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Playlist
What does family mean?
Thought-provoking talks on the ever-expanding definition of what it means to be family.
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12:16
Veerle Provoost
Do kids think of sperm donors as family?
12 minutes 16 seconds
How do we define a parent -- or a family? Bioethicist Veerle Provoost explores these questions in the context of non-traditional families, ones brought together by adoption, second marriages, surrogate mothers and sperm donations. In this talk, she shares stories of how parents and children create their own family narratives.
09:31
A.J. Jacobs
The world's largest family reunion ... we're all invited!
9 minutes 31 seconds
You may not know it yet, but A.J. Jacobs is probably your cousin (many, many times removed). Using genealogy websites, he's been following the unexpected links that make us all, however distantly, related. His goal: to throw the world's largest family reunion. See you there?
16:57
Tiq Milan and Kim Katrin Milan
A queer vision of love and marriage
16 minutes 57 seconds
Love is a tool for revolutionary change and a path toward inclusivity and understanding for the LGBTQ+ community. Married activists Tiq and Kim Katrin Milan have imagined their marriage -- as a transgender man and cis woman -- a model of possibility for people of every kind. With infectious joy, Tiq and Kim question our misconceptions about who they might be and offer a vision of an inclusive, challenging love that grows day by day.
17:42
Taryn Simon
The stories behind the bloodlines
17 minutes 42 seconds
Taryn Simon captures the essence of vast, generation-spanning stories by photographing the descendants of people at the center of the narrative. In this riveting talk she shows a stream of these stories from all over the world, investigating the nature of genealogy and the way our lives are shaped by the interplay of many different forces.
15:00
Lemn Sissay
A child of the state
15 minutes
Literature has long been fascinated with fostered, adopted and orphaned children, from Moses to Cinderella to Oliver Twist to Harry Potter. So why do many parentless children feel compelled to hide their pasts? Poet and playwright Lemn Sissay tells his own moving story.
23:13
Andrew Solomon
Love, no matter what
23 minutes 13 seconds
What is it like to raise a child who's different from you in some fundamental way (like a prodigy, or a differently abled kid, or a criminal)? In this quietly moving talk, writer Andrew Solomon shares what he learned from talking to dozens of parents -- asking them: What's the line between unconditional love and unconditional acceptance?
13:38
Joseph Kim
The family I lost in North Korea. And the family I gained.
13 minutes 38 seconds
A refugee now living in the US, Joseph Kim tells the story of his life in North Korea during the famine years. He's begun to create a new life -- but he still searches for the family he lost.
10:24
Georgette Mulheir
The tragedy of orphanages
10 minutes 24 seconds
Orphanages are costly and can cause irreparable damage both mentally and physically for its charges -- so why are they still so ubiquitous? Georgette Mulheir gravely describes the tragedy of orphanages and urges us to end our reliance on them, by finding alternate ways of supporting children in need.
20:45
Jeffrey Kluger
The sibling bond
20 minutes 45 seconds
Were you the favorite child, the wild child or the middle child? Jeffrey Kluger explores the profound life-long bond between brothers and sisters, and the influence of birth order, favoritism and sibling rivalry.
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