November 27, 2024

Watch 20 Oscar-Winning Feature Film Documentaries for Free Online

Starting in 1942, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences began bestowing the award for Best Documentary Feature Film. In recent years, many of these excellent feature-length documentaries have become available legally for free on YouTube and free movie sites like Tubi. From the war propaganda films of World War II to the contemporary political and social issue documentaries that often win today, you’ll get a wide variety of documentaries from film history in this list. So here, in chronological order, are twenty Oscar-winning feature film documentaries available to watch for free online. We’ve written reviews of many of them below and will write more reviews here as we watch them all!

1. Prelude to War (1942)

Watch this historic first documentary in Frank Capra’s Why We Fight series produced by the US Department of War from 1942 to 1945. The 50-minute film is an effective piece of war propaganda directed by Capra that was initially meant to be shown to American soldiers to explain why we were heading to war. President Franklin Roosevelt liked the film so much that he pushed for it to be viewed publicly, and it was eventually seen by over 50 million Americans.

In the film, Capra uses propaganda footage from the Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan, and re-contextualizes it to contrast it with the American way of life. Capra had watched Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (1935) and wanted to make a counterpart to that piece of Nazi propaganda. He sets the stage for the film by contrasting the world of freedom and the world of slavery. Using animations drawn by Walt Disney Productions, he shows maps of the spreading of fascism in Europe and Asia. And he shows the leaders Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Hirohito in a villainous light.

The documentary does show Americans arguing for isolationism which was popular at the time, but the movie argues that totalitarian militarism was spreading fast and would soon reach American shores if not countered. In the end, the movie quotes Army Chief of Staff George Marshall: “The victory of the democracies can only be complete with the utter defeat of the war machines of Germany and Japan”. This documentary was the very first film to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

2. The True Glory (1945)

This Oscar-winning documentary features amazing footage from the U.S. Office of War Information and the British Ministry of Information in the final year of World War II. General Dwight D. Eisenhower introduces the film which features narration of the words of soldiers and others who contributed to the war effort. The documentary footage begins with the Normandy landings on D-Day of June 6, 1944, all the way through the battles in France and Germany up to the fall of Berlin and the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945. Along the way, dramatized voices from the Allied Forces chime in with accompanying combat footage from land, sea, and air.

While it’s not a comprehensive history lesson of the final year of the war, it certainly leaves an impression of what the last year of World War II was like in the European theatre of combat. From the beaches of Normandy to the concentration camps in Germany, you’ll see the triumphs and horrors of this major 20th-century conflict, restored in high definition by the U.S. National Archives. The direction of the film is attributed to British director Carol Reed, with many other significant contributors, utilizing footage from over 1,000 cameramen.

3. Kon-Tiki (1951)

Watch the harrowing journey of Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew of five men as they travel from Peru to the Polynesian Islands on a raft named “Kon-Tiki” made out of balsa logs. Heyerdahl hypothesized that South Americans could have reached Polynesia during pre-Columbian times, and he set out on a crazy journey to prove his point. At first, the documentary might make you seasick from the shaky camera work as the Kon-Tiki sails across the Pacific Ocean. But you’ll soon settle in and witness this survival tale as the men battle off sharks and whales and deal with other treacherous elements that seek to end their voyage. In the end, they do arrive on a Polynesian island after 101 days and 4,300 miles. While Heyerdahl admits this doesn’t prove South Americans made this voyage, he nevertheless showed that it was possible. Thor Heyerdahl wrote the narration of the film which is read by an English narrator. The footage is black and white 16mm and the transfer isn’t great in this version on Tubi, but it still makes for a compelling watch in this Oscar-winning documentary from 1951.

4. Albert Schweitzer (1957)

This documentary on the life of Albert Schweitzer uses archival footage to detail the life and work of the beloved philosopher, doctor, and humanitarian. Starting with Schweitzer’s upbringing, the viewer gains direct insight into what motivated him, including an early love of nature, animals, and the searching way he went from being a musician, to preaching, to teaching, until he decided upon a life of service in equatorial Africa. In addition, this program offers priceless footage of Schweitzer’s daily work habits, and follows him on a return trip he made later in life to the village where he grew up. This film won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

5. Sky Above and Mud Beneath (1961)

Sky Above and Mud Beneath follows a grueling 7-month journey of a Franco-Dutch expedition led by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau into what was at the time Dutch New Guinea. The film is part ethnographic and part exploration as they encounter tribes along the way. The encounters with cannibals, headhunters, and Pygmies present the more interesting aspects of film, as the filmmakers capture many ceremonies and rituals of the various tribes. The exploration part of this documentary is more ridiculous as the explorers complain of the horrid conditions and are air-dropped rescue supplies frequently. Nevertheless, the filmmakers capture some gorgeous places along their thousand-mile journey. The film has no dialogue and only narration. William Peacock narrates the English version of this film with a script by director Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1961.

6. Marjoe (1972)

7. The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)

Watch this impressive documentary on Yuichiro Miura’s attempt to become the first person to ski down Mount Everest on May 6, 1970. Most of the movie covers the large crew’s ascent up Everest starting in Kathmandu, Nepal until they reach the summit. The film is shot on 35mm CinemaScope providing some gorgeous views as they climb the mountain. The audio narration consists of excerpts of Yuichiro Miura’s insightful diary during the climb and is narrated by Douglas Rain (who interestingly enough provided the voice of the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey). The expedition takes a dark turn when six Sherpas died after a glacier collapse. The rest of the voyage up is a brutal, existential survival story and we won’t spoil the ending, but it is riveting. This movie won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film in 1975.

8. Scared Straight! (1978)

9. From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1980)

10. Genocide (1981)

11. Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)

12. The Panama Deception (1992)

13. The Long Way Home (1997)

14. Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001)

15. Bowling for Columbine (2002)

16. Born Into Brothels (2004)

17. Taxi to the Dark Side (2007)

18. Undefeated (2011)

19. Citizenfour (2014)

In this chilling and paranoia-inducing documentary, director Laura Poitras follows around whistleblower Edward Snowden as he exposes the current methods the NSA is spying on people around the globe. At first Snowden’s paranoia seems a bit ridiculous, but all involved including journalist Glenn Greenwald are rapidly engulfed in a web of global surveillance, as the United States seeks to bring Snowden back to the U.S. for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 and other counts. It’s a fascinating and frightening tale that is sure to get you thinking about how your digital life is being monitored. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2015 Oscars.

20. 20 Days in Mariupol (2023)

Watch this brutal documentary on the invasion of Mariupol, Ukraine, by Russian forces in 2022. The documentary was directed by Ukrainian journalist Mstyslav Chernov and produced by the Associated Press and PBS Frontline, which is offering the documentary for free on their YouTube channel. The footage Chernov captures is the ground-level reality of the siege of Mariupol over the first 20 days of the invasion. It features the killing of civilians, the bombing of hospitals, and other war crimes carried out by Russian forces. Chernov presents the thoughts and emotions of the people of Mariupol as the invasion is carried out and all the chaos and suffering that ensues. It is bleak and essential viewing of the realities of a war that has killed thousands of Ukrainians.

And you can check out over 1,500 Free Documentaries in our LearnOutLoud.com Free Documentaries Collection!

June 27, 2024

200 New Free Educational Documentaries in Our Free Documentaries Collection

One great thing about documentaries is that you almost always learn something new while watching them. And with sites like YouTube and Tubi TV there are thousands of free educational documentaries to choose from. We’ve tried to pick out some of the best free documentaries to add to our Free Documentaries Collection, and we now feature over 1,500 documentaries which you can browse in many categories:

Browse Over 1,500 Documentaries in Our LearnOutLoud.com Free Documentaries Collection

And you might also want to check out our YouTube playlist of over 300 of the best documentaries on YouTube:

300 Best Documentaries on YouTube Playlist

We’ve recently added 200 new free educational documentaries to our documentaries collection. About 50 of them are from Tubi TV and 150 of them are from YouTube. We’ll list all these documentaries with some brief descriptions below. Note that if you’re outside of the United States you might not be able to view some of these documentaries. Without further ado, here are 200 free documentaries you can watch. We’ll list them by year, from the latest documentaries to the oldest ones we’ve added.

20 Days in Mariupol (2023) – Harrowing documentary from last year covering the the ground-level reality of the siege of Mariupol, Ukraine over the first 20 days of the Russian invasion. The movie won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

The Last Repair Shop (2023) – This 40-minute documentary about a musical instrument repair shop won the best short documentary at the 2024 Academy Awards.

I Have Arrived, I Am Home (2023) – Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh passed away in January of 2022 and this documentary commemorates his life.

Nuclear Now (2022) – Oliver Stone’s recent documentary arguing for nuclear energy to curb the global warming crisis.

A Cloud Never Dies (2022) – A biographical documentary on Thich Nhat Hanh, narrated by actor Peter Coyote.

Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free (2021) – New footage and interviews about the making of Tom Petty’s 1992 album Wildflowers.

The Queen of Basketball (2021) – This 20-minute documentary on female basketball legend Lusia Harris won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary.

Mentality (2021) – Documentary on mental health and its treatment in the present day.

Life in a Day 2020 (2021) – Relive the horrors of 2020 in this follow-up documentary to the 2010 version of Life in a Day.

Yogananda and the Kriya Yoga Masters (2020) – Documentary on Paramahansa Yogananda and the masters that influenced him. Yogananda penned the bestselling spiritual classic Autobiography of a Yogi.

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (2020) – Sequel to the popular documentary The Corporation from 2003. Documents more corporate misbehavior in the past 20 years.

The Mindfulness Movement (2020) – By now everybody has heard of mindfulness. This documentary covers the movement featuring key figures that helped to popularize it like Deepak Chopra, Dan Harris, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Daniel Goleman, and Sharon Salzberg.

Netflix vs. the World (2020) – Documentary on the rise and rise of Netflix! Based on the 2012 book Netflixed: The Epic Battle For America’s Eyeballs.

Cryptopia (2020) – Documentary on bitcoin and blockchain that makes an attempt to understand this new decentralized web.

Colette (2020) – 25-minute film on the life of 90-year-old French Resistance fighter Colette Marin-Catherine. This film won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary.

The Rise of Jordan Peterson (2019) – Public intellectual Jordan Peterson skyrocketed to fame in 2016 with his battle against political correctness and this documentary chronicles that time in Peterson’s life.

The Booksellers (2019) – Documentary on rare book dealers in New York City.

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace (2019) – Celebrates the great cinemas of yesteryear throughout the United States and how these movie palaces evolved over the last 100 years.

Decoding da Vinci (2019) – PBS NOVA documentary that looks at the science behind Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces.

Armstrong (2019) – Documentary on the life of Neil Armstrong from his humble beginnings in rural Ohio to his famous steps on the Moon.

2040 (2019) – A hopeful look at the year 2040 if we take up solutions to improve our planet.

What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018) – Documentary on the life of renowned film critic Pauline Kael, and the influence her opinions had on the movies.

The Panama Papers (2018) – The Panama Papers were leaked documents that exposed widespread tax evasion and money laundering. Director Alex Winter highlights their importance in this documentary.

The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story (2018) – A documentary film about the Nickelodeon Network!

The God Who Speaks (2018) – Documentary examines whether God is real and if He speaks to us in the present day, featuring many respected biblical scholars.

The City That Sold America (2018) – How Chicago came to influence modern advertising at the dawn of the 20th century.

NOVA: Addiction (2018) – PBS NOVA documentary on opioid addiction and the science behind treating it.

Living in the Future’s Past (2018) – Actor Jeff Bridges narrates this documentary featuring scientists that take a look at the future of Earth’s living creatures.

Zig: You Were Born to Win (2017) – The life of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar and those he helped to inspire.

The Soul of Success: The Jack Canfield Story (2017) – The inspirational life of Jack Canfield and his Chicken Soup for the Soul book series.

The Red Pill (2017) – Feminist filmmaker Cassie Jaye examines the Men’s Rights Movement and changes her thinking in the process.

Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo (2017) – Documentary covering a decade of Mission Control as it guided astronauts through the Apollo space missions.

Maximum Achievement: The Brian Tracy Story (2017) – Documentary on the life of self-help author Brian Tracy.

I Am Not Your Negro (2017) – A documentary adaption of James Baldwin’s uncompleted book Remember This House. Narrated by actor Samuel L. Jackson, this film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature.

Fittest on Earth: A Decade of Fitness (2017) – Get motivated to move with this documentary on the 2016 Reebok CrossFit Games.

The Occupation of the American Mind (2016) – Documentary examines the propaganda efforts used by Israel to win over Americans for its cause in the occupation of Palestinian land.

The Coming War on China (2016) – Journalist John Pilger looks at the potential coming war between China and the United States.

Sour Grapes (2016) – Documentary about wine fraudster Rudy Kurniawan.

Shadows of Paradise (2016) – Documentary on Transcendental Meditation and its new leaders – iconic filmmaker David Lynch and dedicated disciple Bobby Roth.

Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016) – Documentary about film scores featuring many great film composers, including Hans Zimmer, James Cameron, Danny Elfman, John Williams, Quincy Jones, Trent Reznor, Howard Shore, Rachel Portman, Thomas Newman, Randy Newman, and more.

Pet Fooled (2016) – Where does your pet food come from? Find out with this revealing documentary.

Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016) – The first of many Werner Herzog documentaries we added. In this one, Herzog examines the online world with his own unique observations.

Greed: A Fatal Desire (2016) – DW Documentary from Germany on the global impact of greed.

Food Choices (2016) – Looks at the repercussions of the food choices we make.

Dying Laughing (2016) – A look at the lives of stand-up comedians.

Chicken People (2016) – A fun documentary on the competitive world of champion show chicken breeders.

California Typewriter (2016) – Documentary examining the mythology attached to the typewriter.

Betting on Zero (2016) – Investigation of the Herbalife pyramid scheme.

American Street Kid (2016) – A look at homeless youth in Los Angeles.

The Witness (2015) – An in-depth look at the story of Kitty Genovese and the 38 witnesses that allegedly watched her being murdered.

The Brainwashing of My Dad (2015) – We all have some older relatives that have been brainwashed by the rise of right-wing media. This is one of those stories.

The Babushkas of Chernobyl (2015) – Award-winning documentary on 100 women who stayed in the Chernobyl radioactive “Exclusion Zone”.

Racing Extinction (2015) – Documentary investigating the urgent race to save endangered species.

