Alkanes are kind of the wallflowers of organic chemistry, but they still have important functions in the world around us. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry we’re building our knowledge of organic molecules by learning all about these so called couch potatoes from how they are separated from crude oil to how to use Newman projections to predict torsional strain and steric hinderance. We’ll also learn the names of some common conformers and get an introduction to cycloalkanes.

Like a trendy dance, a fighting combo, or a secret handshake, organic reactions can be broken down into simpler steps. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll specifically be looking at alkene addition reactions, and with each new reaction ask ourselves three questions to help us puzzle through the mechanism and understand what’s going on.

Oxidation-reduction reactions are going on around us, and inside us, all the time, and we can make redox reactions in organic chemistry easier to understand by tracking carbon-oxygen bonds. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll focus on alkene redox reactions and revisit our 3-part secret handshake to help us better understand patterns and predict the products of these reactions.

Today Hank talks about the deliciousness of alkenes & alkynes, their structures, and how to remember which is which by simply knowing the alphabet. Also, he breaks down hydrogenation, halogenation, polymerization, and triglycerides all while helping us figure out the meaning of different names for fats.

Carbon-carbon double bonds are pretty common in nature, but triple bonds between carbons, called alkynes, are not. When alkynes do pop up in nature, it’s usually in a compound that’s toxic to humans, however, we can synthesize alkynes that are life saving medicines and materials. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll learn about alkynes and some of the reactions we can use them in (hint: it’s a lot of the same reactions we used for alkenes!)

This week, we're headed back to India to learn about the all night dance shows that culminate in killing a Demon (metaphorically): Kathakali! This form arose in the Kerala region of India, and tells traditional Indian stories, but with really remarkable makeup, hand positions, and dance moves.

You may think you know all about hypnosis from the movies. Zoolander, The Manchurian Candidate, etc... but there's a whole lot more going on. In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, Hank tells us about some of the many altered states of consciousness, including hypnosis.

Chapters:
Introduction: Hypnosis & Altered States of Consciousness
Facts & Fallacies About Hypnosis
How does hypnosis work?
Drug Tolerance & Neuroadaptation
Psychoactive Drugs
Depressants
Stimulants
Hallucinogens/Psychedelics
Non-Drug Induced Hallucinations
Review & Credits
Credits

In which John Green teaches you about the life and death of one of history's great explorers, Captain James Cook of the British Navy. He charted large swaths of the Pacific ocean, laid claim to Australia and New Zealand, and died a bizarre death in the Sandwich Islands, which are now called the Hawaiian Islands. Exactly how and why Captain Cook was killed in Hawaii is a long-running historical debate. John presents two interpretations of the event and talks about what the differing interpretations say about history. It turns out how the story is told depends on who is doing the storytelling, and people from different backgrounds can interpret events in very different ways. Also, there is a celebration and a mustache involved in this episode, so you definitely don't want to miss it.

Chapters:
Introduction
Captain James Cook
An Open Letter to "The White Man's Burden"
Captain Cook's Controversial Death
Interpretations of Captain Cook's Death: Makahiki
Issues with the Ritual Death Story
How Cook Actually (Probably) Died
Why Did Cook's Ritual Death Myth Persist?
Credits

In which John Green teaches you about American involvement in World War I, which at the time was called the Great War. They didn't know there was going to be a second one, though they probably should have guessed, 'cause this one didn't wrap up very neatly. So, the United States stayed out of World War I at first, because Americans were in an isolationist mood in the early 20th century. That didn't last though, as the affronts piled up and drew the US into the war. Spoiler alert: the Lusitania was sunk two years before we joined the war, so that wasn't the sole cause for our jumping in. It was part of it though, as was the Zimmerman telegram, unrestricted submarine warfare, and our affinity for the Brits. You'll learn the war's effects on the home front, some of Woodrow Wilson's XIV Points, and just how the war ended up expanding the power of the government in Americans' lives.

Chapters:
Introduction
American Involvement in WWI
The Sinking of the Lusitania
Why did the U.S. join WWI?
Mystery Document
America's Contributions to WWI
Pro-War Progressives
How WWI Expanded the U.S. Government's Power
Propaganda, Public Opinion, and the CPI
The Espionage Act of 1917
The Sedition Act
"Americanization"
Suppression of Free Speech
Positive Outcomes of WWI
The End of WWI
Credits

We don’t want to deluge you with information on the subject, but this week on Crash Course Mythology, Mike Rugnetta is talking once again about floods. We’re looking at ancient flood myths in the Americas, and what they can tell us about the stories that people tell, and how they can look similar, even in cultures separated by large swathes of time and space. We’ll talk about floods from Mayan and Aztec traditions, and as always, see if we can find something in these tales that gives us some insight into what it means to be a human.

