Lifelong learning is incredibly important, especially in politics, but not everyone has time for another degree, to read a thick book on a topic, et cetera. Ted Talks are a great way to continue learning from individuals with interesting perspectives for free and on you own schedule. I love Ted Talks because they’re quick, well-produced, informative, and I can find one about just about any topic.

I love politics, and I work in journalism, but I can always learn more about political topics, partisanship, debate, and how the political parties view different issues. Here are five Ted Talks on politics you need to see if you like politics.

How to disagree productively and find common ground 

Everyone disagrees with someone else, but having an argument with someone doesn’t always get you far. Disagreements in our hyper-partisan world often result in  a lack of compromise, but Julia Dhar’s talk dives into how we can stick to our principles and still find common ground during agreements. A must watch for people who love a good political argument.

 A Republican mayor’s plan to replace partisanship with policy 

Hear from a real elected official about how he flipped the script on the typical election process and what he learned from that. I love hearing from politicians with a sense of humor that are actually giving us the inside scoop into the process.

 Hamilton vs. Madison and the birth of American partisanship 

Who doesn’t love going back in history and talking about the Founding Fathers? It’s like scholastic Hamilton with a Harvard professor with real-world ramifications today?

 A conservative’s plea: Let’s work together 

Partisanship sucks, right? Yes, but you hardly hear partisan actors asking for people to work together. It’s all about the other side being Satan. Arthur Brooks argues for working together in this Ted Talk and will convince you of his argument pretty quickly.

Beware online “filter bubble”

We all make fun of liberal college campuses and “snowflakes” but “filter bubbles” are a real issue we need to start talking about. Why aren’t people exposed to new ideas? What can we do to encourage this healthy debate without jumping off a cliff of argument?

Aryssa D
FFL Cabinet Member