It seems the more we know about how democracy works -- through government transparency, better media coverage, even new insights about our brains -- the less we trust democracy itself. Yet it's still, arguably, the best system of...

Jay continues our journey through the history of media literacy with the arrival of movies, television, and the other screens that now permeate our lives – along with some of the different approaches to media literacy that these...

In 1932, one in four Americans was unemployed, marking the highest unemployment rate in the country's history. The Democratic presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt promised a New Deal— a comprehensive set of legislation to support...

In 1990, The Human Genome Project proposed to sequence the entire human genome over 15 years with $3 billion of public funds. Then, seven years before its scheduled completion, a private company called Celera announced that they could...

So today Craig is going to talk about where our political opinions come from. Of course, most people’s politics are grounded in their ideologies, but there are also other external influences such as the government itself, interest...

With the advent of the Internet and social media, news is distributed at an incredible rate by an unprecedented number of different media outlets. How do we choose which news to consume? Damon Brown gives the inside scoop on how the...

After the French Revolution erupted in 1789, Europe was thrown into chaos. Neighboring countries' monarchs feared they would share the fate of Louis XVI and attacked the new Republic, while at home, extremism and mistrust between...

As engineer, sometimes lives will be in your hands, so this week we’re exploring safety and its impact on engineering. We’ll discuss the difference between occupational safety and public safety and how to analyze and review a process for...

Aliens have invaded ancient history: they've cropped up in humanity's past through popular television and movies, displacing facts with absurd yet commonplace beliefs like "aliens built the pyramids." Archaeologist Sarah Kurnick...

This video was created with support from the U.S. Office of Research Integrityhttp://ori.hhs.gov.' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Integrity For several centuries, people though diseases were caused by wandering clouds of poisonous...

What shapes our perceptions (and misperceptions) about science? In an eye-opening talk, meteorologist J. Marshall Shepherd explains how confirmation bias, the Dunning-Kruger effect and cognitive dissonance impact what we think we know --...

Creating genetically modified people is no longer a science fiction fantasy; it's a likely future scenario. Biologist Paul Knoepfler estimates that within fifteen years, scientists could use the gene editing technology CRISPR to make...

We’ve mentioned already that there’s a lot of money in media and a huge chunk of that money is spent on trying to get you to do something – buy something, vote a certain way, change a behavior. How does advertising work? And what’s the...

Propaganda! Misinformation! Disinformation! Today we’re talking about the dark – or, shall we say, darkER – side of media. Understanding these media bogeymen is essential to being a more media literate citizen.

This week, Stan Muller teaches you the basics of copyright in the United States. Copyright law is territorial, so we're going to cover the system we know the most about, and that's the US. Stan will talk about what kind of ideas can be...

Hospitals banning sugar sweetened beverages, provinces cracking down on dangerous drivers. And get me an Apple Watch!

The HPV vaccine is pretty well known amongst the public, but mostly as a measure against cervical cancer in women. A recent news article highlights its use in men, and we want to highlight that highlight.

We've covered the United States and Canada. today, we cross the Atlantic to discuss the healthcare System in France. Their system is a combination of universal social insurance with some optional private overlays. It's expensive...

GMOs. Vaccines. Death Panels. There are a lot of "beliefs" circulating about a wide variety of health policy issues. Luckily, these are all pretty well researched areas. Thanks to thorough investigations, we can conclude with certainty...

Shadow Home Sec. Chris Philp refuses to call Sarah Pochin's comment on adverts 'racist'Credit: BBC

Since the French Revolution, the republic’s motto has been “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (“Liberty, equality, brotherhood”), which certainly says something about French attitudes. In France, however, generalizations don't always apply....

Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by the teachings of Confucius (Kongzi), a Chinese philosopher from ancient times. Confucianism emphasizes unity, circularity, harmony, and reciprocity. You’ll see these four concepts reflected...

Everything has its time and place—so the saying goes. In keeping with this expression, Germans expect a certain level of formality in public settings, while private gatherings tend to be far less formal. Germans are big on shaking hands....

Tremendous strides have been made in education in Mexico over the past century. Today, education is compulsory and school enrollment has been increasing steadily. The majority of the schools in Mexico are public, coed, and nonreligious....