Curated Video
Dishonor: Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold's once-valiant reputation soured as he betrayed the American Revolution for greed. His name now represents dishonor and the dangers of lost trust.
Curated Video
Colson Whitehead
The first author to win the Pulitzer Prize for two consecutive novels, Colson Whitehead is one of the United States’ most versatile writers.
Curated Video
Ray Bradbury
Awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, recognizing a lifetime of influential literary works, Ray Bradbury wrote from a desire to “live forever”. Through sci fi, fantasy, horror and mystery to themes of death, loneliness and the dark...
Curated Video
Shirley Jackson
A master of the macabre, Shirley Jackson explores the creepy underbelly of domestic life, with a sharp focus on the challenges that women face.
Curated Video
Octavia Butler
First popularized as a genre of literature in the 1920s, for decades science fiction was dominated by white male authors. That is until Octavia Butler, an African American woman, rewrote the script.
Curated Video
Alice Walker
As the first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, Alice Walker helped to bring the Black experience to readers across the globe. A true trailblazer, her work continues to entertain and enlighten.
Curated Video
Multiple Plot Lines
“Multiple Plot Lines” will explain how to write a story using multiple plots.
Curated Video
The First Step
Miss Palomine talks about the characteristics of the characters in The First Step.
The Guardian
Staged Sex: Role of the Intimacy Co-Ordinator
The role of the intimacy coordinator has become more important in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations and the broader #MeToo movement. Ita O'Brien works on the set of a short film, Keep Breathing, breaking down the choreography...
The Guardian
Is this inclusive? Why only 4% of children's book heroes are BAME
More than 33% of students at UK schools are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, but only 4% of the protagonists in children's books in the UK are BAME. The publishing industry has made big claims about its push for inclusivity...
Curated Video
Cartoons vs Reality
Jessi corrects some persistent cartoon animal mistakes. Bugs bunny, parrot feet, mice, bulls, and more!
Curated Video
Parts of a Story: Beginning
"Parts of a Story: Beginning" models how to identify what happens at the beginning of a story.
Curated Video
Figurative Language and Tone
Figurative Language and Tone interprets figurative language and shows its relationship to tone.
Curated Video
Creating a New English Alphabet for the 21st Century
In this video, the speaker argues that the English alphabet is in need of an update to better reflect the sounds of the language. They explore letters from other alphabets that could be borrowed and propose the addition of new letters,...
Curated Video
Who and What Questions
"Who and What Questions" explains how to demonstrate comprehension by answering questions about stories.
Curated Video
Unfolding Plot
Unfolding Plot describes how a given story's plot unfolds by retelling the story and citing events.
The Business Professor
Charismatic Leadership
Charismatic Leadership. Charismatic authority is a concept of leadership developed by the German sociologist Max Weber. It involves a type of organization or a type of leadership in which authority derives from the charisma of the...
Curated Video
Cracking Monoalphabetic Ciphers
Quantum physicist Artur Ekert (Oxford and NUS) describes how so-called "monoalphabetic ciphers" can be cracked using statistical analysis.
Curated Video
Substance Over Style
Historian Martin Jay (UC Berkeley) describes his conviction that politicians should be judged more on their likelihood of producing good political outcomes rather than their character.
Curated Video
Modelling Politics
Tufts University philosopher Brian Epstein describes how key aspects of his philosophical views of the social world can be directly applied to politics, explaining that to understand politics, it is vital to consider what led people to...
Curated Video
Political Character
Philosopher Brian Epstein (Tufts) uses the example of electoral control models to highlight problems with model-building.
Curated Video
Theme and Motivation
“Theme and Motivation” will explain how character motivation impacts the theme of a story.
Curated Video
Parts of a Script
Parts of a Script explores the structure of a script by explaining the four main parts: list of characters, description of setting, stage directions, and dialogue.