Origins (2015) – How can we coexist with nature? This documentary takes a look.

My Scientology Movie (2015) – British journalist Louis Theroux sets out to explain the inner workings of the Church of Scientology.

Minimalism (2015) – Popular Netflix documentary made free on YouTube about minimalists who live meaningfully with less.

Being Evel (2015) – The life of daredevil Evel Knievel!

All Things Must Pass (2015) – The rise and fall of Tower Records, from its humble beginnings in 1960 to its rapid decline in the 21st century.

The Secrets of Quantum Physics (2014) – Theoretical physicist Jim Al-Khalili tells the complex story of quantum physics.

The Man Who Saved the World (2014) – Documentary about Stanislav Petrov who prevented a nuclear war.

The Hacker Wars (2014) – A film about the targeting of hacktivists and journalists by the U.S. government.

The Barkley Marathons (2014) – Documentary about a grueling race in Tennessee that has only seen 10 finishers in its first 25 years.

That Sugar Film (2014) – Documentarian Damon Gameau looks at the effects of sugar on the human body.

Neurons to Nirvana: Understanding Psychedelic Medicines (2014) – A look at psychedelic medicines and their potential to heal.

Manny (2014) – Documentary on the life of Manny Pacquiao, Filipino politician and former professional boxer.

Life Itself (2014) – Documentary on the beloved film critic Roger Ebert, filmed late in his life by acclaimed director Steve James.

Kindness Is Contagious (2014) – A feel-good documentary about being nice and the benefits of being nice.

Kidnapped for Christ (2014) – Documents a Christian boarding school in the Dominican Republic that isn’t quite what it seems.

Fed Up (2014) – Takes another look at the recommendations for nutrition in America, and how the public has often been mislead.

Citizenfour (2014) – Academy Award-winning documentary about whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Children of the Light (2014) – Tells the life story of Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Bending the Light (2014) – Acclaimed director Michael Apted takes a revealing look at the art of filmmaking & photography.

An Honest Liar (2014) – The story of renowned magician turned skeptic James “The Amazing” Randi.

Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory (2014) – A documentary examining music therapy and its effects on elderly patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Visitors (2013) – Director Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass continue their non-spoken narrative experience.

Trespassing Bergman (2013) – A group of filmmakers visit Ingmar Bergman’s house on a remote Swedish island to discuss his legacy. Filmmakers interviewed include Lars Von Trier, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Isabella Rossellini, and Michael Haneke.

The Unbelievers (2013) – Richard Dawkins and Lawrence M. Krauss promote their agenda of science and reason.

The Square (2013) – Documentary on the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The Overnighters (2013) – In the time of fracking, job-seekers descend on the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. A pastor is there to help them out, but challenges arise.

Our Nixon (2013) – Newly uncovered Super 8 home movies filmed by Richard Nixon’s closest aides.

Narco Cultura (2013) – Documentary on the Mexican drug war and the music it inspires.

Living on One Dollar (2013) – Four young friends set out to live on just $1 a day for two months in rural Guatemala.

LIs the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013) – Director Michel Gondry interviews Noam Chomsky mostly about linguistics.

I Know That Voice (2013) – Lovers of audio books might enjoy this documentary that peeks into the world of voice acting.

Desert Runners (2013) – Follows a group of runners as they compete in ultra-marathon races through the desert.

Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013) – Go to a land way down under with this documentary of life in Antarctica and what it’s like to live there.

Undaunted: The Forgotten Giants of the Allegheny Observatory (2012) – The story of Allegheny Observatory in Pennsylvania.

The Woman Who Wasn’t There (2012) – The story of Tania Head, the 9/11 survivor who wasn’t even there!

The Revisionaries (2012) – The story of the controversial Texas State Board of Education.

The Perfect Human Diet (2012) – Documentary that purports to have found the authentic human diet.

Somm (2012) – Four sommeliers attempt to pass the prestigious Master Sommelier exam, a test with one of the lowest pass rates in the world.

Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012) – A look at the East Coast/West Coast battle for dominance in the world of hip hop, hosted by Ice-T.

Meditation, Creativity, Peace (2012) – Follows filmmaker David Lynch around the globe as he talks about creativity and Transcendental Meditation.

Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (2012) – A close look at Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramovic.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance (2012) – Documentary on the Joffrey Ballet company of Chicago.

Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds (2012) – Get in touch with the one vibratory field that connects all things.

Free the Mind (2012) – Professor Richie Davidson studies the effects of Tibetan meditation practice.

Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012) – The inside story of Morton Downey, Jr., the “Father of Trash Television”.

Dinotasia (2012) – Documentary about dinosaurs.

Craigslist Joe (2012) – Remember Craigslist? Throwback documentary to a guy that tries to survive solely on Craigslist.

Children of the Stars (2012) – Documentary on the Unarius UFO Cult in California that created their own sci-fi films.

B.B. King: The Life of Riley (2012) – The great blues musician B.B. King tells his story.

A Place at the Table (2012) – Exposes the growing epidemic of hunger in the United States, and how we can fix it.

You Laugh But It’s True (2011) – Comedian Trevor Noah creates a one-man show in South Africa.

Vince Lombardi: A Football Life (2011) – The story of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi who took his teams to win numerous championships.

The War of 1812 (2011) – Public television documentary on The War of 1812, when the United States declared war on Britain.

The Loving Story (2011) – HBO documentary on the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, which led to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on interracial marriage.

Samsara (2011) – Great non-narrative documentary directed by Ron Fricke, filmed over five years in 25 countries.

Kumare (2011) – Filmmaker Vikram Gandhi pretends to be an enlightened guru named Kumare and gains disciples.

How to Die in Oregon (2011) – Documentary on Oregon’s controversial Death with Dignity Act, which legalized physician-assisted death for those who are terminally ill.

Hot Coffee (2011) – Documentary about the impact of tort reform on the United States judicial system.

Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (2011) – Tibetan Buddhism is brought to America thanks in large part through the story of Chogyam Trungpa.

Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (2011) – Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock heads to San Diego Comic-Con in 2010 to find out what it’s all about.

Bob Ross: The Happy Painter (2011) – The story of beloved painter Bob Ross and his success on public television.

Blank City (2011) – The story of No Wave Cinema in New York City in the late 1970’s through the mid 80’s.

5 Broken Cameras (2011) – A Palestinian farmer’s chronicles his nonviolent resistance to the actions of the Israeli army.

We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918 (2010) – The story of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed 50 million people.

The Parking Lot Movie (2010) – Curious documentary about a parking lot and the people that work there.

The Elephant in the Living Room (2010) – Documentary about having dangerous animals as household pets.

Stonewall Uprising (2010) – PBS American Experience documentary on the Stonewall riots that marked a turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States.

Countdown to Zero (2010) – Explores the current state of nuclear arms around the world with an urgent plea for getting rid of them.

Carbon Nation (2010) – Aims to provide solutions to the current climate change crisis.

Beer Wars (2009) – A look at the battle between large corporate breweries and the smaller producers of craft beer.

Winnebago Man (2009) – The story of viral Internet sensation Jack Rebney, a.k.a. “The Winnebago Man”.

Which Way Home (2009) – Documentary following Central American child migrants and their journey to the United States.

The Cartel (2009) – A hard look at the American public school system.

Tapped (2009) – The story of the true cost of bottled water.

Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue (2009) – Documentary that looks at the appeal of horror films, featuring great directors of the genre like Joe Dante, John Carpenter, and George A. Romero.

Fresh (2009) – A documentary about sustainable agriculture and how to change the American food system.

Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (2008) – Documentary on the life of the talented cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician Arthur Russell.

The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2008) – PBS American Experience documentary on the troubled life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who helped to bring about the atomic bomb.

I Think We’re Alone Now (2008) – The story of two fans obsessed with the 80’s pop singer Tiffany.

Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008) – The story of the two famous Los Angeles gangs and how they came to be.

Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary (2008) – A documentary on documentaries, featuring many notable documentary filmmakers.

Sicko (2007) – Filmmaker Michael Moore takes on the abysmal American healthcare system.

Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains (2007) – Documentary by Jonathan Demme on former president Jimmy Carter.

Chicago 10 (2007) – Acclaimed filmmaker Brett Morgen makes an animated documentary about the radicals charged with crimes during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? (2006) – Many notable people weigh in about the life of musician Harry Nilsson.

When Stand Up Stood Out (2006) – A look at the Boston stand-up comedy scene in the ’70s and early ’80s.

Lake of Fire (2006) – Outstanding documentary on the abortion issue in the United States directed by Tony Kaye.

Deliver Us from Evil (2006) – Documentary about an Irish priest who molested children, and the lengths the Catholic Church went to cover it up.

The Aristocrats (2005) – 100 renowned comedians attempt to tell the same dirty joke.

The End (2004) – A look at the end of life covering hospice care. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kirby Dick.

Wheel of Time (2004) – Director Werner Herzog takes a look at Tibetan Buddhism with interviews of the Dalai Lama.

Word Wars (2004) – Fans of the board game Scrabble might enjoy this documentary on a Scrabble convention.

Step into Liquid (2003) – Surfing documentary that seeks out surfing some of the world’s largest waves.

Overnight (2003) – Incredible documentary on egomaniac filmmaker Troy Duffy as he makes The Boondock Saints (1999).

Bonhoeffer (2003) – Documentary on German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who resisted the Nazi regime.

Bowling for Columbine (2003) – Filmmaker Michael Moore points his camera at the gun violence problem in America.

My Best Fiend (1999) – Werner Herzog’s documentary on the crazed actor Klaus Kinski, who he collaborated with many times.

Genghis Blues (1999) – Documentary on blind American singer Paul Pena who pursues his interest in Tuvan throat singing. The movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998) – The third film in Penelope Spheeris’s Decline of Western Civilization trilogy covers homeless teens in Los Angeles living as gutter punks and doing what they can to survive.

Trekkies (1997) – Classic documentary covering the devoted fans of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek.

The Long Way Home (1997) – Documentary about Jewish refugees after World War II that contributed to the creation of the State of Israel. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1996) – Nick Broomfield’s documentary on Heidi Fleiss and her infamous prostitution ring.

Trinity: Getting The Job Done (1995) – PBS documentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first atomic detonation.

Lessons of Darkness (1992) – Werner Herzog’s apocalyptic documentary covering the burning oil fields of post-Gulf War Kuwait.

Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992) – Nick Broomfield’s first documentary on serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

Echoes from a Sombre Empire (1990) – Werner Herzog’s documentary examining Jean-Bedel Bokassa’s rule in the Central African Republic.

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989) – Tells the story of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988) – The second film in Penelope Spheeris’s Decline of Western Civilization trilogy covers the Los Angeles metal scene often with hilarious results.

Heaven (1987) – Diane Keaton’s directorial debut is a documentary about heaven and what people think heaven is.

What Happened to Kerouac? (1986) – Portrait of poet Jack Kerouac, who was considered the father of the Beat Generation.

The Last Moguls (1986) – This is a priceless document of Cannon Films at the height of their power in 1986.

Distant Harmony: Pavarotti in China (1986) – Documentary covering Luciano Pavarotti’s 1986 trip to China to perform La Boheme.

The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985) – Werner Herzog follows mountaineers Hans Kammerlander and Reinhold Messner during their dangerous expedition.

Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984) – Werner Herzog documentary about children soldiers in Nicaragua.

The Chicken Ranch (1983) – Nick Broomfield’s documentary about this legal brothel in Nevada.

Fun to Imagine (1983) – Documentary featuring physicist Richard P. Feynman.

Flamenco at 5:15 (1983) – Documentary on a flamenco dance class at the National Ballet School of Canada. The film won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.

The Decline of Western Civilization (1981) – The original film in Penelope Spheeris’s Decline of Western Civilization trilogy covers the Los Angeles punk scene at its peak.

God’s Angry Man (1981) – Werner Herzog covers the controversial televangelist Gene Scott.

Genocide (1981) – Documentary on the history of the Holocaust, narrated by Orson Welles and Elizabeth Taylor. The film won the Oscar for for Best Documentary Feature.

Nuclear Nightmares: The Wars That Must Never Happen (1980) – Documentary on the world’s nuclear weaponry, made at a heightened point in the Cold War.

The War at Home (1979) – Oscar-nominated documentary about the increasingly violent Vietnam War protests from 1963 to 1973.

From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979) – Portrays the famous violinist and music teacher Isaac Stern as the first American musician to collaborate with the China Central Symphony Society. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Budo: The Art of Killing (1979) – Learn about martial arts in Japan with this classic documentary.

Hollywood on Trial (1976) – Documentary on the history of the Hollywood blacklist in the mid-20th century.

The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975) – Documentary about Yuichiro Miura, a Japanese alpinist who skied down Mount Everest in 1970. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Marjoe (1972) – Documentary about preacher Marjoe Gortner who returns to the ministry to make a living, even though he’s no longer a believer. The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Land of Silence and Darkness (1971) – Early Werner Herzog documentary on an old woman who has been deaf and blind since adolescence.

Fata Morgana (1971) – Experimental Herzog documentary on mirages in the Sahara and Sahel deserts.

Chariots of the Gods (1970) – The only ancient aliens documentary we will feature on our site because it was the original! And it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.

Saul Alinsky Went to War (1968) – Documentary on radical activist Saul Alinsky.

The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965) – An old NBC News documentary on the decision to drop the first atomic bomb.

David Susskind Archive: Interview With Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963) – An extended interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963.

Mondo Cane (1962) – Italian mondo documentary designed to shock you!

Sky Above and Mud Beneath (1961) – French documentary on a trek into Dutch New Guinea in 1959. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Plenty of popular and award-winning films to choose from! Hopefully you found one that sparks your interest!

April 19, 2024

3,000 Best Free Movies on YouTube Playlist

I’ve created a massive YouTube playlist of over 3,000 of the best free movies on YouTube on our LearnOutLoud YouTube Channel. You can browse the entire playlist at the link below:

3,000 Best Free Movies on YouTube Playlist

Now, this took a lot of time, so let me explain. Besides LearnOutLoud.com, I also started a free movie website, which has been a failure to date, so much so that I won’t even mention its name. But all along, I’ve been gathering this huge playlist of the best free movies on our YouTube channel. So this playlist is literally over five years in the making, and I’ve decided to organize it and make it public.

