PBS (Firm)
Description
We discover how cats first crossed from Asia into North America and how they went on to become the top predators of the continent. Today there are 13 feline species in the Americas – from the mighty jaguar, to the urban mountain lion, to the curious ocelot and from the Canada lynx to the nimble margay. . The story of how all these cats came to be is an epic tapestry of pioneering spirit, powerful natural forces, and a battle for supremacy with...
Description
FRONTLINE goes inside the politics of America's gun debate. Veteran filmmaker Michael Kirk investigates the NRA, its political evolution and influence, and how it has consistently succeeded in defeating new gun control legislation.. Gunned Down investigates how the NRA uses its unrivaled political power to stop gun regulation in America. With first-hand accounts of school killings in Newtown and Columbine, and the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords,...
Description
Michael and James explore how the marriage between chemistry and biology is the root of all the sensations, tastes and flavors that we enjoy in our food. Michael begins by deconstructing a Thai meal. Its effect on the tongue can be reduced down to just five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and the less well-known umami.
Description
The life-sized terracotta warriors of China are known throughout the world. This clay army of 8,000 including infantry, archers, generals and cavalry was discovered by archaeologists in 1974 after farmers digging a well near the Chinese city of Xian unearthed pieces of clay sculpted in human form. An amazing archaeological find, the terracotta warriors date back more than two thousand years. But what was the purpose of this army of clay soldiers?...
Description
Richard Pryor's impact on comedy and this generation’s top comedians — who cite Richard as their biggest influence — is unrivaled. He was one of the first black men ever on television. He pioneered a new brand of humor: black man impersonating white man while making fun of himself. And he was a hit. His comedy was universal. His rise to fame was nothing short of miraculous.. But Richard’s comedy was a sign of the times. And in the midst of...
Description
Personal comments from family, friends, and advisors fill this remarkable documentary honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Coretta Scott King joins the Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Julian Bond, Jimmy Carter, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Senator Edward Kennedy, John Lewis, Bishop Desmond Tutu, and Andrew Young, who recall Dr. King's career and trace his leadership in the civil rights movement. Includes portions of his "I Have a Dream" speech..
28) Asia to Africa
Description
Discover how the first cats arose in the forests of Asia, how they spread across the continent, and later came to conquer Africa. We reveal how they evolved flexible limbs to climb, giant bodies to survive in the cold, and super senses to catch prey. Ultimately we discover how becoming social made the lion, king of the savannah. . Also featured in this episode are other larger cats such as the clouded, snow and African leopards, the Bengal and...
Description
Join renowned actor Simon Callow as he uncovers the moving origins of the song Silent Night that has been two hundred years in the making. A story that begins in humble circumstances ends with the world's most popular carol. Simon journeys to the Austrian village of Oberndorf as well as the city of Salzburg, where the story of the world's favorite carol had its origins..
30) Wounded Knee
Description
In 1973, American Indian Movement activists and residents of the Pine Ridge Reservation occupied the town of Wounded Knee, demanding redress for grievances. As a result of the siege, Indians across the country forged a new path into the future.
Description
"It is blatant, it is cheap, it is the apotheosis of the ridiculous. But it is something more; it is like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone Park; it is a national playground, and not to have seen it is not to have seen your own country," said Reginald Wright Kauffman in 1909 of Coney Island, the tiny spit of land at the foot of Brooklyn that, at the turn of the century, became the most extravagant playground in the country and one of...
Description
The glories of Ancient Rome are explored in ROMAN CITY, based on David Macaulay's acclaimed book. This animated and live-action video recounts life in Verbonia, a fictional city in Gaul.. A well-planned town with all modern conveniences, it is threatened by conflict between conquerors and conquered. Macaulay also visits Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ostia, Nimes, Orange, and Rome, to view actual Roman architecture and engineering greatness..
Description
JFK & LBJ: A Time for Greatness sheds light on the fascinating story of a president who knew how to harness the nation's grief over JFK's assassination, and become an unlikely champion of Civil Rights. The film includes rarely seen footage, secret White House tapes, and personal testimony from LBJ's advisors, biographers, friends, and family..
Description
NOVA presents an exclusive breakthrough in the greatest unsolved mystery in Arctic exploration. In 1845, British explorer Sir John Franklin set off to chart the elusive Northwest Passage, commanding 128 men in two robust and well-stocked Royal Navy ships, the Erebus and Terror. They were never heard from again. Eventually, searchers found tantalising clues to their fate: a hastily written note left on an island, exhumed bodies suggesting lead poisoning,...
Description
The American Masters series and Latino Public Broadcasting’s VOCES series join forces for the first time to explore the life and work of photographer Pedro E. Guerrero (September 5, 1917 – September 13, 2012), a Mexican American, born and raised in segregated Mesa, Arizona, who had an extraordinary international photography career.. Filmmakers Raymond Telles and Yvan Iturriaga (Latino Americans) showcase an in-depth, exclusive interview with Guerrero...
Description
The Colosseum is a monument to Roman imperial power and cruelty. Its graceful lines and harmonious proportions concealed a highly efficient design and advanced construction methods that made hundreds of arches out of 100,000 tons of stone. In its elliptical arena, tens of thousands of gladiators, slaves, prisoners and wild animals met their deaths. Ancient texts report lions and elephants emerging from beneath the floor, as if by magic, to ravage...
38) Norman Lear
Description
The first documentary about legendary showrunner Norman Lear, who dominated and reshaped television for decades. Largely responsible for the explosion of bold American television in the 1970s, Lear’s name is synonymous with the sitcom, yet he brought provocative subjects like war, poverty and prejudice to 120 million viewers every week, Lear proved that social change was possible through an unlikely prism – laughter. With unprecedented access...
Description
The global cyberwar is heating up and the stakes are no longer limited to the virtual world of computers. Now, thanks in part to secret documents released by Edward Snowden, the true scale of the National Security Agency's scope and power is coming to light. Besides spending billions of dollars to ingest and analyze the worlds' electronic communications, the NSA has set out to dominate a new battlefield—cyberspace. NOVA examines the science and...
Description
E.O. Wilson-Of Ants and Men chronicles the famed biologist love for the natural world and his groundbreaking research. His work with ants led to his studies of advanced social behavior. His research turned to human behavior, and the discipline of sociobiology was founded. His work in the great National Park of Gorongosa, brings together the great themes of his life and work: nature and humanity's place in it..