From a childhood marked by poverty on the American frontier to the presidency of a nation on the verge of collapse, this three-part historical biography traces how Abraham Lincoln became one of the defining figures in American history. Blending dramatic reconstruction with commentary from historians and political figures, it explores the ambition, empathy, wit and moral conviction that shaped his rise, his belief in democracy and equality, and the immense personal and political pressures that would eventually place him at the center of the struggle over slavery, union and the future of the United States. In the first episode, Lincoln’s journey begins far from power. Growing up in hardship, enduring the death of his mother and receiving little formal education, he develops a fierce determination to rise beyond obscurity. Through hard physical labor, self-education, storytelling and an emerging talent for public speaking, he begins to build the character and political instincts that will define him. His early encounters with slavery, his move into law and politics, and the relationships that shape his ambitions reveal the making of a man who is still searching for his place in the world, but already driven by the conviction that his life must amount to something.
Orbiting Earth at around 27.000 km/h, the International Space Station is one of humanity’s greatest engineering achievements, but also one of the most unforgiving places ever built. Astronauts and mission controllers recount moments when routine work suddenly became a fight for survival: a spacesuit filling with water, toxic ammonia spraying across a spacewalker, dangerous temperature extremes, radiation, fire, contamination and the constant threat of collision. The series reveals how every mission depends on training, improvisation and split-second decisions in an environment where even a small failure can become fatal. Across the two episodes, presented here together in a single uninterrupted video, the danger escalates from the hazardous construction and maintenance of the station to the growing risks of life aboard it. Astronauts face micrometeoroids and space debris travelling at lethal speeds, docking emergencies and system failures, culminating in the extraordinary 2021 incident when the newly arrived Nauka module unexpectedly fired its thrusters and sent the entire ISS rotating out of control. With communications at risk and the structure under immense strain, crews in orbit and controllers on Earth must work together to regain control. The result is a gripping story of courage, science and survival inside a machine that has kept humans continuously living in space for more than two decades.
Professor Jerry Brotton reveals that maps are far more than neutral guides to places: they are expressions of the societies that create them and powerful instruments for shaping territory, belief and authority. Beginning with some of the earliest known maps, he traces how cartography evolved from marking land and ownership to serving kings, empires, scientists and governments. From Henry VIII’s coastal surveys and the Cassini family’s scientific breakthroughs to the drawing of modern national borders, the series shows how maps can define who controls land, who belongs where and even how entire peoples understand the world around them. Across the three episodes, presented here together in a single uninterrupted video, the journey moves from ancient and medieval worldviews to imperial expansion and the digital age. Brotton explores religious maps, Aztec symbolism, Victorian attempts to classify societies, the politics behind projections of the globe, and the rise of Google Earth and data-driven mapping. He then follows the mapmakers and explorers who turned distant lands into targets for conquest and profit, from Ptolemy and Columbus to Walter Raleigh and the trading empires that followed. The story ends in the Arctic, where new maps are once again being used to stake claims over oil, gas and minerals, proving that even in the twenty-first century, cartography remains inseparable from power, plunder and possession.
As artificial intelligence accelerates at a breathtaking pace, filmmaker Daniel Roher sets out to understand whether humanity is approaching an extraordinary new era or a catastrophe of its own making. What begins as a personal investigation becomes far more urgent when he and his wife learn they are expecting a child. Faced with predictions ranging from revolutionary medical breakthroughs and powerful new tools for creativity to mass unemployment, deepfakes, autonomous systems and even existential risk, he asks some of the world’s leading AI thinkers a deceptively simple question: should we be excited about the future, or terrified of it? The film explores how generative AI works, why its capabilities are advancing so quickly and what could happen if increasingly powerful systems become difficult to control. Experts debate AI safety and alignment, the race between competing companies, the possibility of machines seeking greater power, and the social consequences of automation and concentrated wealth. At the same time, the documentary confronts the technology’s remarkable promise, from personalized education to scientific discovery and potential cancer treatments. Moving between anxiety and hope, Roher ultimately searches for a way to face an uncertain future not as a pessimist or a blind optimist, but as something in between: an “Apocaloptimist.”
From a small and aggressive republic fighting for survival in the ancient Mediterranean to an empire that dominated much of the known world, Rome’s story is one of extraordinary ambition, conquest and transformation. The documentary follows the decisive struggles that shaped its rise, from the wars with Carthage and Hannibal to the upheavals of Spartacus, Julius Caesar and the collapse of the Republic, before Augustus establishes a new imperial order. Military power, political rivalry, engineering, law, spectacle and ruthless violence combine to reveal how Rome created a civilization of unprecedented scale, but also planted the seeds of its own destruction. At its height, the empire reaches astonishing levels of wealth and power under rulers such as Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, yet the system becomes increasingly difficult to control. Plague, civil conflict, destructive emperors such as Commodus, religious transformation and mounting pressure from Germanic peoples, Goths, Vandals and other invaders gradually weaken the foundations of Roman authority. From the Colosseum and the grandeur of imperial Rome to Attila and the invasions that accelerate its collapse, the two-part series shows how one of history’s greatest superpowers ultimately became a warning about the dangers of unchecked power and overextension. Presented here with both episodes combined into a single video, viewers can follow the complete rise and fall of Rome without interruption.
A mass grave at Zultepec, Mexico, containing more than 400 mutilated skeletons forces archaeologists to reconsider one of the most familiar stories of the Spanish conquest. Led by Aztec specialist Elizabeth Baquedano, the investigation follows forensic clues hidden in skulls, bones and artifacts to identify the victims and reconstruct what happened. Some remains prove to be European, including women, while Spanish-made iron objects and evidence of horses link the dead directly to the conquistadors who entered Mexico in the early sixteenth century. The evidence reveals a far more violent confrontation than the traditional image of an easy Spanish victory. Captured Spaniards and members of their entourage appear to have been imprisoned, ritually sacrificed, dismembered and, in some cases, consumed as part of ceremonial practices. By combining archaeology, forensic anthropology and Aztec codices, the documentary shows that indigenous resistance to the conquistadors could be organized, successful and terrifyingly effective, transforming Zultepec into crucial physical evidence of a conflict that history had long oversimplified.
In the first episode, Lincoln’s journey begins far from power. Growing up in hardship, enduring the death of his mother and receiving little formal education, he develops a fierce determination to rise beyond obscurity. Through hard physical labor, self-education, storytelling and an emerging talent for public speaking, he begins to build the character and political instincts that will define him. His early encounters with slavery, his move into law and politics, and the relationships that shape his ambitions reveal the making of a man who is still searching for his place in the world, but already driven by the conviction that his life must amount to something.