Magic mushrooms, long considered sacred by the Indigenous Mazatec in Mexico, become the subject of scientific studies measuring the intense effects of its Psilocybin and its potential therapeutic use. In the second episode, we are introduced to Ben, who’s battled with crippling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) his entire life. When he had his firstborn, Ben’s life became full of panic attacks regarding his son’s safety, and he knew something had to change. Ben signed up for a psilocybin-assisted therapy clinical trial which was testing whether the psychedelic could help people with severe OCD. In the session under the influence of psilocybin, Ben felt decomposed and eventually grew into a tree. While living as a tree, he saw his human self, playing with his child. Though this sounds scary, from Ben’s perspective, it was beautiful. He was one with the universe, seeing himself in the ultimate third-person perspective. Finally, he saw how it could be different if he didn’t let his OCD control him. And several months out, all the symptoms disappeared. Ben’s story is one of many told in this series, which gives hope that help is right around the corner for the millions who suffer —often in silence— with debilitating mental disorders. But Michael Pollan’s work is showcasing the success stories. Often, even in the most successful trials, psychedelic-assisted therapy only helps up to a third of people enter remission. More frequently, patients are helped —sometimes substantially— but they still suffer with their illnesses and some people aren’t helped at all.
Three years in the making, Francis Whately’s film is a social and musical history of (probably) the world’s greatest music festival, as told by its principal curators, Michael and Emily Eavis, and many of the key artists who’ve appeared there between 1970 and 2019 – Billie Eilish, Thom Yorke, Florence Welch, Dua Lipa, The Levellers, Aswad, Orbital, Fatboy Slim, Linda Lewis, Noel Gallagher, Ed O’Brien, Chris Martin, Stormzy and more. Balancing the driving forces of social conscience and hedonism, Glastonbury has always been both a world apart and a barometer of the state of the nation. Looking at the hippie days, CND, the contribution of the travellers, dance music, Britpop, The Wall, the impact of television and the first black British solo headliner, this film takes viewers backstage and deep into the archive to reveal the forces that have driven this alternative nation between utopia and dystopia, the greatest night of your life and a muddy field in the middle of nowhere. This is not a chronological plod through the festival’s evolution so much as a thematic and story-driven exploration of the peaks and troughs, and the agonies and ecstasies, that have shaped Glastonbury’s 50 years and counting.
What if you could combat aging and discover the full potential of the human body? Global movie star Chris Hemsworth, despite being in peak superhero-condition, is on a personal mission to learn how to stay young, healthy, strong, and resilient. Undergoing a series of epic trials and extraordinary challenges in order to understand the limits of the human body, he'll learn firsthand how we can live better for longer by discovering ways to regenerate damage, maximize strength, build resilience, supercharge memory and confront mortality. Ever since his teenage years, stress has been part of Chris’s life, and he wants to learn how to deal with it better. Psychologist Modupe Akinola challenges him to stay calm during a terrifying walk along a crane that’s projecting out from the roof of a skyscraper. Modupe will train Chris in powerful physical and psychological techniques we can use to control the stress in our lives and combat the risk it poses to long-term health.
The film follows Opportunity, the Mars exploration rover launched in 2003, affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA. Oppy was originally expected to live for only 90 days but she ultimately explored Mars for nearly 15 years. With access to archival and interview footage with scientists and engineers and re-creations of the rover's treks over the Martian landscape in search of water, we will explore her groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans creators millions of miles away. The narrative interrogates the significance of Opportunity's endurance for the future of interstellar discovery.
(Click CC for subtitles) Ranjit, a farmer in India, takes on the fight of his life when he demands justice for his 13-year-old daughter, the victim of a brutal gang rape. His decision to support his daughter is virtually unheard of, and his journey unprecedented. Nominated for Best Documentary Award, the film has an undeniable and unshakable power. It is one of those documentaries where anyone who watches it won’t be the same person by the end as they were when it started. To Kill a Tiger offers the viewer remarkable access to village life, not just in the modest home where Ranjit’s family make roti on an open fire, but in the fields where they herd goats and collect water from a pump. The camera finds quiet details, like Ranjit’s daughter carefully weaving ribbons into her hair. Women and men insist that the community, not the criminal court, should solve the issue with a forced marriage—to remove the ‘stain on her’. The men become increasingly hostile—to the family, and eventually to the film crew itself.
In the captivating second part of “Our Universe”, chapters 4 to 6 are presented together in an unmissable journey through the cosmos and life on Earth. These episodes delve deep into the elements that formed our world, the essential role of water, and the unseen forces that shape our lives. They offer an enthralling exploration of our place in the Universe. Dive in to experience this profound story of existence, from stardust to soulmates. In the fourth chapter, we uncover how the elements essential to life were forged in the hearts of stars. Following a green sea turtle’s quest across the ocean for these elements, this episode reminds us that life is built from the remnants of ancient stars. The fifth chapter takes us back to the miraculous arrival of water on Earth, exploring how this vital substance transformed a barren landscape into a thriving blue planet. In the final chapter we witness gravity’s grand influence on life, following two king penguins as their journey of attraction and survival unfolds against the cosmic force that binds us all.
In the second episode, we are introduced to Ben, who’s battled with crippling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) his entire life. When he had his firstborn, Ben’s life became full of panic attacks regarding his son’s safety, and he knew something had to change. Ben signed up for a psilocybin-assisted therapy clinical trial which was testing whether the psychedelic could help people with severe OCD. In the session under the influence of psilocybin, Ben felt decomposed and eventually grew into a tree. While living as a tree, he saw his human self, playing with his child. Though this sounds scary, from Ben’s perspective, it was beautiful. He was one with the universe, seeing himself in the ultimate third-person perspective. Finally, he saw how it could be different if he didn’t let his OCD control him. And several months out, all the symptoms disappeared.
Ben’s story is one of many told in this series, which gives hope that help is right around the corner for the millions who suffer —often in silence— with debilitating mental disorders. But Michael Pollan’s work is showcasing the success stories. Often, even in the most successful trials, psychedelic-assisted therapy only helps up to a third of people enter remission. More frequently, patients are helped —sometimes substantially— but they still suffer with their illnesses and some people aren’t helped at all.