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Birth of Humanity

   2010    History
We will nvestigate the first skeleton that really looks like us –Turkana Boy– an astonishingly complete specimen of Homo erectus found by the famous Leakey team in Kenya. These early humans are thought to have developed key innovations that helped them thrive, including hunting large prey, the use of fire, and extensive social bonds. The program examines an intriguing theory that long-distance running –our ability to jog– was crucial for the survival of these early hominids. Not only did running help them escape from vicious predators roaming the grasslands, but it also gave them a unique hunting strategy: chasing down prey animals such as deer and antelope to the point of exhaustion. Birth of Humanity also probes how, why, and when humans' uniquely long period of childhood and parenting began.
Series: Becoming Human

D-Day: As it Happens (2)

   2013    History
D-Day: As It Happens is a 24-hour history event to be broadcast across TV, web, mobile devices and social media, telling the story of this pivotal event in 20th-century history in a completely new way. Using newly-analysed archive footage, viewers can track the progress of seven people who were there on the day, each of them a real participant in the 1944 invasion. And they can do so moment by moment in real time, encountering the twists and turns of the fighting at the same time as the D-Day seven did, and learning their fate as the action unfolds in parallel with the present, Narrated by Peter Snow, with Channel 4 presenter and former marine Arthur Williams, and experts including former British Army officer Colonel Tim Collins and front-line journalist Lorna Ward. The second programme reveals what happened to the seven real people the event is following in real time, and also rounds up the events of D-Day.
Series: D-Day

Homo Interneticus

   2010    Technology
Dr Aleks Krotoski concludes her investigation of how the World Wide Web is transforming almost every aspect of our lives. Joined by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Al Gore and the neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, Aleks examines the popularity of social networks such as Facebook and asks how they are changing our relationships. And, in a ground-breaking test at University College London, Aleks investigates how the Web may be distracting and overloading our brains.
Series: The Virtual Revolution

Smashing the Mould

   2009    Art
The final part examines political revolution and how art was at the forefront of throwing out 1,000 years of royal rule, from its earliest revolutionary days of enthusiasm and optimism when painting died, the poster was king and the machine-made triumphed over the handmade to the dead hand of Socialist Realism. Andrew roots out great portraits of Stalin now hidden in museum storerooms and never on public view, looks at the transformation of the Moscow metro into a great public art gallery and visits the most stunning creation of post-war Communist rule, the Space Monument. Finally, he comes to the confusion and chaos of Russia today and how it is producing some of the world's strangest art - from heroic sculptures of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the insides of a giant erotic apple; from the recreation of the Imperial royal family facing the firing squad to sculpture in liquid oil; from Russia's embrace of the commercial art market to a return to Socialist Realism. Russia seems to stand on another brink of revolution.
Series: The Art of Russia

Are We All Bigots

   2015    Culture
If you had less than one second to make a life-or-death decision to shoot a man who might be armed with a lethal weapon, what would you do? Would the ethnicity of the man affect your decision? Are you sure? The outcome – whatever your race – will surprise you. Brain imaging studies are showing that negative cultural stereotypes hijack everyone’s subconscious decision-making. But some science says we can overcome bigotry through exposure, self-awareness and flexible social networks… and, most controversially of all, ultra-violent video games!
Series: Through the Wormhole Season 6

Monkey Kingdom

   2015    Nature
Follow a newborn monkey and its mother as they struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the Temple Troop, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found deep in the storied jungles of South Asia. The breathtaking footage of primates in the wild will like animal lovers of all ages". Maya is a toque macaque whose world is changed when her son Kip becomes part of her extended family. Maya’s family has its share of diverse personalities and she wishes her son to have the best advantages for advancing within the family's social strata. When their home is overrun by a neighboring tribe of monkeys, the family has to find a new home. Maya uses her inherent smarts to lead the family to new resources, but it develops that the entire group will have to cooperate in order to reclaim their original home, where Maya wishes to advance her son's future within the family.
Tiger

Tiger

2020  History
The Jinx

The Jinx

  History
Top Science Stories

Top Science Stories

2020  Science
The Sky at Night

The Sky at Night

2023  Science
The Lost Pirate Kingdom

The Lost Pirate Kingdom

2021  History
Chemistry

Chemistry

2010  Science