Now there are hundreds of thousands of free movies on YouTube, so let me tell you some of the criterion by which these movies were added to this playlist. First, the movies had to be legally free on YouTube either from YouTube’s official Movies and TV channel, from a YouTube channel legally distributing the movie, or from a movie on YouTube that is in the public domain. I’ve done my best to pick out highly rated and reviewed feature-length movies from a variety of genres throughout film history, going back to the silent movies and up to the best new movies on YouTube.

Almost all of these movies are free with ads on them. If you subscribe to YouTube Premium, you won’t have to watch ads on any of them, and you can download them for offline viewing. Also, note that if you are outside of the United States, you’re not going to see over 3,000 movies on the playlist. Because of territory restrictions, all of the movies on YouTube’s official Movies and TV channel won’t show up on the playlist for those outside of the USA. But there still should be hundreds of movies with worldwide rights that you can see on the playlist and watch for free. And, like any streaming service, the rights to these movies change frequently, especially on YouTube’s official Movies and TV channel. So if you see a movie you really want to watch, then check it out soon!

I’ll do my utmost to keep updating the playlist with the best newly added movies as they become available. I’m subscribed to dozens of free movie channels, and I also check YouTube’s official Movies and TV channel frequently for new movies. If you have a YouTube account, YouTube also allows you to save a playlist. So feel free to save the playlist so you can go back to it when you’re looking for a movie to watch.

Also, here are a few notes on browsing the playlist. I’ve sorted the playlist by “Date published (newest)”, which means it is sorted by the movies that were added to YouTube most recently. I’ve found that the YouTube mobile app only allows you to browse up to about 2,000 of the movies on the playlist. So if you want to browse the full playlist you’ll need to do so on your laptop or desktop computer.

And more related to LearnOutLoud, I’ve also created a YouTube playlist of over 300 of the Best Documentaries on YouTube in 2024. You can check out that playlist here:

Best Documentaries on YouTube in 2024 Playlist

And check out our blog post about these documentaries here:

300 Best Documentaries on YouTube in 2024 Blog Post

Hopefully, gathering all these movies together will help you find some free movies worth watching!

March 24, 2024

300 Best Documentaries on YouTube in 2024

There are thousands of documentaries on YouTube. But finding the best ones to watch can be a challenge. We’ve put together a YouTube playlist on our LearnOutLoud YouTube Channel of the 300 Best Documentaries on YouTube in 2024, featuring award-winning, highly-rated, and popular documentaries that are legally free on YouTube.

300 Best Documentaries on YouTube Playlist

Probably 90% of the documentaries on YouTube aren’t worth watching at all. They feature low-quality productions about ancient aliens and other such nonsense. You won’t find any of those documentaries on our list. We’ve spent hours sifting through documentaries and picked out 300 documentaries we feel are educational and worth watching.

Almost all of the documentaries on our playlist are feature-length documentaries. Also, all of the documentaries on this list are legally available on YouTube. They are either from the official YouTube TV & Movies channel or from a channel on YouTube that legally distributes the movie. So we’ll list them all below in order by year, from most recent to oldest. Find a documentary worth watching from this list! We’ll keep adding to the playlist as we find more great documentaries on YouTube.

Please Note: Many of these documentaries have territory restrictions on YouTube. If you are outside the United States, please click the playlist link above, and you’ll see which of the documentaries are available in your country. Also, some of the documentaries are age-restricted and require you to log in to view them. Also, the rights to these documentaries may change over time, so some may become unavailable.

Below we’re linking to over 300 documentaries directly on YouTube:

20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
The Last Repair Shop (2023)
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space (2023)
Pleistocene Park (2023)
American Oz (2021)
Mentality (2021)
American Mafia: The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in Las Vegas (2021)
Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free (2021)
The Queen of Basketball (2021)
Amend: The Fight for America (2021)
Life in a Day 2020 (2021)
The Last Blockbuster (2020)
Cryptopia (2020)
Banksy Most Wanted (2020)
The Dissident (2020)
Jay Sebring: Cutting to the Truth (2020)
A Thousand Cuts (2020)
Childhood 2.0 (2020)
On the Record (2020)
Crip Camp (2020)
Once Upon a Time in Iraq (2020)
Coachella: 20 Years in the Desert (2020)
Amazon Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos (2020)
No Safe Spaces (2019)
Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace (2019)
The Accountant of Auschwitz (2019)
Love, Antosha (2019)
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film (2019)
In Search of the Last Action Heroes (2019)
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019)
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)
The River and the Wall (2019)
Armstrong (2019)
Netflix vs. the World (2019)
Chris Farley: Anything for a Laugh (2019)
Planet of the Humans (2019)
Our Planet (2019)
Knock Down the House (2019)
The Age of A.I. (2019)
In the Age of AI (2019)
For Sama (2019)
The Gift: The Journey of Johnny Cash (2019)
The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story (2019)
The Gilded Age (2018)
Black Hole Apocalypse (2018)
The Panama Papers (2018)
Bergman: A Year in a Life (2018)
The Flood (2018)
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (2018)
Mystify: Michael Hutchence (2018)
American Street Kid (2018)
Living in the Future’s Past (2018)
Chuck Berry: The Original King Of Rock ‘n’ Roll (2018)
The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man (2018)
First to the Moon: The Journey of Apollo 8 (2018)
RBG (2018)
The Creepy Line (2018)
Period. End of Sentence. (2018)
Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis (2018)
The Price of Free (2018)
The Facebook Dilemma (2018)
King in the Wilderness (2018)
The Last Laugh (2017)
Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo (2017)
Born Strong (2017)
Ruby Ridge (2017)
Mountain (2017)
Tickling Giants (2017)
I Am Not Your Negro (2017)
Strong Island (2017)
Chasing Coral (2017)
AlphaGo (2017)
Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2017)
Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much (2017)
The Third Industrial Revolution (2017)
A World in Disarray (2017)
LA 92 (2017)
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016)
The Last Dalai Lama? (2016)
The Red Pill (2016)
Food Choices (2016)
Dying Laughing (2016)
Life, Animated (2016)
Score: A Film Music Documentary (2016)
Sour Grapes (2016)
The Coming War on China (2016)
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (2016)
13th (2016)
The White Helmets (2016)
The Occupation of the American Mind (2016)
Shelter (2016)
Greed: A Fatal Desire (2016)
The Reality of Truth (2016)
On the Streets (2016)
An Honest Liar (2015)
Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things (2015)
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made (2015)
Misery Loves Comedy (2015)
Racing Extinction (2015)
Requiem for the American Dream (2015)
Back in Time (2015)
Being Evel (2015)
All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records (2015)
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (2015)
The Brainwashing of My Dad (2015)
My Scientology Movie (2015)
Manny (2015)
The Wolfpack (2015)
Human (2015)
Finding Vivian Maier (2014)
Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World (2014)
I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2014)
The Overnighters (2014)
Nas: Time is Illmatic (2014)
Plastic Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys (2014)
The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014)
Life Itself (2014)
Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory (2014)
Visitors (2014)
James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge (2014)
20,000 Days on Earth (2014)
Fed Up (2014)
Citizenfour (2014)
The Man Who Saved the World (2014)
That Sugar Film (2014)
The Hacker Wars (2014)
Free to Play (2014)
Into the Mind (2013)
I Know That Voice (2013)
The Unbelievers (2013)
Rewind This! (2013)
Milius (2013)
How to Make Money Selling Drugs (2013)
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy? (2013)
Our Nixon (2013)
Blackfish (2013)
20 Feet from Stardom (2013)
Inequality for All (2013)
The Square (2013)
Muscle Shoals (2013)
League of Denial: The NFL’s Concussion Crisis (2013)
This Is What Winning Looks Like (2013)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2012)
West of Memphis (2012)
The Source Family (2012)
Undefeated (2012)
How to Survive a Plague (2012)
3 Magic Words (2012)
The Imposter (2012)
Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds (2012)
Sunset Strip (2012)
Free the Mind (2012)
Head Games (2012)
B.B. King: The Life of Riley (2012)
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012)
Stories We Tell (2012)
Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (2012)
The Queen of Versailles (2012)
Four Horsemen (2012)
The Weight of the Nation (2012)
Pina (2011)
You Laugh But It’s True (2011)
American Teacher (2011)
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (2011)
Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (2011)
Kumare (2011)
Magic Trip (2011)
Finding Joe (2011)
Life in a Day (2011)
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010)
Freakonomics (2010)
Stonewall Uprising (2010)
The Parking Lot Movie (2010)
Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)? (2010)
The Tillman Story (2010)
Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics (2010)
Standing Army (2010)
180 Degrees South: Conquerors of the Useless (2010)
Countdown to Zero (2010)
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story (2010)
The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer (2009)
The Cove (2009)
Food, Inc. (2009)
Which Way Home (2009)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (2009)
Blank City (2009)
Winnebago Man (2009)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2009)
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009)
The September Issue (2009)
Floored (2009)
Cropsey (2009)
Home (2009)
Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary (2008)
Griefwalker (2008)
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008)
Man on Wire (2008)
More Than a Game (2008)
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story (2008)
Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)
Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown (2008)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
The Wrecking Crew (2008)
Carts of Darkness (2008)
Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten (2007)
Spirit of the Marathon (2007)
King: Man of Peace in a Time of War (2007)
Chicago 10 (2007)
Sicko (2007)
The Secret (2007)
Crazy Love (2007)
Certifiably Jonathan (2007)
Kurt Cobain: About a Son (2006)
Deep Water (2006)
American Hardcore (2006)
God Grew Tired of Us (2006)
The Trials of Darryl Hunt (2006)
Look, Up in the Sky: The Amazing Story of Superman (2006)
Iraq in Fragments (2006)
Street Fight (2005)
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2004)
The White Diamond (2004)
Riding Giants (2004)
Dig! (2004)
H.H. Holmes: America’s First Serial Killer (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (2004)
Super Size Me (2004)
Plagues & Pleasures on the Salton Sea (2004)
The Agronomist (2003)
Wheel of Time (2003)
The Corporation (2003)
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
Bonhoeffer (2003)
Lost in La Mancha (2002)
Aleister Crowley: The Wickedest Man in the World (2002)
The Cockettes (2002)
Biggie & Tupac (2002)
Gaza Strip (2002)
The Merchants of Cool (2001)
Ghosts of Attica (2001)
In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2001)
Murder on a Sunday Morning (2001)
Rivers and Tides (2001)
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures (2001)
OCD: The War Inside (2001)
My Best Fiend (1999)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)
Dying to Tell the Story (1998)
Divorce: Iranian Style (1998)
Soldier Child (1998)
Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
The Long Way Home (1997)
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
Trekkies (1997)
Biography: Jesus Christ (1997)
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1996)
Shtetl (1996)
Lessons of Darkness (1992)
Brother’s Keeper (1992)
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992)
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992)
Echoes from a Sombre Empire (1990)
Krishnamurti: With a Silent Mind (1990)
Herdsmen of the Sun (1989)
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)
The Eagle Has Landed (1989)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
The Last Moguls (1986)
The Dark Glow of the Mountains (1985)
Private Practices: The Story of a Sex Surrogate (1985)
Memory of the Camps (1985)
Top Guns: The Documentary (1984)
Ballad of the Little Soldier (1984)
Waterwalker (1984)
Style Wars (1983)
Genocide (1982)
The Atomic Café (1982)
God’s Angry Man (1981)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1981)
The Kids Are Alright (1979)
Gates of Heaven (1978)
Pumping Iron (1977)
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976)
The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)
Who’s Out There (1975)
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1974)
Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)
Fata Morgana (1971)
Chariots of the Gods (1970)
The Decision to Drop the Bomb (1965)
Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
The March (1963)
Harvest of Shame (1960)
The James Dean Story (1957)
All My Babies (1953)
Navajo (1952)
Louisiana Story (1948)
The Quiet One (1948)
Let There Be Light (1946)
The Battle of San Pietro (1945)
Why We Fight (1942)
The River (1937)
The Plow That Broke the Plains (1936)
Man of Aran (1934)
Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
Nanook of the North (1922)

Watch a great documentary on YouTube today!

October 23, 2023

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Summarized

Sorry, this documentary series has been taken down from the Kino Lorber YouTube channel.

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth is a 1988 documentary series featuring six hour-long conversations between journalist Bill Moyers and mythologist Joseph Campbell. Campbell was a professor at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, and he authored many books, including his most famous book in 1949 entitled The Hero With a Thousand Faces.

Campbell died of cancer before this PBS series aired, so these interviews serve as a sort of last lecture summarizing the ideas of his life of teaching. Throughout the series, Campbell sprinkles in mythological stories to underline the points he is making. While the interviews do have some visual accompaniment, they can just as easily be listened to as watched. If you can watch them, wonderful imagery and video footage often illustrate what Campbell is referring to.

The conversations are wide-ranging, covering topics such as religious figures, Star Wars, Native American spirituality, the different types of love, rituals surrounding sacrifice, his ideas on God, and many mythological stories he tells from memory. Campbell acknowledges that he is a maverick regarding his ideas on religion and mythology, and in these interviews, he certainly proves that to be true.

This documentary series is generously offered for free on the YouTube channel of the excellent film distributor Kino Lorber. Their channel features many more free movies and documentaries if you’d like to check them out on the Kino Lorber YouTube Channel. Hopefully, they will keep up the Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth series on their channel for all of eternity! You can access them all from our page here:

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth for Free on the Kino Lorber YouTube Channel

Here are pages we put together for the six lectures from the series with brief summaries of what each volume in the series covers:

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth Vol. 1: The Hero’s Adventure

In this first interview from the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers questions Joseph Campbell on the role of the hero. Using his vast mythological knowledge, Campbell describes archetypes of heroes that arise in cultures throughout human history. He points out the similarities of spiritual heroes from Moses to Jesus to Buddha to Muhammad. Moyers asks where modern society’s myths come from, and the discussion turns to movies, specifically George Lucas’s Star Wars saga. Campbell touches on characters like the old teacher who guides the hero in Obi-Wan Kenobi and the compassionate hero who pretends he’s an egoist like Han Solo. Campbell urges his students and listeners to follow their bliss and forge into the unknown, for that is where the hero’s journey lies. It’s a thoroughly engaging talk that begins this popular PBS series.

Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth Vol. 2: The Message of the Myth

In this second part of the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Moyers and Campbell discuss creation myths and the tremendous consequences they have for civilizations. Campbell points to the Judeo-Christian story of creation and how man is set apart from nature and God through the fall of sin. He contrasts that with Eastern religions, where the myths teach that man should be in tune with nature. Campbell emphasizes his belief that the importance of myth is in the metaphors they teach and not in their literal interpretations. He suggests that the old-time religion must be continually abandoned to create new myths that confront the ever-changing challenges that arise in new eras and civilizations. And while the troubles of any time often seem overwhelming, Campbell believes that one can always tap into the vitality of life to wake up from the nightmare of history.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth Vol. 3: The First Storytellers

In this third part of the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Campbell talks about the earliest myths and their relation to rituals. He discusses the rituals around the stations of life, such as initiations into adulthood. He also touches on the traditions around hunting and the reverence for animals, specifically in Native American religions. And Moyers and Campbell discuss many rituals around death in early human cultures. Campbell highlights the importance of the shamans in primitive societies and the artists in modern society in conveying the inner wisdom of a culture. From cave paintings to Picasso, artists have reached within to tell the stories of their times.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth Vol. 4: Sacrifice and Bliss

In this fourth part of the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers and Campbell start the talk with addressing the need for each of us to have a sacred space in which we put aside the news of the day and enjoy life. Campbell then discusses the many rituals throughout human cultures that act out human sacrifice. Far from the tragedy we might view human sacrifice as today, they were seen as joyous occasions expressing the non-duality of life and death. Campbell then discusses more modern examples of sacrifice, from laying down one’s life for another to motherhood to committing to relationships. At the end of the talk, Moyers questions Campbell more about following one’s bliss and what that means in practice.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth Vol. 5: Love & The Goddess

In this fifth part of the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers and Campbell turn to the topic of love. Campbell places the roots of our concept of Western love in medieval times with the 12th-century troubadours. Unlike the ideas of eros love or agape love, the troubadours put forth a love through the heart and eyes, which takes into account the other person. Going against the arranged marriages of the church and state, this concept of individuals seeking their true love through the heart came to dominate in Western culture. Moyers then questions Campbell about the role of goddesses throughout human history, from their supremacy in early human cultures to their subjugation in Christian culture. Campbell acknowledges the vast consequences of placing masculine gods or feminine goddesses above one another instead of allowing for an interplay between the two. He tells many tales of goddesses throughout human history in the second half of the discussion.

Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth Vol. 6: The Masks of Eternity

In this sixth and final part of the PBS series Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers interviews Campbell for the last time, just months before his death at age 83. As Moyers points out in the introduction to this interview, Campbell is radiant as he discusses his belief in the mysteries of life. Moyers questions Campbell about his ideas of God, Jesus, and faith, and Campbell points to his belief in an impersonal God that is beyond being and time. He points to the peak performances and epiphanies in his own life that put him in touch with the sublime bliss of eternity. In the end, Campbell suggests that the purpose of life is the journey, and if one is to come in tune with eternity in their journey, one must follow one’s own bliss. Campbell certainly did in his quest to bring myths to life through his many books and teachings.

Enjoy the timeless wisdom of Joseph Campbell in these priceless interviews with Bill Moyers.

October 20, 2023

Sir Ben Kingsley Narrates World Religions Documentary Series

Watch a 13-part documentary series on the religions of the world narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley on YouTube. Kingsley narrates this series of 45-minute documentaries on the World Religions, with each episode focused on a specific religion. They are well-written and informative introductions to these religions. The series from 1998 was also put out as audio books (which are now out of print), but these documentaries are edited-down versions with visual accompaniment. The interviews and footage from the documentaries aren’t exactly on the level of Ken Burns, but they still provide a nice visual component. Since they’re mostly reliant on Kingsley’s excellent narration, they can just as easily be listened to as watched. Another nice thing about the series is that they cover religions beyond the five major religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. They also cover Confucianism and Taoism, African religions, Native American spirituality, and more. They are legally distributed on YouTube through the channel The Grapevine TV. We link to the full playlist from this page on our site:

Religions of the World Narrated by Ben Kingsley

And here are the 13 episodes in this series of documentaries:

African and African-American Religions

Ancient Religions of the Mediterranean

Buddhism

Confucianism and Taoism

Hinduism

Islam

Judaism

Native American Spirituality

Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity

Protestant Christianity

The Religion of Small Societies

Shinto

Skepticism and Religious Relativism

Watch a primer on a religion you are familiar with, or learn about a religion that is entirely new to you!

And if you want to check out audio books narrated by Ben Kingsley, you can do so on our narrator page for him:

Audiobooks Narrated by Ben Kingsley

June 15, 2019

800 Best Free Movies on Tubi TV in 2019

It’s been a few years since we discovered and blogged about the free, ad-supported movies on Tubi TV in our blog post from 2017:

500 Best Free Movies on Tubi TV from 2017

Since a few years ago they’ve grown their catalog quite a bit with movies from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., Shout Factory, and more. Some of the movies we previously featured have disappeared, but many more have been added. The site does have some categories, but we found a lot of their best movies were buried deep on the site. So we scrolled endlessly down their categories of over 12,000 titles and picked out the 800 Best Free Movies on Tubi TV in 2019. We chose these according to rankings on popular movie sites along with best directors and actors. Hope this list helps you find some great movies to watch on their free, ad-supported platform.

Below we’ve sorted by category and by year. We’ll start with documentaries as we’ll be adding many of these documentaries to our site this year when we do a massive new upload of free audio & video learning content. But below that there are hundreds of action movies, dramas, horror movies, and more. Scroll down our comprehensive list of the best free movies on Tubi TV!

FREE DOCUMENTARIES:

The Conquest of Everest (1953)
The Endless Summer (1966)
Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)
The Lion Who Thought He Was People (1971)
Fata Morgana (1972)
Marjoe (1972)
Pumping Iron (1977)
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979)
Genocide (1980)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Stop Making Sense (1983)
Private Practices: The Story of a Sex Surrogate (1986)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
Let’s Get Lost (1988)
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1990)
The Last Party (1992)
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (1993)
Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994)
Lessons of Darkness (1995)
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
Atomic Filmmakers: Hollywoods Secret Film Studio (1996)
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1996)
Hype! (1996)
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story (1996)
The Long Way Home (1996)
Mandela (1996)
Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1996)
The Cruise (1997)
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)
Kurt and Courtney (1998)
Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero (1999)
Genghis Blues (1999)
My Best Fiend (1999)
Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey (2000)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme (2000)
Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2001)
Samsara (2001)
Startup.com (2001)
7 Days in September (2002)
Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2002)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Derrida (2002)
Hell’s Highway (2002)
In the Mirror of Maya Deren (2002)
Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky In Our Times (2002)
Stevie (2002)
The Weather Underground (2002)
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2003)
A Century of Black Cinema (2003)
Stevie (2003)
The End (2004)
Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (2004)
Let the Church Say Amen (2004)
What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004)
Word Wars (2004)
12 Ordinary Men (2005)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2005)
Rize (2005)
Air Guitar Nation (2006)
Cocaine Cowboys (2006)
Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
In Search of Mozart (2006)
Jonestown: Paradise Lost (2006)
Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
The Rape of Europa (2006)
The U.S. vs. John Lennon (2006)
Wake Up and Get Healthy (2006)
Who Is Harry Nilsson? (2006)
Certifiably Jonathan (2007)
King Corn (2007)
King: Man Of Peace In A Time Of War (2007)
No End in Sight (2007)
Resurrecting the Champ (2007)
Up the Yangtze (2007)
War Made Easy (2007)
America the Beautiful (2008)
Bigger, Stronger, Faster (2008)
Boogie Man: The Lee Altwater Story (2008)
Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)
Food Fight (2008)
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio (2008)
How to Cook Your Life (2008)
The Human Experience (2008)
Know Your Mushrooms (2008)
Not Quite Hollywood (2008)
Patti Smith: Dream of Life (2008)
The September Issue (2008)
Trouble the Water (2008)
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (2008)
Beer Wars (2009)
The Cartel (2009)
Char-Ac-ter (2009)
Cropsey (2009)
Cropsey (2009)
Examined Life (2009)
Fresh (2009)
How to Live Forever (2009)
My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story (2009)
The Night James Brown Saved Boston (2009)
Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue (2009)
Outrage (2009)
Reel Injun (2009)
Soundtrack for a Revolution (2009)
Tales from the Script (2009)
Tapped (2009)
Transcendent Man (2009)
American Grindhouse (2010)
Best Worst Movie (2010)
Bill Cunningham New York (2010)
Carbon Nation (2010)
Climate Refugees (2010)
Cool It (2010)
Dreaming the Quiet Man (2010)
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots (2010)
Freakonomics: The Movie (2010)
Gasland (2010)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (2010)
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (2010)
The Lottery (2010)
The Lottery (2010)
My Trip to Al-Qaeda (2010)
The Sun Behind the Clouds: Tibet’s Struggle for Freedom (2010)
Thoughts Become Things (2010)
Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes (2010)
Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2010)
5 Broken Cameras (2011)
American Teacher (2011)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2011)
Bag It (2011)
Blank City (2011)
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (2011)
Conan O’Brien: Can’t Stop (2011)
Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (2011)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011)
Hell and Back Again (2011)
Homeless in Los Angeles (2011)
Hot Coffee (2011)
How to Die in Oregon (2011)
Kumare (2011)
The Look (2011)
The Loving Story (2011)
My Reincarnation (2011)
Sing Your Song (2011)
Something Ventured (2011)
Woody Allen: A Documentary (2011)
You’ve Been Trumped (2011)
After Porn Ends (2012)
A Band Called Death (2012)
Children of the Stars (2012)
Dinotasia (2012)
The Fourth World (2012)
Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song (2012)
Head Games (2012)
Hitler’s Children (2012)
The House I Live In (2012)
The Joffrey Ballet: The Mavericks of American Dance (2012)
Last Will & Testament (2012)
Money and Medicine (2012)
Of Two Minds (2012)
The Revisionaries (2012)
Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012)
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012)
The Source Family (2012)
That Gal Who Was In That Thing (2012)
They Call It Myanmar (2012)
Undaunted: The Forgotten Giants of the Allegheny Observatory (2012)
The Waiting Room (2012)
The Woman Who Wasn’t There (2012)
American Addict (2013)
Birth of the Living Dead (2013)
Blood Brother (2013)
Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock (2013)
Desert Runners (2013)
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise (2013)
Our Nixon (2013)
The Overnighters (2013)
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013)
Rewind This! (2013)
Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out (2013)
Sellebrity (2013)
Sound City (2013)
Stolen Seas (2013)
Tales From The Organ Trade (2013)
The Unbelievers (2013)
Visitors (2013)
20,000 Days On Earth (2014)
21 Years: Richard Linklater (2014)
As the Palaces Burn (2014)
Bending the Light (2014)
Children of the Light (2014)
Citizenfour (2014)
Dsknectd (2014)
Fed Up (2014)
I Am Road Comic (2014)
Kidnapped for Christ (2014)
Kindness Is Contagious (2014)
Life Itself (2014)
Love Me (2014)
The Man Who Saved the World (2014)
Midnight Movies (2014)
Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014)
Neurons to Nirvana (2014)
No No: A Dockumentary (2014)
One Little Pill (2014)
Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger (2014)
Women Aren’t Funny (2014)
An Honest Liar (2015)
Being Evel (2015)
The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead (2015)
Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang (2015)
Dukale’s Dream (2015)
Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution (2015)
Living the Fantasy (2015)
Mindfulness: Be Happy Now (2015)
Origins (2015)
Plastic Galaxy (2015)
Searching for Home: Coming Back from War (2015)
Unity (2015)
Until the Light Takes Us (2015)
Why I’m Not On Facebook (2015)
7 Days in Syria (2016)
Ear Buds: The Podcasting Documentary (2016)
Mexico’s Bravest Man (2016)
Requiem for the American Dream (2016)
Without a Scalpel (2016)
Maximum Achievement: The Brian Tracy Story (2017)
Milius (2017)
The Red Pill (2017)
The Soul of Success: The Jack Canfield Story (2017)
Brothers in Arms (2018)

FREE ACTION MOVIES:

Texas, Adios (1966)
Deadlier Than the Male (1967)
The Shooting (1967)
The Fiction-Makers (1968)
Cemetery Without Crosses (1969)
Forgotten Pistolero (1969)
The Italian Job (1969)
Shark! (1969)
C.C. and Company (1970)
Cold Sweat (1970)
The Big Doll House (1971)
Women in Cages (1971)
The Big Bird Cage (1972)
The Final Comedown (1972)
The Bad Bunch (1973)
The Doll Squad (1973)
High Crime (1973)
Revolver (1973)
The Arena (1974)
The Black Godfather (1974)
Caged Heat (1974)
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
Return of the Street Fighter (1974)
The Street Fighter (1974)
Street Law (1974)
Crazy Mama (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Four of the Apocalypse (1975)
The Four of the Apocalypse (1975)
TNT Jackson (1975)
Zorro (1975)
Aces High (1976)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Eat My Dust (1976)
Jackson County Jail (1976)
Good Guys Wear Black (1977)
Mannaja (1977)
Sleeping Dogs (1977)
The Big Sleep (1978)
Capricorn One (1978)
Circle of Iron (1978)
Convoy (1978)
Escape to Athena (1979)
Firepower (1979)
A Force of One (1979)
Island of the Fishmen (1979)
The Lady in Red (1979)
Love and Bullets (1979)
Screamers (1979)
Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)
The Big Brawl (1980)
Borderline (1980)
The Dogs of War (1980)
Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)
Comin’ at Ya! (1981)
Knightriders (1981)
1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)
Banana Joe (1982)
Barbarosa (1982)
BMX Bandits (1983)
Conquest (1983)
Fire & Ice (1983)
Legend of the Eight Samurai (1983)
The Toughest Man in the World (1983)
Beat Street (1984)
Dreamscape (1984)
The Evil That Men Do (1984)
Savage Streets (1984)
Code of Silence (1985)
Flesh + Blood (1985)
Lifeforce (1985)
Naked Vengeance (1985)
The Protector (1985)
Trancers (1985)
8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
Never Too Young to Die (1986)
Raw Deal (1986)
Hard Ticket to Hawaii (1987)
Miami Connection (1987)
Steel Dawn (1987)
Akira (1988)
Cherry 2000 (1988)
Lionheart (1990)
Navy Seals (1990)
Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man (1991)
Samurai Cop (1991)
Supercop (1992)
Crime Story (1993)
Double Dragon (1994)
Congo (1995)
A Dangerous Place (1995)
East Meets West (1995)
Top Dog (1995)
Original Gangstas (1996)
Pusher (1996)
The Substitute (1996)
Battle Royale (2000)
Versus (2000)
Oldboy (2003)
Ong Bak (2003)
Saints and Soldiers (2003)
Stander (2003)
With Blood on My Hands: Pusher II (2004)
Lady Vengeance (2005)
Bronson (2009)
Modus Operandi (2009)
13 Assassins (2010)
JCVD (2012)
Escape Plan (2013)
Yakuza Apocalypse (2015)

