Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Beginning around the 12th century CE, the professions of barber and surgeon were combined into a single occupation throughout much of Europe. And, as this animation from TED-Ed explores, while being on the receiving end of a medical procedure performed by one of these ‘barber-surgeons’ was certainly an unideal place to find oneself, this class of generalists did make notable contributions to the medical field. This slice-of-history video tracks the profession’s rise within monasteries to its dissolution in the 18th century as surgery became more specialised, and how the red-and-white barber pole is a symbol of the barber-surgeon’s legacy.
Video by TED-Ed
Directors: Arvind Singh Jeena, Anantha Krishnan
Writer: Stephanie Honchell Smith
Website: Totem Creative
video
Archaeology
What’s an ancient Greek brick doing in a Sumerian city? An archeological investigation
16 minutes
video
Family life
The migrants missing in Mexico, and the mothers who won’t stop searching for them
21 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes
video
History
From Afghanistan to Virginia – the Muslims who fought in the American Civil War
22 minutes
video
Family life
One family’s harrowing escape from postwar Vietnam, told in a poignant metaphor
10 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
Visit the small Texas community that lives in the shadow of SpaceX launches
14 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
Our world has very different contours when a millimetre is blown up to a full screen
8 minutes
video
War and peace
A frontline soldier’s moving account of the fabled ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914
12 minutes
video
History of technology
Replicating Shakespearean-era printing brings its own dramas and comedy
19 minutes