If you can't respect the basic fundamental underlying principles with which we order society — which is 'Do not steal' — then what are you left with? asks investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr. Following her TED2025 talk, Cadwalladr...

No substance has been as constant an ally to insidious scheming as arsenic, the so-called “king of poisons.” In its chemically pure form, it isn’t much of a threat because our bodies don’t absorb it well; it’s when arsenic combines with...

After witnessing a bird carrying a single golden hair, King Mark of Cornwall declared his future bride must have equally radiant locks. The only royal matching this description was Princess Isolde of Ireland. So the king sent Tristan,...

Wigs date at least as far back as ancient Egypt, where well-regarded hairdressers crafted them into intricate styles. And under certain ancient Roman dynasties, women’s wigs became particularly ornate. Yet it wasn’t until Louis XIII...

For almost two millennia, the Pope has been a figure of supreme spiritual authority for Catholics around the world. But in the late 14th century, Catholics found themselves with not one, not two, but three popes. Where did this plethora...

This week Craig Benzine takes a first look at the judicial branch. It's pretty easy to forget that the courts, and the laws that come out of them, affect our lives on a daily basis. But how exactly these decisions are made and where each...

Today, Craig Benzine is going to dive into the factors that influence judicial decisions. As you may have noticed, the Supreme Court recently handed down some pretty big decisions on same-sex marriage (in Obergefell v Hodges) and the...

Today, Craig is going to talk about employment discrimination, and we're going to focus primarily on women in the workforce. Discrimination against women tends to be handled somewhat differently in the courts as they are not a minority....

Today, Clint will teach you about the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Clarence Thomas. During the screening process, Anita Hill came forward alleging that Thomas had sexually harassed her when the two of them worked together at the...

The secret to winning an argument isn't grand rhetoric or elegant style, says US Supreme Court litigator Neal Katyal -- it takes more than that. With stories of some of the most impactful cases he's argued before the Court, Katyal shows...

This week Craig Benzine talks about what happens when a case makes it to the Supreme Court of the United States (or the SCOTUS). We're going to focus on court procedure today. We talk about how to petition to get your case heard, how...

Community organizer Raj Jayadev wants to transform the US court system through "participatory defense" -- a growing movement that empowers families and community members to impact their loved ones' court cases. He shares the remarkable...

A decade ago, uS law said human genes were patentable -- which meant patent holders had the right to stop anyone from sequencing, testing or even looking at a patented gene. Troubled by the way this law both harmed patients and created a...

Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision protecting people's right to have an abortion in the United States, will be overturned within a year, says reproductive rights attorney Kathryn Kolbert. In this electrifying call to...

TED talks about who makes judges?

This week on Crash Course Theater, Shakespeare is dead. Long live Shakespeare. Well, long live English theater, anyway. Actually, it's about to get banned. Anyway, we're discussing where English theater went post-1616. We'll talk about...

Colonialism remains an inescapable blight on the present, lingering in the toxic, internalized mythologies and stereotypes that have outlived the regimes that created them, says historian Farish Ahmad-Noor. Examining why these prejudices...

Beginning around 1377, medieval England was shaken by a power struggle between two noble families, which spanned generations and involved a massive cast of characters, complex motives and shifting loyalties. Sound familiar? Alex Gendler...

Today, Craig is going to talk about the most important part of the Constitution - the Fourteenth Amendment. In particular, we're going to discuss the "equal protection" clause and how it relates to our civil rights. So we've spent the...

Considering humans' increased impact on the environment, we may want to reconsider whether there is still a place in our legal system for the Act of God...

In 1882, the United States Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law that restricted immigration based explicitly on nationality. In practice, the Act banned entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides...

It was Christmas in Camelot and King Arthur was throwing a party. In the midst of the revelry, a towering knight proposed a game. He challenged the warriors present to attack him with his own axe. If they could strike him down, they...

* Viewer discretion advised. This video includes discussion of mature topics and may be inappropriate for some audiences. Undercover journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has broken dozens of stories of corruption and organized crime all over...

This week Craig Benzine is going to talk about the structure of the U.S. court system and how exactly it manages to keep things moving smoothly. We’’ll talk about trial courts, district courts, appeals courts, circuit courts, state...