FREE CLASSIC MOVIES:

Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis (1927)
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Nothing Sacred (1937)
You Only Live Once (1937)
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
Penny Serenade (1941)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
Life with Father (1947)
T-Men (1947)
Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
Beat the Devil (1953)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
The Purple Plain (1954)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
The Bat (1959)
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Room at the Top (1959)
Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
Black Sunday (1960)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Billy Liar (1963)
Contempt (1963)
Marriage Italian Style (1964)
The Naked Kiss (1964)

FREE COMEDY MOVIES:

Candy (1968)
Days of Thrills and Laughter (1961)
The Milky Way (1968)
The Gay Deceivers (1969)
Hercules in New York (1970)
Multiple Maniacs (1970)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie (1972)
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie (1972)
Greaser’s Palace (1972)
Schlock (1973)
The Swinging Cheerleaders (1974)
Hollywood Boulevard (1976)
Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
Slap Shot (1977)
Sextette (1978)
Movie Movie (1979)
Saint Jack (1979)
Forbidden Zone (1980)
Stardust Memories (1980)
Xanadu (1980)
Private Lessons (1982)
Starstruck (1982)
Class (1983)
High School U.S.A. (1983)
Joysticks (1983)
Monty Python’s Meaning of Life (1983)
Screwballs (1983)
Suburbia (1983)
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)
Blame It on Rio (1984)
Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
The Woman in Red (1984)
The Coca-Cola Kid (1985)
The Compleat Al (1985)
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
The Dirt Bike Kid (1985)
Once Bitten (1985)
Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
Body Slam (1986)
Chopping Mall (1986)
Crimes of the Heart (1986)
Last Resort (1986)
Modern Girls (1986)
Something Wild (1986)
Fatal Beauty (1987)
From the Hip (1987)
Married to the Mob (1987)
Salome’s Last Dance (1987)
Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
Heathers (1988)
Johnny Be Good (1988)
Mac and Me (1988)
Midnight Run (1988)
Some Girls (1988)
State Park (1988)
Tapeheads (1988)
Dream a Little Dream (1989)
Homer & Eddie (1989)
Meet the Feebles (1989)
Parents (1989)
UHF (1989)
Cadillac Man (1990)
Far Out Man (1990)
Men at Work (1990)
Miami Blues (1990)
Problem Child (1990)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Ski School (1990)
Delicatessen (1991)
MST3K: Cave Dwellers (1991)
MST3K: Pod People (1991)
A Rage in Harlem (1991)
Bill Hicks: Relentless (1992)
Mr. Baseball (1992)
Shadows And Fog (1992)
And God Spoke (1993)
Junior (1993)
Sirens (1994)
Totally Bill Hicks (1994)
The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)
Living in Oblivion (1995)
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
Big Night (1996)
Bio-Dome (1996)
Mother (1996)
Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Movie (1996)
Critical Care (1997)
Mystery Men (1998)
Beautiful People (1999)
But I’m a Cheerleader (2000)
Bartleby (2001)
Bartleby (2001)
Igby Goes Down (2002)
Orange County (2002)
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
Saved! (2004)
Delirious (2006)
Find Me Guilty (2006)
The Foot Fist Way (2006)
An American Carol (2007)
The Hottie and the Nottie (2008)
Visioneers (2008)
World’s Greatest Dad (2009)
Casino Jack (2010)
I’m Still Here (2010)
RiffTrax: Birdemic (2010)
Standing Ovation (2010)
God Bless America (2011)
Hesher (2011)
Rango (2011)
Rifftrax: Abraxas (2011)
Young Adult (2011)
Dark Horse (2012)
Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (2012)
Alan Partridge (2013)
RiffTrax: Cool as Ice (2014)
RiffTrax: Miami Connection (2015)
RiffTrax: Samurai Cop (2016)
The Great Satan (2018)

November 8, 2017

500 Best Free Movies on Tubi TV

A lot of the movies below are now gone from Tubi but a lot more have been added. Please check out our latest blog on the best Tubi movies:

800 Best Free Movies on Tubi TV in 2019

We recently discovered Tubi TV! It is a free ad-supported streaming TV and movie network offering more than 50,000 titles from impressive partners including Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Starz. They raised over $20 million earlier this year and offer popular apps on the iPhone/iPad, Android devices, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and more. Last year Hulu stopped offering free ad-supported movies and TV shows, but Tubi TV has stepped in to fill that void. And their platform seems a lot smoother in terms of user experience than other free movie platforms out there. A few things to note before you dive in. The viewing rights to their movies vary outside the United States, so sorry if you cannot watch these. Also if the movie is rated “R” you’re likely to have to create account and sign in, in order to view the movie. But we recommend creating an account, so then you can create a “Queue” of the movies and TV shows you want to watch in the future.

Like all movie sites there are a lot of not-so-good movies to sift through. To help you find some good movies, we’ve gone through their entire movie catalog and picked out the top 500 movies you can watch right now through their site and apps. We’ll start with their documentaries, since a lot of these we’ve added into our LearnOutLoud.com Free Documentaries Collection, and we’ll be adding a lot more soon. Beyond documentaries, we’ve picked out movies in the genres of Action, Classics, Comedy, Drama, Horror, and Thrillers. Here are over 500 of their best free movies that we picked out (we’ve sorted them by year):

FREE DOCUMENTARIES:

A.K.A Cassius Clay (1970)
Marjoe (1972)
The Last Waltz (1978)
From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China (1979)
Genocide (1980)
The Decline of Western Civilization (1981)
Atomic Café (1982)
Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Stop Making Sense (1983)
The Decline of Western Civilization, Part II: The Metal Years (1988)
Let’s Get Lost (1989)
Madonna: Truth or Dare (1990)
The Last Party (1992)
The Restless Conscience (1992)
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
Atomic Filmmakers: Hollywoods Secret Film Studio (1996)
Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam (1996)
The Long Way Home (1996)
Mandela (1996)
The Cruise (1997)
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
The Decline of Western Civilization Part III (1998)
Kurt and Courtney (1998)
Atomic Journeys: Welcome to Ground Zero (1999)
Genghis Blues (1999)
My Best Fiend (1999)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)
Startup.com (2001)
7 Days in September (2002)
Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2002)
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Hell’s Highway (2002)
OT: Our Town (2002)
The Weather Underground (2002)
Step Into Liquid (2003)
Stevie (2003)
The End (2004)
Let the Church Say Amen (2004)
What the Bleep Do We Know!? (2004)
Word Wars (2004)
12 Ordinary Men (2005)
Grizzly Man (2005)
Rize (2005)
Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
In Search of Mozart (2006)
Jonestown: Paradise Lost (2006)
Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (2006)
The Rape of Europa (2006)
Wake Up and Get Healthy (2006)
Certifiably Jonathan (2007)
In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
The Secret (2007)
Skid Row (2007)
America the Beautiful (2008)
Boogie Man: The Lee Altwater Story (2008)
Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)
Food Fight (2008)
Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio (2008)
How to Cook Your Life (2008)
The Human Experience (2008)
Know Your Mushrooms (2008)
The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg (2008)
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (2008)
Beer Wars (2009)
The Cartel (2009)
Cropsey (2009)
Fresh (2009)
How to Live Forever (2009)
Loose Change (2009)
My Dog: An Unconditional Love Story (2009)
The Night James Brown Saved Boston (2009)
Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue (2009)
Reel Injun (2009)
The September Issue (2009)
Soundtrack for a Revolution (2009)
Tapped (2009)
Transcendent Man (2009)
Under Our Skin (2009)
American Grindhouse (2010)
Carbon Nation (2010)
Cool It (2010)
Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (2010)
Gasland (2010)
Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould (2010)
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (2010)
The Lottery (2010)
Tupac Uncensored and Uncut: The Lost Prison Tapes (2010)
Who Is Harry Nilsson? (2010)
5 Broken Cameras (2011)
American: The Bill Hicks Story (2011)
Bag It (2011)
Blank City (2011)
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope (2011)
Crazy Wisdom: The Life and Times of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (2011)
Erasing Hate (2011)
Hell and Back Again (2011)
Homeless in Los Angeles (2011)
How to Die in Oregon (2011)
Kumare (2011)
The Look (2011)
The Loving Story (2011)
My Reincarnation (2011)
You’ve Been Trumped (2011)
2016: Obama’s America (2012)
Char-ac-ter (2012)
Craigslist Joe (2012)
The Decade You Were Born: The 1940’s (2012)
The Decade You Were Born: The 1950’s (2012)
The Decade You Were Born: The 1960’s (2012)
The Decade You Were Born: The 1970’s (2012)
The Decade You Were Born: The 1980’s (2012)
Dinotasia (2012)
The Fourth World (2012)
Harry Belafonte: Sing Your Song (2012)
Head Games (2012)
The House I Live In (2012)
The Imposter (2012)
The Joffrey Ballet: The Mavericks of American Dance (2012)
Last Will & Testament (2012)
Money and Medicine (2012)
Of Two Minds (2012)
The Revisionaries (2012)
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (2012)
Shut Up and Play the Hits (2012)
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (2012)
The Source Family (2012)
That Gal Who Was In That Thing (2012)
That Guy Who Was in That Thing (2012)
They Call It Myanmar (2012)
Undaunted: The Forgotten Giants of the Allegheny Observatory (2012)
The Waiting Room (2012)
The Woman Who Wasn’t There (2012)
$ellebrity (2013)
American Addict (2013)
Blood Brother (2013)
Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock (2013)
Desert Runners (2013)
Our Nixon (2013)
The Overnighters (2013)
Roman Polanski: Odd Man Out (2013)
Sound City (2013)
Stolen Seas (2013)
Tales From The Organ Trade (2013)
The Unbelievers (2013)
Visitors (2013)
20,000 Days On Earth (2014)
21 Years: Richard Linklater (2014)
As the Palaces Burn (2014)
Bending the Light (2014)
Children of the Light (2014)
Dsknectd (2014)
Kidnapped for Christ (2014)
Kindness Is Contagious (2014)
Love Me (2014)
Neurons to Nirvana (2014)
One Little Pill (2014)
Women Aren’t Funny (2014)
Being Evel (2015)
The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead (2015)
Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang (2015)
Dukale’s Dream (2015)
Gameplay: The Story of the Videogame Revolution (2015)
Living the Fantasy (2015)
Mindfulness: Be Happy Now (2015)
Origins (2015)
Plastic Galaxy (2015)
The Primary Instinct (2015)
Searching for Home: Coming Back from War (2015)
Why I’m Not On Facebook (2015)
1 Nation Under Trump (2016)
7 Days in Syria (2016)
Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
Mexico’s Bravest Man (2016)
Without a Scalpel (2016)

FREE ACTION MOVIES:

C.C. and Company (1970)
Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
The McKenzie Break (1970)
Chato’s Land (1972)
Black Mama, White Mama (1973)
The Doll Squad (1973)
High Crime (1973)
Revolver (1973)
Foxy Brown (1974)
Gone in 60 Seconds (1974)
Juggernaut (1974)
The Street Fighter (1974)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
Bucktown, U.S.A. (1975)
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Four of the Apocalypse (1975)
Friday Foster (1975)
Sheba, Baby (1975)
Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
Good Guys Wear Black (1977)
Circle of Iron (1978)
Convoy (1978)
A Force of One (1979)
The Big Brawl (1980)
The Final Countdown (1980)
Death Wish 2 (1982)
Fire & Ice (1983)
Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
The Toughest Man in the World (1983)
Dreamscape (1984)
The Protector (1985)
8 Million Ways to Die (1986)
Raw Deal (1986)
The Wraith (1986)
Police Story (1987)
Police Story 2 (1988)
Samurai Cop (1991)
Posse (1992)
Sonatine (1992)
Crime Story (1993)
Public Access (1993)
East Meets West (1995)
Belly (1998)
Antitrust (2001)
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
Dark Blue (2003)
Saints and Soldiers (2003)
Stander (2003)
Lady Vengeance (2005)
Modus Operandi (2009)
Haywire (2012)
The Grandmaster (2013)
The Last Stand (2013)
Snitch (2013)

FREE CLASSIC MOVIES:

Giorgio Moroder Presents Metropolis (1927)
Abraham Lincoln (1930)
Nothing Sacred (1937)
Pygmalion (1938)
Stagecoach (1939)
Ball of Fire (1940)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Little Foxes (1941)
Penny Serenade (1941)
I Married a Witch (1942)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)
The Stranger (1946)
Great Expectations (1947)
Life with Father (1947)
Cyrano De Bergerac (1950)
Beat the Devil (1953)
Dial M for Murder (1954)
Not as a Stranger (1955)
The Killing (1956)
Moby Dick (1956)
12 Angry Men (1957)
Legend of the Lost (1957)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
I Want to Live! (1958)
Man of the West (1958)
Paths of Glory (1958)
The Vikings (1958)
The Bat (1959)
Day of the Outlaw (1959)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)
Pork Chop Hill (1959)
Solomon and Sheba (1959)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
The Apartment (1960)
Elmer Gantry (1960)
Exodus (1960)
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
Geronimo (1962)
The Miracle Worker (1962)
Billy Liar (1963)
Contempt (1963)
Irma La Douce (1963)
Charade (1964)
Kings of the Sun (1964)
Marriage Italian Style (1964)
The Naked Kiss (1964)
The Secret Invasion (1964)
A Shot in the Dark (1964)
Darling (1965)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
Othello (1965)
The Train (1965)
What’s New Pussycat? (1965)
Duel at Diablo (1966)
Hawaii (1966)
The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966)
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966)
Casino Royale (1967)
Hour of the Gun (1967)
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967)
Candy (1968)
The Devil’s Brigade (1968)
The Milky Way (1968)
The Party (1968)

FREE COMEDY MOVIES:

