Based on Michael Pollan's book of the same name, "The Botany of Desire," looks at the ways in which plants have advanced their agenda, metaphorically speaking, by making themselves attractive to humans. There is a lot of speaking in metaphors in the two-hour documentary, much of it by Pollan himself, who regularly takes pains to remind us that he is, in fact, speaking metaphorically, because we have no words to describe the psychology of species beside our own. Besides, a little anthropomorphizing can be a useful thing when you're telling a story, especially when the moral is that we are all in this together, plants and people and every living thing, and so mutually dependent that it's impossible to tell the user from the used.
Over 500 Scots fought in the Spanish Civil War which devastated Spain 70 years ago. Emotions and memories of this extraordinary conflict are still alive and poignant. This two-part documentary series, narrated by actor David Hayman, remembers the major conflict through unseen, unique archive interviews with Scots who joined the International Brigade, or Brigaders as they are known.
Otters are so proficient at capturing the fish they live on that they have lots of time left over for play. And they seem to play with reckless abandon, sliding down steep canyons in deep snow and swimming under the ice in Yellowstone Lake. They submerge us into the lake to find strange underwater spires only recently discovered by man. Other creatures sometimes survive bitter winter seasons by stealing fish from the otter. Actually, they're pretty good at defending themselves, and this program catches some astonishing action between them and coyotes, eagles, beaver, and even an occasional grizzly bear.
On the night of August 12, 1967, grizzly bears in Glacier National Park killed two young women and severely mauled one man. For everyone involved, it remains an unforgettable night of crisis, intense fear, bravery and, ultimately, grief. Archival material, photographs, re-creations and interviews with survivors, witnesses and biologists provide a complete account of those events.
At the end of the American Revolution, frontier settlers beyond the Appalachian Mountains founded their own government. They named their new territory: The State of Franklin. Two men would decide its fate, John Sevier, the Governor of Franklin, a charismatic hero of the Revolution, was obsessed to see his dream realized at any cost. John Tipton, originally supported Franklin's independence, but as the new government led to chaos, he vowed to bring an end to the fledgling state and rejoin North Carolina. Their struggle would lead to bloodshed and change the U.S. Constitution forever. Discover the truth behind the myth and uncover the mystery behind what would have become America's 14th State: The Mysterious Lost State of Franklin.
This revealing film gives a new historical perspective that suggests the Battle of Shanghai in 1937 was the first battle of World War II.
The history of nuclear power, told by those who experienced it first-hand. The documentary focuses on events in the US, UK, France and Germany, charting its social and political development from the early days of post-war atomic euphoria through to the struggling 'nuclear renaissance' of the present day
Part One interweaves the present-day story of the Rosens, a young family on an odyssey to find a cure for their four-year old daughter’s rare genetic disease, with stories of the exciting discoveries of the early pioneers in genetics — Gregor Mendel, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Francis Crick and James Watson. This episode also tracks the dark period in human history when a little genetic knowledge was used to justify terrifying human experiments that culminated in the Holocaust.
Part Two begins with the story of the signature scientific achievement of our time: the mapping of the human genome. As scientists learn to read the genetic code, they grapple with the dangers inherent in increasingly sophisticated and easily available methods of intervening in the very essence of what makes us human, our DNA.
Based on the book The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies, The Codebreaker reveals the fascinating story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the groundbreaking cryptanalyst whose painstaking work to decode thousands of messages for the U.S. government.
Combining archive footage with present-day interviews, this documentary explores how Apollo's mission control helped change the course of history.
The discovery of a 500-year-old shipwreck off the Swedish coast, allowing underwater archaeologists to examine the engineering methods used at the time
A one-hour documentary that follows a pair of raptors, a life-long couple, as they reunite, having traveled separately across continents to the same location year after year to raise their young.
Marking the 100th anniversary of the unearthing of King Tutankhamun's tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter, this ambitious film is a journey of exploration and discovery. Egyptian co-hosts Yasmin El Shazly and Mahmoud Rashad delve into the mysteries and unanswered questions about the boy king's life: the religious and cultural revolution started by his father, those advising him as he ascends to the throne at a very young age, and the circumstances around his untimely death.
A documentary examining the motives and consequences of Konteradmiral Ludwig von Reuter's decision to sink the Kaiser's High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow after the First World War
Join award-winning gastroenterologist and neuroscientist Dr. Emeran Mayer to explore the vital connection between your gut and your brain and how it impacts your health. With a forefront view into the revolutionary science of the brain-gut connection, Mayer interprets the hidden conversation within our bodies that impacts our mood, anxiety, stress level, immune system, and overall well-being.
Gareth Jones, a young Welsh journalist, smuggled into Ukraine in March 1933. The region then experienced a completely unprecedented famine, both in terms of its scale and its causes. This famine, kept secret and decided by Stalin, is political. On his return, the journalist alerts the world but lies and Soviet manipulation triumph. This is the story of the power of inquiry and speech against the state apparatus. This is the story of a mass lie and crime.
In response to French Resistance activities in the area and the D-Day landing of June 6th, 1944, a German SS division arrived in the small French village of Oradour-sur-Glane on June 10th, 1944, and massacred 643 innocent civilians. It was one of the worst atrocities of WWII.
