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The Story of the Jews: In the Beginning

   2013    History
With optional Hebrew subtitles. Simon Schama explores the history of the Jewish experience from ancient times to the present day. This programme begins the tale 3,000 years ago, with the emergence of a tribal people in a contested land and their extraordinary book, the Hebrew Bible, a chronicle of their stormy relationship with a faceless, formless, jealous God. It was loyalty to this 'God of Words' that defined the distinct identity of the ancient Jews and preserved it despite all that history could throw their way". The story unfolds with a dazzling cast of historical characters: Sigmund Freud dying in exile in London; Victorian evangelicals and explorers following 'in the footsteps' of Moses; Jewish mercenaries living, prospering and intermarrying in the pagan land of Egypt; Messianic Jews dreaming of the Apocalypse; and a Jewish historian, Josephus, who witnessed first-hand the moment when the apocalypse finally came and the Romans destroyed the Jewish High Temple in Jerusalem.
Series: The Story of the Jews

The Dream Team

   2012    Culture
Many consider it the greatest team ever assembled, in any sport. Yet even that description fails to give it proper credit for its impact. The original the Dream Team, the first U.S. Olympic team to include NBA stars was a phenomenon on and off the court. It mattered not that it dominated the Olympic competition. It won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, beating its eight opponents by an average of 44 points. What was important was that the Dream Team, gave fans a glimpse of basketball at its finest, and an entire world responded. The film is the definitive documentary of the historic 1992 USA Basketball team, featuring recent interviews with all 12 members, including Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Charles Barkley. Includes rare footage from USA Basketball's film library, and the untold story behind what has become part of basketball legend. Since 1992, basketball has exploded in popularity around the globe, rising to a place where it truly challenges soccer's status as the world's most popular sport. Much of that is due to the impact of the Dream Team, which attracted fans and followers wherever it went. "It was," said Coach Chuck Daly, "like Elvis and the Beatles put together. Traveling with the Dream Team was like traveling with 12 rock stars. That's all I can compare it to." And what a band it was. Start with three of the game's all-time greats: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Add the irrepressible Charles Barkley for a little spice, as well as seven more NBA All-Stars: centers David Robinson and Patrick Ewing, power forward Karl Malone, swingmen Scottie Pippen, Chris Mullin and Clyde Drexler and point guard John Stockton. Complete the roster with Christian Laettner, the best college player of 1991-92 and a future NBA All-Star. Opponents didn't have a chance, but they didn't care.

Ivory Tower

   2014    Culture
As tuition rates spiral beyond reach and student loan debt passes $1 trillion (more than credit card debt), IVORY TOWER asks: Is college worth the cost? From the halls of Harvard, to public colleges in financial crisis, to Silicon Valley, filmmaker Andrew Rossi assembles an urgent portrait of a great American institution at the breaking point. Through interviews profiled at Arizona State, Cooper Union, and Sebastian Thrun's Udacity-among several others-IVORY TOWER reveals how colleges in the United States, long regarded as leaders in higher education, came to embrace a business model that often promotes expansion over quality learning. Along the way we also find unique programs, from Stanford to the free desert school Deep Springs to the historically black all women's college Spelman, where the potential for life-changing college experiences endure.

The Hunt for Gravitational Waves

   2015    Science
Travel to the South Pole to discover the inside story of the greatest scientific quest of our time. In March 2014, a team of astronomers stunned the scientific world when they announced that their BICEP2 telescope at the South Pole had possibly detected a signal of 'gravitational waves' from the early universe. This is the inside story of the hunt for gravitational waves from the beginning of time. How the BICEP2 team came close to making one of the greatest discoveries of the century – and what happened when it all began to unravel...

Dancing in the Dark

   2015    Science
Scientists genuinely don't know what most of our universe is made of. The atoms we're made from only make up four per cent. The rest is dark matter and dark energy (for 'dark', read 'don't know'). The Large Hadron Collider at CERN has been upgraded. When it's switched on in March 2015, its collisions will have twice the energy they did before. The hope is that scientists will discover the identity of dark matter in the debris. The stakes are high - because if dark matter fails to show itself, it might mean that physics itself needs a rethink.

The Magic of Mushrooms

   2014    Science
Professor Richard Fortey delves into the fascinating and normally-hidden kingdom of fungi. From their spectacular birth, through their secretive underground life to their final explosive death, Richard reveals a remarkable world that few of us understand or even realise exists - yet all life on Earth depends on it. In a specially-built mushroom lab, with the help of mycologist Dr Patrick Hickey and some state-of-the-art technology, Richard brings to life the secret world of mushrooms as never seen before and reveals the spectacular abilities of fungi to break down waste and sustain new plant life, keeping our planet alive. Beyond the lab, Richard travels across Britain and beyond to show us the biggest, fastest and most deadly organisms on the planet - all of them fungi. He reveals their almost magical powers that have world-changing potential - opening up new frontiers in science, medicine and technology.
Our Universe

Our Universe

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Life

Life

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Modern Masters

Modern Masters

2024  Art
The Crime of the Century

The Crime of the Century

2021  Medicine
Life of a Universe

Life of a Universe

2017  Science
The Hunt

The Hunt

2015  Nature