In which John Green teaches you about Imperialism. In the late 19th century, the great powers of Europe were running around the world obtaining colonial possessions, especially in Africa and Asia. The United States, which as a young country was especially susceptible to peer pressure, followed along and snapped up some colonies of its own. The US saw that Spain's hold on its empire was weak, and like some kind of expansionist predator, it jumped into the Cuban War for Independence and turned it into the Spanish-Cuban-Phillipino-American War, which usually just gets called the Spanish-American War. John will tell you how America turned this war into colonial possessions like Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and almost even got to keep Cuba. The US was busy in the Pacific as well, wresting control of Hawaii from the Hawaiians. All this and more in a globe-trotting, oppressing episode of Crash Course US History.

Chapters:
Introduction
New Imperialism
Economic Motivations for American Imperialism
The Panama Canal
Rising Nationalism: The Pledge of Allegiance & Flag Day
American Territorial Expansion
Imperialism in the Pacific
The Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War
Mystery Document
America Declares War
The Events of the Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino War
American Territories Gained in the War
American Troops in China & The Philippines
The Philippine War
Puerto Rico, The Philippines, & The Foraker Act
Hawaiian Statehood
Anti-Imperialism
Supporters of Imperialism
Credits

When we talk about the American Revolution and Revolutionary War, the discussion often involves lofty ideals like liberty, freedom, and justice. The Declaration of Independence even opens with the idea that "all men are created equal." But it turns out, the war wasn't being fought on behalf of "all men." The war was mainly about freedom for white colonists, and liberty, justice, and the pursuit of happiness didn't apply to the Black people living in the British colonies. During the war, Black people took up arms on both sides of the conflict, and today we're going to learn how and why they participated.

In this episode of Crash Course History of Science, we travel to the Americas to ask the question, "When are we?" and get some answers. We'll look at the Maya, Inca, and Olmec civilizations and how they recorded their science.

Did you know that the fishier a fish smells, the longer it’s been out of the water? This is due to a chemical called trimethylamine, which is an amine, the class of organic compounds we’re discussing in this episode! Although they tend to be pretty stinky, amines are important in many fields like biochemistry, medicine, and agriculture. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’ll explore amine formation and basicity, and revisit some old friends, imines and enamines!

Hans Christian Oersted had just discovered the connection between electricity and magnetism. Meanwhile, a French physicist named André-Marie Ampère was experimenting with some wires, trying to learn more about the connection between currents and the magnetic fields they create. Ampère would discover one of the most fundamental laws of electromagnetism: what we now call Ampère’s Law.

Today, we're going to talk about one of the earliest animal senses, one that every life form we've ever found seems to have -- chemosensation -- or our sense of taste and smell. We'll discuss how animals use these senses to explore their environment and communicate, and how that pair of nostrils of yours is an example of convergent evolution. Also, before we wrap up our discussion of animal senses we're going to talk about a couple so specialized that seem straight from the pages of comic books -- the ability to sense electric and magnetic fields!

In which John covers the long, long history of ancient Egypt, including the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, and even a couple of intermediate periods. Learn about mummies, pharaohs, pyramids, and the Nile with John Green.

Chapters:
Introduction: Ancient Egypt
How The Nile Shaped Egypt
The Old Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The New Kingdom of Egypt
An Open Letter to King Tut
Credits

From the ancient Egyptian game of Senet to the Aztec’s Patolli, games have been played since the beginning of civilization. Today, your host Andre Meadows is going to take a look at a few of these games, including some that are actually still played today, and talk about how they’ve influenced our modern board and video games and why they have had such staying power.

The history of medicine is about two of our big questions: one, what is life? What makes it so special, so fragile, so… goopy!?
Two, how do we know what we know? Why should I take my doctor’s advice? Why are deep-fried Oreos bad for me?
It may be tempting to look at medicine as a science that has simply progressed over time—that medicine used to be bad, and its history is a story of how it got better.

Hank and his cat Cameo help teach us about animal behavior and how we can discover why animals do the things they do.