Here are some good lectures and speeches to watch on a Sunday morning, (or a Monday afternoon, or really any time).  I’ve posted most on these links on Twitter over the last couple months, and here they all are again, because this really is worth watching.

Niall Ferguson, who like all people with strong views about the big picture should be listened to with fascinated skepticism, talks about how empires fall, and about taking an evolutionary approach to finance history.

Frank Gavin is more grounded to earth when he talks about how to take the right lessons from history.

In Swedish, Hans Rosling explains that the taxonomy of industrial vs developing countries is 50 years out of date.

P.J. O’Rourke talks about his new book Don’t Vote.

Norman Doidge explains how neuroplasticity means your brain never stops changing.

Neal Stephenson talks about what science fiction is, and how it’s connected with mainstream culture.

Not having read anything by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, I must say she’s less fanatical than her reputation.

In Norwegian, Asle Toje talks about the Norwegian culture war.

Not a lecture, but an experimental documentary from my favorite documentarist: Adam Curtis presents an unnarrated view of the year 1970.

For your next two months of commuting, here’s Robert Shiller’s course on financial markets, and John Merriman’s on France Since 1871.

And, of course, Milton Freedman’s 1980 documentary series Free to Choose, which I wrote about recently.

Suggestion: Watch these videos instead of the news every other day or so.  You won’t miss anything.