Documentary AreaSimply the best Documentaries

The human brain is the most complex object we’ve discovered in the universe, and every day much of its neural circuitry is taken up with the tens of thousands of decisions we need to make. ‘How do I decide?’ is a journey through the unseen world of decisions, and how they get made. Decisión-making is what allows us to navigate a course through life. Discover how important emotions are in making decissions and, as we learn more about our own brains, we can break away from slavery to our impulses. Neuroscience shows that you're made up of multiple competing drives and by understanding how choices battle it out in the brain, we can learn how to make better decisions.

Our lifespan is increasing by 2.5 years every decade - and a third of all babies born today can expect to live to 100. But living longer can come at a cost. Old age itself brings with it a range of debilitating illnesses, many of which are the result of accumulating damage during our lifetime. Three diseases in particular have become the main killers in the developed world - cancer, heart disease and dementia. But a revolution in bio-medicine is now offering new hope for the treatment of these ailments, and the potential to extend our lives still further. Methods such as gene editing and stem cell therapies are transforming the way medicine can conquer disease today. "How to Live Longer" counts with the guide of the Nobel laureate Sir Paul Nurse, for whom the big question isn't just what science can do to fix our bodies and extend our lives, but whether it's right to use all the tools and techniques available.

A third of the population regularly struggle with our sleep, which rose to one in two during the pandemic - the highest it's ever been. However, as more and more people seek help, an explosion in sleep science is enabling the study of sleep in ways not possible before. What's more, recent breakthroughs are uncovering what's happening in our brains and bodies while we're asleep, getting us closer than ever to understanding the importance of sleep for our health. Michael Mosley shows why cutting our sleep short can be linked to a host of illnesses, including serious diseases like Alzheimer's.
Revealing the very latest science breakthroughs and packed with personal anecdotes, this programme is a useful guide to anyone looking for tips and insights on how to get the benefits from learning how to sleep well.

Angela Rippon and Dr Chris van Tulleken travel the world in search of the latest science that could help us all stay young and healthy for longer. They investigate the best ways to help both our bodies and brains age better. Up first is the body, and Angela travels to Germany to join a groundbreaking study which reveals the exercise that holds off ageing the most. Chris visits America to find out about the unexpected diet that can add years to our lives. And in Ecuador we meet a seventeen-year-old who looks like a child to discover how scientists hope he may hold the key to preventing the diseases of ageing.

Has the age of antibiotics come to an end? From a young girl thrust onto life support in Arizona to an uncontrollable outbreak at one of the nation’s most prestigious hospitals, The film investigates the alarming rise of a deadly type of bacteria that our modern antibiotics can’t stop.

Why are ultra-processed foods so irresistible, and how they have come to dominate food culture? Dr Chris van Tulleken features interviews with former food industry insiders who talk openly about the way in which popular foods have been designed to be irresistible.
Food companies go to extraordinary lengths to ensure their products connect with consumers - from using brain scans to assess the deliciousness of ice cream to carefully engineering the sound of a crunch. Ultra-processed foods are hyper-delicious and super-convenient, have long shelf lives and are extremely cheap. But a growing body of evidence is linking these products to our declining health.