Hercules in New York (1970)
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
Where’s Poppa? (1970)
The Hospital (1971)
Avanti! (1972)
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie (1972)
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972)
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)
Love and Death (1975)
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975)
From Noon till Three (1976)
Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)
Sextette (1978)
La Cage aux Folles (1979)
Hopscotch (1980)
A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy (1982)
Trail of the Pink Panther (1982)
Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)
All of Me (1984)
Garbo Talks (1984)
The Compleat Al (1985)
Teen Wolf (1985)
Baby Boom (1986)
Crimes of the Heart (1986)
Fatal Beauty (1987)
From the Hip (1987)
Salome’s Last Dance (1987)
Teen Wolf Too (1987)
Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
Bagdad Café (1988)
Johnny Be Good (1988)
Little Monsters (1988)
Tapeheads (1988)
All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)
Dream a Little Dream (1989)
Meet the Feebles (1989)
She-Devil (1989)
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990)
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)
Life Stinks (1991)
The Wedding Banquet (1993)
Getting Even with Dad (1994)
Smoke (1994)
Jeffrey (1995)
Swimming With Sharks (1995)
Citizen Ruth (1996)
Trees Lounge (1996)
Suicide Kings (1997)
Beautiful People (1999)
Flawless (1999)
Ghost World (2000)
Bartleby (2001)
Igby Goes Down (2002)
Roger Dodger (2002)
Bubba Ho-Tep (2003)
Buffalo Soldiers (2003)
Delirious (2006)
An American Carol (2007)
Death at a Funeral (2007)
Visioneers (2008)
Casino Jack (2010)
Dark Horse (2012)
Much Ado About Nothing (2012)
Quartet (2012)
It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2014)
They Came Together (2014)
What We Did on Our Holiday (2014)

FREE DRAMA MOVIES:

The Hawaiians (1970)
Kes (1970)
They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
Wuthering Heights (1970)
Doc (1971)
The Hunting Party (1971)
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
The Ruling Class (1972)
The Long Goodbye (1973)
Paper Moon (1973)
Lenny (1974)
Where the Red Fern Grows (1974)
Arabian Nights (1975)
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1975)
Mikey and Nicky (1976)
The Return of a Man Called Horse (1976)
Stay Hungry (1976)
Welcome to L.A. (1976)
Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1977)
The Getting of Wisdom (1977)
Stroszek (1977)
Why Shoot the Teacher? (1977)
Comes a Horseman (1978)
Interiors (1978)
Who’ll Stop the Rain (1978)
Quadrophenia (1979)
The Tempest (1979)
Breaker Morant (1980)
The Jazz Singer (1980)
The Stunt Man (1980)
Cutter’s Way (1981)
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981)
Heaven’s Gate (1981)
Priest of Love (1981)
True Confessions (1981)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Frances (1982)
The Secret of NIMH (1982)
Gorky Park (1983)
The Care Bears Movie (1984)
Death of a Salesman (1985)
My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (1986)
The Big Easy (1987)
House Of Games (1987)
Russkies (1987)
September (1987)
Another Woman (1988)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1988)
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Stormy Monday (1988)
Chattahoochee (1989)
Henry V (1989)
Jacknife (1989)
Triumph of the Spirit (1989)
The Hot Spot (1990)
Prisoner of Honor (1990)
Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll (1990)
Stanley & Iris (1990)
Vincent and Theo (1990)
Johnny Suede (1991)
The Man in the Moon (1991)
Rush (1991)
Zandalee (1991)
Of Mice and Men (1992)
Red Shoe Diaries: The Movie (1992)
Bitter Moon (1994)
Jason’s Lyric (1994)
Restoration (1994)
Hackers (1995)
Rob Roy (1995)
Showgirls (1995)
A Family Thing (1996)
Mrs. Brown (1996)
Mulholland Falls (1996)
Night Falls on Manhattan (1997)
Telling Lies in America (1997)
Guinevere (1998)
Last Night (1998)
Live Flesh (1998)
Niagara, Niagara (1998)
Slam (1998)
New Rose Hotel (1999)
The Widow of Saint-Pierre (1999)
Chuck and Buck (2000)
Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000)
Hamlet (2000)
Panic (2000)
Tape (2000)
The Center of the World (2001)
Max (2001)
Mondays in the Sun (2001)
The Barbarian Invasions (2002)
The Best of Youth (2002)
Heaven (2002)
Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
Personal Velocity (2002)
Dogville (2003)
Crash (2004)
Akeelah and the Bee (2006)
Art School Confidential (2006)
Feast of Love (2006)
City of Men (2007)
Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
XXY (2007)
Sita Sings the Blues (2008)
Brothers (2009)
Dogtooth (2009)
Fish Tank (2009)
A Single Man (2009)
Norwegian Wood (2010)
Solitary Man (2010)
50/50 (2011)
A Better Life (2011)
Bullhead (2011)
Coriolanus (2011)
Film Socialisme (2011)
After Porn Ends (2012)
The Flowers Of War (2012)
Holy Motors (2012)
Lawless (2012)
Mood Indigo (2012)
All Is Lost (2013)
Blue Ruin (2013)
A Field in England (2013)
Cesar Chavez (2014)
God’s Not Dead (2014)
Joe (2014)

FREE HORROR MOVIES:

A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Black Sunday (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Black Sabbath (1963)
Blood Feast (1965)
Spider Baby (1967)
The Shiver of the Vampires (1971)
Baron Blood (1972)
Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1972)
Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)
Deep Red (1975)
Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)
Audrey Rose (1977)
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)
Suspiria (1977)
The Driller Killer (1979)
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979)
Motel Hell (1980)
Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Phenomena (1985)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The Gate (1986)
Gothic (1986)
Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Bad Taste (1987)
Dolls (1987)
Night of the Demons (1988)
Class of 1999 (1990)
Nightbreed (1990)
Two Evil Eyes (1990)
Body Bags (1993)
Bruiser (2000)
Shadow of the Vampire (2000)
Teeth (2007)

FREE THRILLER MOVIES:

A Boy and His Dog (1975)
Wanted: Babysitter (1975)
Ms. 45 (1981)
Still of the Night (1982)
The Bedroom Window (1987)
No Way Out (1987)
A Prayer for the Dying (1987)
Heart of Midnight (1988)
Desperate Hours (1990)
Albino Alligator (1997)
Cube (1997)
Insomnia (1997)
Red Corner (1997)
Bully (2001)
Infernal Affairs (2001)
Irreversible (2002)
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (2002)
Gozu (2003)
Oldboy (2003)
Hard Candy (2005)
Triad Election (2005)
Night Moves (2014)

Lots to choose from here! Enjoy a free movie tonight!

April 12, 2017

Over 70 Free Great Courses Lectures

Today we’re featuring 70 free video lectures from The Great Courses! When we started LearnOutLoud.com back in 2005, one of our main inspirations for launching was promoting audio & video learning content from companies like The Teaching Company. Founded in 1990 by Tom Rollins, The Teaching Company records courses from top professors around the United States in a broad array of university-level disciplines. If you’re a longtime fan of the Teaching Company you might recall Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto that started each lecture and Tom Rollins giving this quote at the start of each course: “By listening for less than an hour a day you can finish even the longest course in just weeks!”

These courses were developed for adult lifelong learners, and back in the early 2000s when we started listening to them, they were available on audio cassettes, CDs, VHS tapes, and DVDs from their website or the local library. Cut to 2017 and now The Teaching Company has changed their name to The Great Courses and they’ve now created over 600 audio & video courses available on CD, DVD, and audio & video download through the TheGreatCourses.com and they’ve launched The Great Courses Plus, which is a subscription service giving you unlimited access to over 350 of their courses which can be streamed online, through their apps, and even downloaded now for offline viewing and listening. They’ve also made their courses available on audio download through Audible.com, and they’ve even launched a channel on Amazon.com called The Great Courses Signature Collection which features access to 100 of their video courses (for $7.99/month for Amazon Prime members).

Although they’ve re-branded and updated their service with the latest technology, The Great Courses still maintain the highest standards for their professors and production quality. They’ve also expanded their course offerings over the years from the history, literature, religion, philosophy, music, economics, and science courses they became known for to newer courses on better living and professional development, along with courses on travel, food & wine, and hobbies like photography and gardening. While free audio & video courses have exploded on the Internet, nothing really tops the audio & video learning content of The Great Courses. To introduce The Great Courses, they’ve uploaded over 70 free sample video lectures on their YouTube channel, and after watching many of them we’ve been reminded of just how great their offerings are. Today we’re featuring reviews of over 50 of these free lectures that we’ve watched.

If you’re a lifelong learner and you love learning on audio & video, we can’t recommend The Great Courses Plus highly enough. You subscribe to The Great Courses Plus, and you can then watch over 350 great courses and over 8,000 video lectures as much as you want, whenever you want! It’s amazing to be able to browse around and pick out lectures you’re especially interested in to find out which course you want to watch. Also a recent addition they’ve made to the iOS app (for iPhone and iPad) was the introduction of downloading and streaming lectures for audio-only listening, which was a feature we were really hoping for. Check it out if you haven’t yet:

Browse Over 350 Courses Currently Offered Through the The Great Courses Plus

And we’ve updated our blog post that lays out The Great Courses Plus in more detail and lists all the current courses they offer:

Our Updated Blog Post on The Great Courses Plus

We’ve also put together a YouTube playlist of all these free course lectures:

Over 70 Free Great Courses Lectures on Our YouTube Playlist

Now here are reviews of 50 Free Lectures from The Great Courses on YouTube. Almost of the lectures featured below are being offered through The Great Courses Plus.

1. How to Stop Worrying and Start Investing

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Understanding Investments taught by Professor Connel Fullenkamp, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this introductory lecture from The Great Courses course Understanding Investments, Professor Connel Fullenkamp addresses some of the common concerns people have when they consider investing their money. He acknowledges that many people do not invest because they don’t want to take the time to learn how to and above all they don’t want to lose their money. He suggests that the basics of investing can be learned relatively quickly and then dispels many of the fears of losing money if one invests according to certain principles and doesn’t react to the often volatile shifts in the market. It’s a pretty convincing opening argument for investing, in what sounds like a very informative course.

2. The Robotics of Self-Driving Vehicles

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Robotics taught by Professor John Long, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this lecture from The Great Courses course Robotics taught by Professor John Long, Ph.D., he delivers the history of robotic cars from cruise control up to the latest developments in self-driving vehicles and how they work. That last part of the lecture he devotes to the impact self-driving vehicles will eventually have on the world including saving thousands of lives in accidents, allowing handicapped people to drive, and even speeding up the road ways by optimizing the ways cars function in traffic jams. It’s a fascinating lecture on this emerging technology.

3. Can Certain Foods Make You Smarter?

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience taught by Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Can certain foods make you smarter? That’s the question directly addressed in this lecture from the course Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience taught by Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D. She addresses the difficulty with conducting good neuroscience studies on the effects of food because there is not much profit to made from studying foods like blueberries that can’t be patented. But Professor Viskontas points to some studies done around fish oil, anti-oxidant foods, and supplements and the often scant evidence or mixed results that these studies have produced in regards to cognitive improvement. She does point out that caffeine, exercise, and even fasting might aid in our cognitive abilities. She explodes the myth of sugar making kids crazy and also discusses the effects of popular drugs like Adderall and Ritalin for kids with ADHD. After decades of study, Professor Viskontas says we aren’t that far from the common sense wisdom that was already known, that good nutrition, a healthy diet, and exercise are good for mental performance.

4. The Science of Mindfulness: Who Am I?

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Science of Mindfulness: A Research-Based Path to Well-Being taught by Professor Ronald D. Siegel, Psy.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this free lecture provided by The Great Courses, psychiatrist Ronald Siegel outlines the havoc that comes about when we identify “I” or “me” as something separate from the rest of the world. As Siegel argues, mindfulness practice reveals “the self” as an impersonal series of sensations that form a consistent storyline of who we think we are. But what if what you call “you” is actually not what you experience, but something deeper, and more interconnected with the rest of creation? As Eastern spiritual practices tell us, the path to happiness lies in transcending the suffering that comes as a result of identifying ourself as a separate individual. This 30 minute lecture is a good introduction as to why mindfulness meditation practices are becoming a more accepted therapeutic tool in mainstream psychiatric circles. The lecture is available on The Great Courses YouTube channel.

5. Fundamentals of Photography: Composition

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Fundamentals of Photography taught by Professor Joel Sartore. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

With the advent of digital photography, most of us are now photographers to some extent. Learn how to improve your photography with tips on composition from National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore. In this lecture from his course Fundamentals of Photography, Professor Sartore gives advice on how to turn even the most mundane settings into interesting photographic subjects. He teaches about the rule of thirds and when to use vertical composition. While some of the concepts might only apply to those with professional cameras and lenses, many of the tips Professor Sartore gives can even be applied to the photos you take with your mobile phone. He provides numerous examples of his own photographic experiments to illustrate his points.

6. Train Yourself Like a Dog

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Outsmart Yourself: Brain-Based Strategies to a Better You taught by Peter M. Vishton, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

The human brain is very complex, but in this lecture Professor Peter M. Vishton, Ph.D. suggests some easy and proven ways that you can influence your brain particularly when it comes to bad habits. Dr. Vishton first suggests that the mere act of writing down when you perform a bad habit is a good start to getting control of it. He goes on to cite studies of positive and negative reinforcement for conquering bad habits and how effective they have been. He sums up the lecture by reminding us that most of the things we do during the day are habitual and as Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do”. So we might as well try to get control of our habits instead letting them control us. This 30-minute lecture is available on The Great Courses YouTube channel.

7. Why America Wrote the Declaration of Independence

To commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago on July 4, 1776, we’re featuring this free lecture from The Great Courses. In this lecture, Professor Joseph F. Kobylka charts how the philosophy behind the American revolution changed as the conflict between the colonies and Great Britain heated up. Using John Locke as a formative model, American thinkers such as John Dickinson, Samuel Adams, and Thomas Jefferson first argued for their rights based on a status as English citizens. When they slowly began to view the British government as abusive, their conciliatory stance began to shift into to a then innovative universal argument based on natural human rights. In this crucial moment, a new, truly revolutionary philosophy was born out of the conflict; a philosophy that led to the Declaration of Independence, and gave birth to a new nation founded on an equal relationship between the government and the people.

