The myth of Anansi, the trickster spider - Emily Zobel Marshall episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 9, 2026 · 7 MIN

The myth of Anansi, the trickster spider - Emily Zobel Marshall

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Follow the spider Anansi on his quest to complete a challenge from the Sky God in order to take ownership of the world’s stories.--Long ago, all stories belonged to Nyame, the all-seeing Sky God. But one creature, Anansi, was determined to bring the stories down to Earth. Anansi went to Nyame and requested to take ownership of the world’s stories. The Sky God told Anansi that he could have all the stories he wished — but only if he could complete an impossible task. Emily Zobel Marshall shares the cunning spider's journey.Lesson by Emily Zobel Marshall, directed by Keegan Thornhill.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-anansi-the-trickster-spider-emily-zobel-marshallDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-myth-of-anansi-the-trickster-spider-emily-zobel-marshall#digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.behance.net/cosmiconionring----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! zjweele13, Jurjen Geleijn, Anna-Pitschna Kunz, Edla Paniguel, Thomas Mungavan, Jaron Blackburn, Venkat Venkatakrishnan, ReuniteKorea, Aaron Henson, Rohan Gupta, Begum Tutuncu, Mikhail Shkirev, Brian Richards, Cindy O., Jørgen Østerpart, Tyron Jung, Carolyn Corwin, Carsten Tobehn, Katie Dean, Ezgi Yersu, Gerald Onyango, alessandra tasso, Côme Vincent, Doreen Reynolds-Consolati, Manognya Chakrapani, Ayala Ron, Samantha Chow, Eunsun Kim, Phyllis Dubrow, Ophelia Gibson Best, Paul Schneider, Joichiro Yamada, Henrique Cassús, Lyn-z Schulte, Elaine Fitzpatrick, Karthik Cherala, Clarence E. Harper Jr., Brad Sullivan, Karen Ho, Vignan Velivela, Ana Maria, Exal Enrique Cisneros Tuch, Tejas Dc, Khalifa Alhulail, Martin Stephen, Dan Paterniti, Jose Henrique Leopoldo e Silva, Elnathan Joshua Bangayan, Jayant Sahewal, Mandeep Singh, Abhijit Kiran Valluri and Kris Siverhus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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The myth of Anansi, the trickster spider - Emily Zobel Marshall

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