If you wanted to know why Highway 280 was a bad idea to start with, not to mention double decking the thing, all you had to do was ask James Howard Kunstler, an advocate for smarter city planning and perhaps the first militant new urbanist. According to Kunstler, suburban sprawl is “entropy made visible,” vast wastelands of asphalt and curb cuts turning America into a country of “places not worth caring about” and a nation not worth defending. The solution, he says, is better city planning, urban environments that are friendly to the public. Mixing the profound with profanity, Kunstler explains the new urbanist ideal in terms that are entertaining and easy to take to heart.

Kunstler’s speech is available in a larger format at TED Talks, one of our favorite sites. Each year, TED brings together 1,000 of the smartest people in the world to share their ideas and ponder the greater questions: Is there a God? Is there no God? Why are iPods so damn cool? And do black men ski? If you’re wasting time on the Internet, TED Talks will make you smarter while doing so. And if you don’t have time to waste, make time later.

— Kyle Whitmire