# Frances Larson: Why public beheadings get millions of views

In a disturbing — but fascinating — walk through history, Frances Larson examines humanitys strange relationship with public executions … and specifically beheadings. As she shows us, they have always drawn a crowd, first in the public square and now on YouTube. What makes them horrific and compelling in equal measure?

- Kind: Talk
- Year: 2015
- Runtime: 15 min
- By: TED.com
- Genres: Education, History
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/FrancesLarson_2015G)
- Licence or status: [CC BY-NC-ND 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/) (as the archive states it)
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/FrancesLarson_2015G?play=1)