The brain
This program opens in the emergency room of a large hospital where head injuries are an all-too-common problem. The importance of the brain is evident from the skill and technology employed in ensuring that any damage to it is minimized. Using combi...
Sound and Fury: The Communication Wars of the Deaf
Two related families with a history of deafness go through the process of deciding whether their children should have cochlear implant surgery. The surgery would allow the children to hear, but would weaken their connection to deaf culture.
Too close to heaven: the history of gospel music. Pt. 2 of 3
Deeply rooted in African rhythms, the first gospel music, as sung on southern plantations, expressed the collective sorrow of American slaves, and the history of their diaspora. Using narration and thrilling performance footage, these programs trace...
Childhood: Program 2. Louder than words
An infant may not be able to speak, but research clearly shows that the roots of future personality are present from birth. Observer Jerome Kagan shows why shyness and sociability have a distinct biological component. But is biology destiny? We expl...
Childhood: Program 4. In the land of the giants
This program features three- to five-year-olds learning the social and psychological intricacies of family life. Observer Urie Bronfenbrenner characterizes the family as "the most efficient means for making human beings human." As the wider world af...
Appalachian spring
How "musical space" is used to create drama in classical pieces is explored by examining this famous work of American composer Aaron Copland. Mixing small musical steps with giant leaps between notes and chords, the orchestra shows how Copland devel...
Dante’s Inferno
This ambitious program, produced by the award-winning film director Peter Greenaway and internationally known artist Tom Phillips, brings to life the first eight cantos of Dante’s Inferno. Featuring a cast that includes Sir John Gielgud as Virgil,...
Wittgenstein (DVD Extra Content)
A humorous portrait of one of the 20th century’s most influential philosophers. This self-tortured eccentric, who preferred detective fiction and the musicals of Carmen Miranda to Aristotle, is a fitting subject for Jarman’s irreverent imaginati...
Islam and pluralism
In this program, Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysia's Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister, explains his government's approach to multiculturalism within Islam. Although Malaysia is a multicultural and multireligious society, the official religion is ...
Authority and change
What is a fatwa? Who is qualified to issue one? What is the role of traditional scholars in the Muslim world today? Egypt today is a battleground between liberal and radical Muslims, as the secular state and traditional scholars are being challenged...