Math and physics brought revolution to man's ideas of life. From Mendel's work to discoveries of today, Dr. Bronowski unravels the complex code of human inheritance. Sex is discussed as an instrument of evolution that makes every human unique yet breeds care between individuals.

In the vaults of ancient Polish salt mines Dr. Bronowski embarks on a journey to the hidden world inside the atom. He traces the history of the men and the ideas that made 20th century physics the greatest achievement of the human imagination.

From the countryside of Wales to the jungles of the Amazon, this episode follows the stories of Alfred Russell Wallace and Charles Darwin who had the same idea simultaneously - evolution by natural selection. Their ideas helped others to probe the nature and origins of life.

This is a feel good story out of Africa. For more than 20 years, an amazing permaculture project has been working in Zimbabwe. Where once the people of the Chikukwa villages suffered hunger, malnutrition and high rates of disease, this community of seven thousand has turned its fortunes around. During this period they have built what is probably the biggest continuous permaculture site in the world today. Complementing permaculture strategies, they...

A Hugo Zemp Film.. Among the Senufo people of northern Cote d'Ivoire, the balafon (xylophone with calabash resonators) is an emblematic musical instrument. This film shows balafon orchestras playing in five villages during the two principal days of funeral festivities, celebrations that include the most important rites, ceremonies and rejoicings in the life of the Senufo. During dialogues with Sikaman, a young musician who acted as research assistant...

"How do gods and spirits come to feel vividly real to people-as if they were standing right next to them? Humans tend to see supernatural agents everywhere, as the cognitive science of religion has shown. But it isn't easy to maintain a sense that there are invisible spirits who care about you. In How God Becomes Real, acclaimed anthropologist and scholar of religion T. M. Luhrmann argues that people must work incredibly hard to make gods real and...

What will it mean for all of us to grow up, live and age in a society where half the citizens are over the age of 50? That reality is closer than most of us are willing to imagine.. Never in human history have so many lived for so long – and not just in the United States. It is a global phenomenon, ushering a spectacular social transformation. COMING OF AGE IN AGING AMERICA tells the story of its dimensions, challenges and opportunities.

"Most people assume that racism grows from a perception of human difference: the fact of race gives rise to the practice of racism. Sociologist Karen E. Fields and historian Barbara J. Fields argue otherwise: the practice of racism produces the illusion of race, through what they call "racecraft." And this phenomenon is intimately entwined with other forms of inequality in American life. So pervasive are the devices of racecraft in American history,...

"A deeply compelling exploration of the death industry and the people-morticians, detectives, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, executioners-who work in it and what led them there. We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our nursery rhymes, our true-crime podcasts. Yet from a young age, we are told that death is something to be feared. How are we supposed to know what we're so afraid of, when we are never given the chance to look? Fueled by...