will teach you about Ellison's nameless narrator, and his attempts to find his way in a social order...
TED Talks
TED: Why 30 is not the new 20 | Meg Jay
Clinical psychologist Meg Jay has a bold message for twentysomethings: Contrary to popular belief, your 20s are not a throwaway decade. In this provocative talk, Jay says that just because marriage, work and kids are happening later in...
TED Talks
TED: If I should have a daughter ... | Sarah Kay
If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B ... began spoken word poet Sarah Kay, in a talk that inspired two standing ovations at TED2011. She tells the story of her metamorphosis -- from a wide-eyed...
TED-Ed
Why should you read Toni Morrison's "Beloved"? | Yen Pham
Two tiny handprints stamped into a cake. A mirror that shatters without warning. A trail of cracker crumbs strewn along the floor. Everyone at 124 Bluestone Road knows their home is haunted— but there's no mystery about the spirit...
TED Talks
TED: Why I chose a gun | Peter van Uhm
Peter van Uhm is the Netherlands' chief of defense, but that does not mean he is pro-war. In this talk, he explains how his career is one shaped by a love of peace, not a desire for bloodshed -- and why we need armies if we want peace.
TED Talks
TED: The strange tale of the Norden bombsight | Malcolm Gladwell
Master storyteller Malcolm Gladwell tells the tale of the Norden bombsight, a groundbreaking piece of World War II technology with a deeply unexpected result.
TED Talks
Alison Killing: There’s a better way to die, and architecture can help
In this short, provocative talk, architect Alison Killing looks at buildings where death and dying happen -- cemeteries, hospitals, homes. The way we die is changing, and the way we build for dying ... well, maybe that should too. It's a...
TED Talks
TED: You are fluent in this language (and don't even know it) | Christoph Niemann
Without realizing it, we're fluent in the language of pictures, says illustrator Christoph Niemann. In a charming talk packed with witty, whimsical drawings, Niemann takes us on a hilarious visual tour that shows how artists tap into our...
SciShow Kids
Why Does Some Cheese Have Holes?
Cheese is a great snack! One of the best things about it is that there's so many different kinds: cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, gouda... the list goes on and on! But have you ever wondered why some cheeses, like Swiss, are full of...
SciShow Kids
Let’s Make Oobleck!
Jessi's in the lab, mixing up something kind of strange: Oobleck! Come find out all about this goo that can be a solid and a liquid at the same time, and then learn how to make some for yourself!
TED-Ed
TED-ED: The science of attraction - Dawn Maslar
Romantic chemistry is all about warm, gooey feelings that gush from the deepest depths of the heart-right? Not quite. Actually, the real boss behind attraction is your brain, which runs through a very quick, very complex series of...
Be Smart
The Auroras
Space might seem like an empty place, but the area surrounding Earth is constantly being bombarded by waves of charged particles released by the Sun: The solar wind. Luckily, thanks to Earth's swirling, molten core (and the magnetic...
SciShow
How We Discovered the Milky Way's Black Hole
The search began with a physicist checking for sources of static on phone calls in the 1930s, but it took several decades to finally make one of the biggest discoveries in astronomy, Sagittarius A*.
TED Talks
TED: Why art is a tool for hope | JR
Famed for enormous black-and-white portraits that are pasted on surfaces ranging from the Louvre to the US-Mexico border wall, multimedia artist JR continues to tackle ambitious projects. In this powerfully moving talk, he shares how he...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Pruney fingers: A gripping story - Mark Changizi
Why do fingers become pruney when they get wet? Likely, for the same reasons that tires have treads. Mark Changizi examines the evolutionary reasons for pruney fingers, while exploring natural and manmade phenomena, like river networks,...
TED Talks
The new American Dream | Courtney Martin
For the first time in history, the majority of American parents don't think their kids will be better off than they were. This shouldn't be a cause for alarm, says journalist Courtney Martin. Rather, it's an opportunity to define a new...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: Why tragedies are alluring - David E. Rivas
The story goes something like this: A royal, rich, or righteous individual - who is otherwise a lot like us - makes a mistake that sends his or her life spiraling into ruin. It's the classic story arc for a Greek tragedy, and we love it...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How fiction can change reality - Jessica Wise
Reading and stories can be an escape from real life, a window into another world -- but have you ever considered how new fictional experiences might change your perspective on real, everyday life? From Pride and Prejudice to Harry...
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
Fahad Al-Attiya: A country with no water
Imagine a country with abundant power -- oil and gas, sunshine, wind (and money) -- but missing one key essential for life: water. Infrastructure engineer Fahad Al-Attiya talks about the unexpected ways that the small Middle Eastern...
Crash Course
The Language of Film: Crash Course Film History
In this episode of Crash Course Film History, we talk about the development of the language of films by filmmakers like Edwin S. Porter and his films; Life of an American Fireman and The Great Train Robbery.