8. Why You Stress

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called How to Make Stress Work for You taught by Professor Kimberlee Bethany Bonura, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this free lecture from The Great Courses, Professor Kimberlee Bethany Bonura starts with the equation that arousal plus your value judgment equals stress. She emphasizes the importance of one’s perception when it comes to stressing out under a given circumstance, and also points out many of the cultural and environmental factors that contribute to stress. She also points to studies where genetics and early life experience play a heavy role as to how you’ll react to stress later in life. She places stress on a continuum, where very low stress can lead to boredom and poor performance, but too high of stress can lead to anxiety and poor performance as well. In between these two extremes you can find an optimal level of aroused stress that leads to your best performance.

9. Causes of The Great Recession

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called International Economic Institutions: Globalism vs. Nationalism taught by Professor Ramon P. DeGennaro, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Learn about the many causes of The Great Recession which led to economic decline in the United States and world markets in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Professor Ramon P. DeGennaro, Ph.D. explores the many risks that were taken which led to the crisis in this lecture from his course International Economic Institutions: Globalism vs. Nationalism. Financial institutions in the 2000s began taking enormous risks particularly in the housing market. Helped out by low interest rates and fewer regulations, banks and investors mismanaged their risks while mortgage defaults were rising. Using many analogies to help us understand the complex economic forces at play, Professor DeGennaro takes a long view of economic best practices to demonstrate how many financial institutions were brought down during The Great Recession.

10. Can Adult Brains Change for the Better?

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience taught by Professor Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Hear about the exciting new science of adult neurogenesis, which is the process by which new neurons are generated in the adult brain. Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D. explains that for many years in neuroscience, scientists thought once the adult brain was fully developed that adults could not grow new neurons. But recent science has proven that new development is possible, especially in the hippocampus of the brain which is associated with memory. Dr. Viskontas also examines some of the ways in which brain power can be boosted and how exercise, food, and pills affect the brain. Learn how you can start growing new neurons today!

11. The Art of Debate: Using Evidence in Debate

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Art of Debate taught by Professor Jarrod Atchison, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this lecture from The Great Courses course The Art of Debate, Professor Jarrod Atchison, Ph.D. teaches about four different kinds of evidence that are frequently used in debate. He first discusses the power of using a story as evidence for an argument. He then describes the use of empirical evidence such as data and statistics. He provides examples of how authority can play an important role in evidence used in a debate. And lastly, he tells of the importance of the personal narrative in debate, which is usually more persuasive than describing the narrative of someone else. He applies all these types of evidence to a hypothetical debate about assisted suicide. Expand your power to debate with these strategies of using evidence.

12. Mind-Body Philosophy: History of the Soul

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Mind-Body Philosophy taught by Professor Patrick Grim, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this lecture Professor Patrick Grim, Ph.D. outlines the complex history of the soul in Western philosophy and religion. Starting with its roots in Homeric literature and Greek philosophy along with the Old Testament, Dr. Grim demonstrates how early conceptions of the soul differed from what would become more modern conceptions in thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine which emphasized a dualistic approach between a temporal body and an eternal soul. At the end of the lecture Professor Grim marks some thinkers who led to a decline in the discussion of the soul in philosophy and psychology, including Rene Descartes and William James.

13. History of Slang in the English Language

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Secret Life of Words: English Words and Their Origins taught by Professor PAnne Curzan, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

This entertaining lecture from The Great Courses provides some history to the often used, but seldom studied subject of slang in language. Professor Anne Curzan, Ph.D. gives many examples of the history of slang words, some which have lasted the test of time, some which are newer, and some which have faded from use. She provides examples of how slang is used among youth and subcultures to rebel against the mainstream and formal communication. The lecture is sure to produce a few chuckles as Professor Curzan explains in scholarly terms many words and terms which are generally not used in the college classroom.

14. Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe: Inexplicable Space

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries taught by Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Popular science communicator Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He’s become a superstar of teaching astronomy and physics and even hosted the popular TV update of Cosmos which aired on the Fox Network and on streaming platforms back in 2014. He taught a 12-lecture course for The Great Courses called My Favorite Universe and a 6-lecture course called The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries. This free lecture is from The Inexplicable Universe course and is called “Inexplicable Space”. Professor Tyson takes a look at the 95% of the universe that is currently unknown and referred to as dark matter and dark energy. He also examines what is going to happen in 4.5 billion years when The Milky Way Galaxy is expected to collide with the Andromeda Galaxy.

15. Religion: Its Meaning and Importance

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Cultural Literacy for Religion taught by Professor Mark Berkson, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this introductory lecture to The Great Courses course Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, Professor Mark Berkson, Ph.D. begins the course with citing studies as to how little the average American knows about the major world’s religions. He feels there are many reasons for this including the reluctance of schools to teach about world religions in K-12 education. Dr. Berkson gives his arguments for why he feels literacy of religion is so important. He then sets out on the complicated task of defining religion, in which he provides a multifaceted approach that seeks to encompass the aspects of all major religions and how they differ from other disciplines such as science and philosophy.

16. Learning French Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Learning French: A Rendezvous with French-Speaking Cultures taught by Professor Ann Williams, PH.D., DEA. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Enjoy this free lecture on French language and culture from The Great Courses. Much more than a listen-and-repeat French learning program, this video course called Learning French: A Rendezvous with French-Speaking Cultures gives viewers an introduction to the French-Speaking World providing language learning, travel tips, French customs, and much more. Professor Ann Williams is an enthusiastic presenter and the course includes visuals cues and words that she is using along the way. In this lecture you’ll learn about the rules of French verbs, adjectives, and adverbs and how they are commonly used in French culture. She moves along quickly and you’ll probably want to have some basic understanding of the French language to supplement this course, but it seems to be an excellent introduction particularly for French learners who want to travel to France someday.

17. H.G. Wells and Utopian Science Fiction

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature taught by Professor Pamela Bedore, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

The final decades of the 19th century saw the birth and development of science fiction as a new literary genre, with the concept of utopia in particular being a favorite subject of early writers. In this free Great Course lecture, Literature Professor Pamela Bedore focuses on two books by science fiction forefather H.G. Wells that ask the question: is imagining a utopia inherently a part of science fiction? Using both Wells’ classic The Time Machine and a lesser known work called A Modern Utopia as her texts, Professor Bedore demonstrates how science fiction can be utilized to explore how current societies might evolve if certain trends predominate, leading to interesting utopian futures that sometimes look positive on the surface, but often come with hidden costs.

18. The Economics of Racial Discrimination

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Unexpected Economics taught by Professor Timothy Taylor. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Can economic data be used to track discrimination practices in the United States? As Professor Timothy Taylor demonstrates in this lecture for The Great Courses, the numbers sometimes do tell the tale. Using various data collected across standard U.S. government statistical sources, Taylor focuses on the plight of African Americans, demonstrating how small, racially biased decisions in the job market, hiring practices, and housing demographics reveals itself through statistical discrimination across the country. Even with measures taken on a policy level to even the playing field for minorities, Professor Taylor effectively notes how small discriminatory choices made on an institutional level can add up to a widespread phenomenon of racial bias.

19. A Tour of Central Turkey

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Great Tours: Greece and Turkey, from Athens to Istanbul taught by Professor John R. Hale, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Homeland of the great Persian poet Rumi, central Turkey features a wide range of locations, from cosmopolitan cities to astonishing natural and man-made archeological sites. In this free Great Courses lecture, Professor John R. Hale serves as your field guide through his favorite destinations, including the capital Ankara, Rumi’s Konya, and the exotic Cappadocia. The highlights of this video tour include a look at Rumi’s birthplace, the otherworldly volcanic formations in Cappadocia, and a nearby underground cave network miraculously built by Christian refugees. This is an unparalleled introduction to a part of the world that goes beyond the well-traveled paths of Istanbul into a remote region that few have seen in such detail.

20. The Role Women Played in the American Revolution

In many ways the late 18th century American revolutionary period remains a somewhat ambiguous moment for the role of women. Looking back, Professor Peter C. Mancall sees a time when women were culturally omitted from official documents (e.g. “all men are created equal”), trapped in unfair marriage laws, and all but imprisoned in the role of homebound nurturer for future male leaders. Despite these factors, key voices do emerge that would later cause historic waves, most notably Abigail Adams, whose writings are a remarkable testament to her important role in early government leadership. The Declaration’s language can also be traced to the later women’s suffrage movement, which realized astutely that women needed formal inclusion in the political system in order to legally erase their status as second-class citizens.

21. Alexander the Great’s Impact on the Jews

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Jesus and His Jewish Influences taught by Professor Jodi Magness, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

During the 4th century BC, Alexander of Macedonia made an incredible push into the Far East, leaving ripples in his wake that had an impact across many different cultures. In this free lecture provided by the Great Courses, Professor Jodi Magness discusses Alexander’s influence on ancient Palestine, and the various legends that came up about his supposed time in the region. Professor Magness also uses scriptural citations to demonstrate how the ancient Jews drew parallels between Alexander the Great and Jesus Christ, using the former as a semi-divine precursor to the new Christian era.

22. Papal Elections, Then & Now

Learn the twisty history of how the Pope is elected in this free 30-minute lecture provided by the Great Courses. Professor Thomas F.X. Noble guides listeners, starting with Saint Peter’s origins in Rome as the first pope, and how the church Cardinals became key officers in electing every Pope thereafter. The papacy went through a period of political interference throughout the Middle Ages that led to a succession of differing election methods that were often factional, or overtly biased, leading to the more streamlined Papal succession ritual we know today.

23. Does Technology Make You Stupid?

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience taught by Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

It is frequently suggested that technology is making people more stupid, but in this lecture from The Great Courses, Professor Indre Viskontas, Ph.D. takes a more nuanced view of what technology might be doing to our intelligence and our ability to pay attention. This 30-minute lecture is from her course Brain Myths Exploded: Lessons from Neuroscience and she takes on many of the common myths involving smartphones, social media, and computers. She covers a lot of ground in this lecture and cites many recent studies that have dealt with how these new technologies are transforming our world and our minds.

24. English Grammar Boot Camp: Why Do We Care about Grammar?

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called English Grammar Boot Camp: Why Do We Care about Grammar? taught by Professor Anne Curzan, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

This is an enjoyable lecture for grammar nerds of all ages. Professor Anne Curzan, Ph.D.
opens her course from The Great Courses called English Grammar Boot Camp with a lecture entitled “Why Do We Care about Grammar?” She provides some personal history as to how she became obsessed with grammar and goes on to demonstrate that grammar is more fluid and debatable than we might assume. Professor Curzan is on the usage panel for The American Heritage Dictionary and she provides examples of how she and her fellow language experts weigh in on word usage that is controversial or problematic. This lecture will give you a better idea about how best grammar practices are determined and how they change over time.

25. How England Colonized India

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called A History of British India taught by Professor Hayden J. Bellenoit, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Within three generations the British East India Company would supplant the reigning Mughal dynastic empire to become the masters of the Indian subcontinent. In this free lecture provided by The Great Courses, Professor Hayden J. Bellenoit explains some of the factors that brought about such a remarkable shift in India, starting in the 1700s until the rise of Mahatma Gandhi. Professor Bellenoit skillfully lays out three main points that led to British dominance, including decentralization of the empire’s power base, the strong worldwide demand for Indian goods, and the willingness of prominent banking families to play ball; all of which set the stage for one of the most ruthless examples of colonialism that the world has ever seen.

26. An Analysis of Odysseus

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Great Mythologies of the World. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

For this free 30-minute lecture provided by The Great Courses, Professor Kathryn McClymond gives a close-up analysis of Odysseus, the Greek hero of Homeric myth, master schemer, and perhaps one of the earliest “everyman” superheroes. Odysseus’s clever nature serves him well during the Trojan War, but becomes a liability as he and his men encounter countless obstacles in a 20-year effort to return home. Themes of identity are also at play throughout the epic of The Odyssey, as Odysseus can’t help but hide his true nature under different guises before coming to peace with himself in the arms of a loving wife and son. What we see in Professor McCymond’s lecture is a complex hero who is capable of withstanding incredible physical hardships, yet finds the ultimate challenge to be his own flawed character.

27. The Unfolding Ukraine-Russia Crisis

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called
A History of Eastern Europe taught by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Learn about the history of the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis in this lecture from The Great Courses from their course A History of Eastern Europe taught by Professor Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius. In the first half of the lecture, Professor Liulevicius gives a quick summary of Ukraine-Russia relations over the centuries and explains how groups of people in the Ukraine are split between their affinities to Russia and to the West. The last half of the lecture focuses on the current Ukraine-Russia crisis in which Russian military intervention led to the annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Learn about this political hot spot that is continuing to play a major role in geopolitics today.

28. Napoleon: The Revolutionary Emperor

In this excellent lecture provided by the Great Courses, Professor Jonathan Steinberg touches on the rise, genius, and legacy of Napoleon Bonaparte. Within the span of 30 minutes, Steinberg provides unique insight as to how Bonaparte modernized and stabilized France during a chaotic revolutionary era in the 1790s, rising from humble origins through sheer charismatic genius, innovative military precision, and unmatched leadership ability. As Professor Steinberg argues, the history of modern France is marked by a period before and after Napoleon permanently altered the landscape, and there may be no comparable figure with such a lasting legacy.

29. Introduction to The Analects of Confucius

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius taught by Professor Robert Andre LaFleur, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

According to Professor Robert Andre LaFleur, The Analects of Confucius can be summed up in one word: imagination. As opposed to seeing Confucius as a “parochial moralizer”, Professor LaFleur sees the Chinese teacher as a visionary philosopher who taught that we must re-imagine “work” as something that goes beyond being a mere job so that it becomes more of an overall outlook on life. In this Great Courses introduction to an in-depth exploration of the Confucian Analects, Lafleur invites us to enter a discussion about how committed, life-long study can lead to a good life that is both self-fulfilling and inherently communal. Technical proficiency is not enough; as Confucius says, we have to live our work, and share it with others.

30. Stonehenge and Ancient Astronomy

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Remarkable Science of Ancient Astronomy taught by Professor Bradley E. Schaefer, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this free lecture provided by The Great Courses, Professor Bradley Schaefer takes viewers on an introductory tour of the methods used by ancient astronomers to map and utilize the stars in the night sky. The first segment focuses on England’s Stonehenge monument, perhaps the most famous artifact of archeoastronomy in the world. Professor Schaefer explains how Stonehenge was created between 3100 and 1600 BC, and offers up a few of the popular theories about the people that made it, including the site’s longtime association with the druids and paganism. The course that follows will trace thousands of years of the history of ancient astronomy, from 4,000 BC to the Renaissance, covering the world’s monuments to the cardinal and solstitial directions, and much more.

