Cool/Interesting videos (similar to TED.com) on the Internet?

February 24, 2008 10:17 PM

I have pretty much watched all of the videos on TED.com and I am looking for another source to waste time online - but at least feel smarter at the end.;) I am not looking so much for online classes/courses (MIT and other), but more "bit size" hour long or so talks/lectures. Thanks for your help!
posted by aggienfo to education (24 answers total)

If audio is cool, check out Earideas. From the site:

We've listened to just about everything there is to hear on the net (in English), and we've selected a dozen (plus or minus) categories of the kind of audio that makes you think. We've pulled in the best stuff from around the world - with ten shows (plus or minus) per category.

posted by Robot Johnny at 10:43 PM on February 24, 2008

Frontline, the series from PBS, offers *almost* all of their episodes (from even back in the 70's, I think) to watch for free online. It's some really amazing stuff.
posted by cheeken at 10:51 PM on February 24, 2008

This American Life has a weekly podcsst
posted by chrisalbon at 10:57 PM on February 24, 2008

Scitalks.com and Google Tech Talks sound like what you're looking for. If you're into programming or computers then Channel 9 is good too. Also, like Frontline, Charlie Rose has all of his shows online as well. The interviews aren't really educational exactly, but you can still extract some knowledge from watching someone like Warren Buffet or Bill Gates speak candidly about their lives. The Make Weekend Project Archive is also a fun place to waste time/get ideas from, if you're so inclined.
posted by tracert at 11:04 PM on February 24, 2008

Richard Dawkins' site has a lot of lectures and debates (audio and video) - most of them are sort of "science apologetics" but there's straight science to be found as well. I also like to go to google video, search "documentary" and click "long form" and have stumbled upon a lot of fascinating documentaries in that way. As for radio, I adore Radio Lab.
posted by moxiedoll at 11:09 PM on February 24, 2008

IT Conversations - A lot of tech-related talks, but some other interesting stuff as well.

Ideas - CBC Radio program about "contemporary thought". (Unfortunately, they only keep the last 4 weeks of programs online.)

Reith Lectures - BBC annual lecture series.
posted by teg at 11:10 PM on February 24, 2008

The Long Now Foundation has a series of lectures they put up as podcasts and video (I think).

They deal with future trends in various things. I love the TED videos, I found them after Long Now, and I thoroughly enjoy both. Long Now has a 50 min lecture, with 20 min or so of questions after, which is nice because there are a lot of bright people in the audience who ask really good questions.

http://www.longnow.org/

Another lecture series I like is "Big Ideas" from TVO. I don't like all of their speakers (there's a lot of literary critics holding forth on some book I've never read), but most of them are worth listening too.
posted by Jhoosier at 11:16 PM on February 24, 2008

Oops, Big Ideas site is: http://www.tvo.org/TVOsites/WebObjects/TvoMicrosite.woa?bigideas
posted by Jhoosier at 11:17 PM on February 24, 2008

Video Jug was mentioned in the blue recently, and I think you'll find at least something interesting on there.
posted by spiderskull at 11:38 PM on February 24, 2008

ResearchChannel, UCTV.
posted by unmake at 2:06 AM on February 25, 2008

The University Channel Podcast (UC Podcast) is "A collection of public affairs lectures, panels and events from academic institutions all over the world for you to view, listen to, stream or download."

I'm about 300 behind now, but I'm catching up. :)

They have lectures from...

* Australian National University
* Bennington College
* Brookings Institution
* Case Western Reserve University
* Colby College
* Columbia University - School of International and Public Affairs
* Council on Foreign Relations
* Dickinson College
* Duke University
* Georgetown University
* Griffith University (Australia)
* Harvard Law School - Berkman Center for Internet and Society
* Harvard University - Kennedy School of Government
* Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies
* Middlebury College - Rohatyn Center for International Affairs
* National University of Singapore
* New America Foundation
* New Hampshire Institute of Politics
* New York University - Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
* Northwestern University
* Oxford University
* Pace Law School
* Peking University School of Government
* Princeton University - Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
* Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce (UK)
* Rutgers University
* The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
* The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
* The New School
* Tufts University - The Fletcher School
* UC Berkeley
* University of British Columbia
* University of California
* University of Chicago
* University of Delaware
* University of Michigan - Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
* University of Pennsylvania
* University of Texas at Austin - LBJ School of Public Affairs
* University of Virginia - Miller Center of Public Affairs
* University of Warwick (UK)
* USC Annenberg School for Communication
* Vanderbilt University
* Wake Forest University
* Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
* Yale University

and many more. Talks cover all possible topics and some come in video as well as audio format. Highly recommended!
posted by tiamat at 3:31 AM on February 25, 2008

I've been watching a bit of MojoHD this week.
posted by bprater at 4:05 AM on February 25, 2008

Speechification for interesting items off the radio and Watchification for video. Some stuff might not be available outside the UK though since a lot of it is via the BBC.
posted by jec at 4:24 AM on February 25, 2008

Book TV has pretty good stuff, but the interviews are relatively long and rambling, compared to TED. The benefit is that they often go into more depth.
posted by Coventry at 5:42 AM on February 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Look for torrents of The Mechanical Universe -- a PBS series from the 80's starting from introductory physics and going on up. Not exactly online, but sourced from there.
posted by 5MeoCMP at 5:47 AM on February 25, 2008

You might also be interested in FORA.tv which collects a lot of this sort of content.
posted by Inkoate at 6:31 AM on February 25, 2008

In Our Time is a BBC radio program that brings together a collection of specialists to discuss a particular topic. It's also available as a podcast.
posted by doctor_negative at 8:35 AM on February 25, 2008

MSRI has tons of mathematics lectures. A few of them are suitable for general audience, such as this absolutely hilarious lecture by V.I.Arnold.
posted by proj08 at 10:45 AM on February 25, 2008

I don't have any links to add. I just wanted to say this looks like a great resource. Thanks for asking the question, aggienfo.
posted by Taken Outtacontext at 10:54 AM on February 25, 2008

thanks much for the info. I"ve been scouring youtube and occasionally I do stumble onto a few golden gems, but y'all have have provided many more hours of viewing (and less time outside... but that is a whole other topic)
posted by aggienfo at 12:32 PM on February 25, 2008

MITWorld has an impressively broad collection of talks, most of which are intended for a public audience. I think you'll find the quality of the speakers to be unparalleled.
posted by FissionChips at 9:02 PM on February 25, 2008

Chicago Public Radio produced a wide-ranging program called Odyssey until 2005, but unfortunately the audio appears to have been removed from their archive.

Here's a separate collection of special programs that looks pretty interesting.
posted by metabrilliant at 9:02 PM on February 25, 2008

Have you seen quicksilver screen? I just watched a very good, very long, biography of Stanley Kubrick from the documentary menu.
posted by hortense at 12:01 AM on February 26, 2008

Pop!Casts is pretty much the same concept as TED talks, and of almost the same quality.
posted by cheerleaders_to_your_funeral at 4:59 AM on February 26, 2008