31. Using Bird Behavior to Identify Birds

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America taught by Professor James Currie. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

With over 700 avian species in North America alone, identifying specific birds can be quite daunting for the beginner! In this Great Courses lecture provided in partnership with National Geographic, birding enthusiast James Currie explains how you can get better at quickly identifying the different birds you see in the wild. Currie says that seasoned birdwatchers break the basic cues down based on behavior, outlining 6 categories that include typical features, feeding traits, flight configuration, flocking patterns, mating habits, and nesting complexity. As he breaks these categories down with video references, the viewer is given excellent tips they can go out and watch for right away, wherever they are and whatever level of birdwatching experience they have.

32. Two Prototypes for The Theory of Everything

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality taught by Professor Don Lincoln, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

The biggest possible goal of modern science is nothing less than a complete understanding of the fundamental rules of the universe. As Professor Don Lincoln explains, he and his colleagues in the scientific community have long understood that all of the phenomena we can observe seems interconnected by a deeper principle that gives rise to everything we see. In this free lecture provided by the Great Courses, we learn about the standard model, which covers the micro, sub-atomic nature of reality, and Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which still stands as our best explanation for how gravity and the nature of space/time works. A key figure in the cutting-edge physics covered in this course, Professor Lincoln serves as the perfect guide to explain these mind-boggling concepts, breaking down what we know, where there are theoretical gaps, and how we might clarify the mysteries that still elude us.

33. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Huns and Vandals

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Books That Matter: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire taught by Professor Leo Damrosch, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

This free Great Courses lecture is part of the Books that Matter series, focusing this time on Edward Gibbon’s landmark The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In this lecture Harvard Professor Leo Damrosch discusses the Eastern invaders that finally broke Roman dominance, and in the process became major contributors to what would become Modern Europe. The chapters covered here include a brief biographical sketch of Attila the Hun and his leadership qualities, the sack of Rome by the Vandals, an interesting note on the last Roman Emperor, a look at Gibbon’s distaste for Monastic isolation, and much more. This is a great taste of the sheer breadth of Professor Damrosch’s genius as a literary scholar, and his ability to weave commentary on Gibbon’s life in with an expert analysis of the historical period covered.

34. The Origins of Agriculture in Human History

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Big History of Civilizations taught by Professor Craig G. Benjamin, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

How did human beings make the leap from nomadic communities dedicated to foraging over to village-based civilizations built around agriculture? In this free 30-minute lecture provided by The Great Courses, Professor Craig G. Benjamin outlines the current academic thinking on the factors that led to this major transition in human history, which took place over 11,000 years ago. These circumstances include post ice age climate change, which created stable environmental factors in areas like the fertile crescent, animal and plant domestication breakthroughs, and demographic pressures that made it more sensible to stay and develop a single piece of land. With the advent of agriculture, Professor Benjamin notes that human beings were suddenly set on a new historical trajectory; a pathway that made civilization as we know it possible.

35. The Apocrypha and the Cult of Mary

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Apocryphal Jesus taught by Professor David Brakke. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Mary has been a controversial figure throughout Christian history, with some viewing her as a semi-divine figure of veneration, and others decrying the idea of placing her on such a high pedestal, despite being the mother of Jesus. In this free Great Courses lecture, Professor David Brakke dives into the Gospel’s account of Mary before exploring how different apocryphal stories expand upon her biography, including emphasis on her virginal purity, her special access to Jesus, and differing accounts of her death. As Brakke moves through these stories, he teases out how the figure of Mary may reveal tensions in the early Church that were gradually smoothed over as mainstream Christian doctrine took shape.

36. The Detective in Mystery and Suspense Fiction

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Secrets of Great Mystery and Suspense Fiction taught by Professor David Schmid, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

The detective is the central figure of the mystery and suspense genre. As Professor David Schmid says in this free Great Courses Plus lecture, where crime disrupts, the detective restores order; if crime is an illness, the detective is the doctor. In this lecture on the creation of the Detective, Schmid uses Edgar Allan Poe’s C. August Dupin, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot as examples of how the core traits of the detective were established, and how their comparative differences helped the character type evolve. As Professor Schmid puts it, readers still love detectives because of how they make sense of an often irrational world, and this lecture is a great entry-point for anyone curious about the origins of these beloved creations.

37. Greek 101: The Greek Alphabet & Pronunciation

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Greek 101: Learning an Ancient Language taught by Professor Hans-Friedrich Mueller, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Professor Hans-Friederich Mueller hosts a full lecture devoted to the entire Greek alphabet in this free lecture provided by The Great Courses. Here Mueller will guide you through each letter, before progressing to basic words, the tricky pronunciations that crop up, and the complex sentences that come out as a final result. As you follow along, you are encouraged to verbally repeat these Greek grammar basics, helping you retain and eventually enjoy an important language used by Homer, Shakespeare, and The Bible.

38. Visualizing Extraordinary Ways to Multiply

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Irish Identity: Independence, History, and Literature taught by Professor Marc C. Conner, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this fun and often illuminating lecture provided by The Great Courses, math evangelist James S. Tanton talks all about how to visualize multiplication in new, often counter-intuitive ways. From quirky examples like the line method (which doesn’t look like it should work at all), to how we might rethink the usual algorithms we learn in grade school, Professor Tanton does a great job of breaking up the anxiety we sometimes attach to mathematical problems. Enthusiastic and excited to share these methods, Tanton closes the lectures with a closed fist method that will get you playing along with him as he makes math easier to understand.

39. Science of Flight: Breaking the Sound Barrier

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Science of Flight taught by Professor James W. Gregory, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

What made the sound barrier such a difficult challenge for early flight pioneers, and why did it represent such a fundamental breakthrough for the future of aviation? In this lecture delivered by Professor James W. Gregory, we take an inside look at the basic scientific problems surrounding supersonic flight that had to be solved, including wing design, high-speed air pressure dynamics, and the mechanical dangers that made many in the scientific community conclude it simply wasn’t possible to fly faster than sound. Gregory provides helpful animations and archive footage to illustrate how test pilot Chuck Yeager finally broke the barrier in 1947, ushering in the jet age that we still benefit from, and even take for granted today.

40. How to Grow Anything: Plan the Garden of Your Dreams

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called How to Grow Anything: Your Best Garden and Landscape in 6 Lessons taught by Professor Melinda Myers. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

For this free Great Courses lecture, horticulturist Melinda Myers walks you through the broad steps needed to transform your backyard into a beautiful garden you can enjoy and use for years to come. Using a large property as her test garden, Myers talks about “The 4 Rs” everyone should remember before redesigning their space: the Right Plant, the Right Purpose, the Right Place, and the Right Look. From there, Myers talks about how to evaluate what you have, what you might need to do to prepare your land, and what flora and fauna might be best for you given the realities of climate, plant hardiness, and what’s important to you aesthetically. Wonderful for those that are itching to work with their green thumb but don’t know where to start!

41. Effective Communication Skills: The Social Context

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called Effective Communication Skills taught by Professor Dalton Kehoe. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this free lecture from The Great Courses course Effective Communication Skills, Professor Dalton Kehoe, Ph.D. takes us into the essential element of social context that is present whenever and wherever we are communicating. Why do we whisper when we enter a cathedral? Dr. Kehoe examines this and many other social situations and how our learned cultural experiences pass on the values and norms of our communication. He also provides some insights into how cultures are different when it comes to their methods of communication citing a study of students from Southern U.S. states versus Northern U.S. states. This is a compelling lecture that will get you thinking about how your own culture has shaped your communication.

42. Introduction to World Economic History

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called An Economic History of the World since 1400 taught by Professor Donald J. Harreld, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

In this opening lecture of the course An Economic History of the World Since 1400, Professor Donald J. Harreld starts out by describing his own interest in economic history. He then lays out many of the terms that will be examined in various stages of the history he will be teaching in the course including production, demand, distribution, business contracts, markets, trade, and even a complex definition of capitalism itself. He also briefly describes some of the schools of economics that will be studied during the course such as neoclassical economics and Marxian economics.

43. Learning How to Practice the Guitar

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called
Learning to Play Guitar: Chords, Scales, and Solos taught by Professor Colin McAllister, D.M.A.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

Professor Colin McAllister teaches his methods for practicing the guitar in this lectures from The Great Courses course Learning to Play Guitar: Chords, Scales, and Solos. He tells a story about the importance of practice and then goes on to teach how to hold the guitar and how to play some simple notes, chords, and scales. Along the way you’ll see helpful diagrams to show you how to play each of these elements.

44. Roots of Irish Identity: Celts to Monks

This lecture is part of a course from The Great Courses called The Irish Identity: Independence, History, and Literature taught by Professor Marc C. Conner, Ph.D.. This course and over 300 other courses can be accessed with a subscription to The Great Courses Plus.

The Great Courses have added over 50 free lectures from their latest courses to their YouTube channel. One of the lectures they added comes just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. The lecture is called “Roots of Irish Identity: Celts to Monks” from their course Irish Identity: Independence, History, and Literature taught by Professor Marc C. Conner, Ph.D.. In the lecture Professor Conner introduces the course by tracing Irish identity back to the Celts as he details their mythology. He also provides the background of Saint Patrick and of the monks who “saved civilization” by writing out much of the knowledge of Greek and Roman literature after the collapse of the Roman Empire. You’ll probably want to watch this lecture as it contains some beautiful imagery of Ireland and aspects of Irish civilization. Get in the Irish spirit with this free lecture from The Great Courses.

45. Learn How the Assassination of JFK Changed Our World

For people of a certain generation, the John F. Kennedy assassination changed America forever, prefiguring a loss of innocence that has lasted into the modern era. In this lecture from The Great Courses, Professor J. Rufus Fears accesses JFK’s short presidency, from how it offered a new era of hopeful ambition after World War II, to how he handled the Cuban Missile Crisis, to how he may have averted U.S. deepened involvement in Vietnam if he had lived. In the end, Fears believes that JFK’s death changed history for the worse, and in this lecture he makes a compelling case for what might have been.

December 1, 2016

The Charlie Rose Archive is Back Up

We’re not sure exactly when it happened, but Charlie Rose’s video archive is back up on CharlieRose.com. This archive features over 10,000 interviews with notable authors, entertainers, political figures, business leaders, and more going back to when Charlie Rose started his show in 1991. These videos used to be up on the abandoned video platform Google Video, but when that shut down, the Charlie Rose show moved over to Hulu. On Hulu most of the archive disappeared and the new shows were only viewable in the United States. Now the archive has been restored in its entirety and the videos are hosted and playable right on CharlieRose.com.

Back in 2012 we went through the entire Charlie Rose archive and picked out 350 of the best Charlie Rose interviews to feature on LearnOutLoud.com. We’ve fixed the links and embeds, and we’ve put those interviews back up into our free directory:

350 of the Best Charlie Rose Guests on LearnOutLoud.com

We hope to add more of the best of Charlie Rose interviews to our site next year.

We’ve done a few blog posts on Charlie Rose interviews. He has interviewed many great film directors and actors which we featured in a previous blog post:

Top 10 Charlie Rose Interviews of Film Directors and Actors

Another blog post we did featured videos from the Charlie Rose Brain Series which covers many topics related to the latest findings in neuroscience:

Charlie Rose Brain Series

We’ll now feature some of the best of the best guests that Charlie has interviewed over the years. We’ve separated these by Personal Growth Experts, Business Leaders, Political Figures, Writers, and Entertainers:

Personal Growth Experts:

A Conversation about Nutrition with Dr. Andrew Weil

A Conversation about the Science of Happiness with Martin Seligman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and others

An Interview with Steven R. Covey

A Conversation about Health and Disease Prevention with Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen

Business Leaders:

An Hour with Jack and Suzy Welch

An Hour with Management Consultant Jim Collins

A Conversation with Business Guru Tom Peters

A Conversation with Lee Iacocca

A Conversation with Michael Milken & Muhammad Yunus

A Conversation with Jeff Bezos on Amazon.com

The Future with Eric Schmidt, Marc Andreessen, and Bill Gates

An Exclusive Conversation with Warren Buffett (at the start of the 2008 financial crisis)

Political Figures:

An Hour with Illinois Senator Barack Obama on Nov. 23, 2004

A Conversation with Guest Host Judy Woodruff and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney

A Conversation with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

An Hour with Mikhail Gorbachev

A Talk with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran

A Discussion on Abortion with Arianna Huffington and Laura Ingraham

A Conversation with Noam Chomsky

An Appreciation of William F. Buckley

Two Conversations with Filmmaker Michael Moore

A Conversation with Bill O’Reilly

Writers:

A Conversation with Author David McCullough

A Conversation with Author Tom Wolfe

A Conversation with Carl Sagan on Pale Blue Dot

Gore Vidal Discusses His Life

An Interview with David Foster Wallace

A Conversation with Author John Updike on The Greatest American Short Stories of This Century

Author Christopher Hitchens on Hitch-22

A Remembrance of Hunter S. Thompson

A Remembrance of Intellectual Susan Sontag

Entertainers:

A Conversation with Opera Singer Luciano Pavarotti

A Conversation with Radio Personality Garrison Keillor

A Conversation with Basketball Legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, and Bill Russell

A Conversation with Musician David Bowie

A Conversation with Comedian George Carlin

A Conversation with Rapper Kanye West

A Conversation with Julia Child

A Discussion of the Music Wars on the Internet with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy

An Interview with Conan O’Brien on October 20, 1993

A Conversation with Mick Jagger

An Interview with Fred Rogers

An Interview with Terry Gross

Also at the turn of the century Charlie Rose conducted a series of interviews about some of the most important things in the 20th century with all-star guest panels discussing the most formative events, the most important person, the greatest minds, the most influential artists, and the greatest athletes of the 20th century. Here are those specials:

A Discussion about Formative Events of the 20th Century

A Panel Discussion about the Idea of the Most Important Person of the 20th Century

An Hour Panel Discussion about the Greatest Minds and Breakthroughs of the 20th Century

An Hour Panel Discussion about the Most Influential Artist of the 20th Century

A Discussion about the Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century

Enjoy these and many, many more great shows from the modern master of interviews, Mr. Charlie Rose:

350 of the Best Charlie Rose Guests on LearnOutLoud.com