An Honest Liar • 2014

58:38

Jenny Clack recounts how she overcame setbacks before she found and described a fossil which offered new evidence of how fish made the transition onto land. For paleontologist Professor Jenny Clack, who solved one of the greatest mysteries in the history of life on Earth, success was far from inevitable. A chance discovery in 1986 in the earth sciences department of Cambridge University, of long-forgotten fossils collected from the Devonian rocks of East Greenland in 1970, was to shape the rest of her career. She recounts how she had to overcome a series of setbacks before she found and described the fossil Acanthostega, a 365 million-year-old creature that offered dramatic new evidence of how fish made the transition onto land. She authored or co-authored more than 120 research papers as well as numerous popular articles and book reviews. A measure of the significance of her work is that 15 of her research papers were published in the journal Nature. Her one book, "Gaining Ground, The Origin and Evolution of Tetrapods" (2002), summarises the results of research on early tetrapods over the previous 25 years.

S2E1 • Beautiful Minds • 2012 • People

55:30

500 years ago, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set sail to gain control of the global spice trade. What resulted was the first circumnavigation of the Earth, laying the groundwork for colonization and globalization still felt today.

Secrets of the Dead • 2021 • People

4:06

What will humanity look like in 1000 years? Watch as we cover some cutting-edge innovations happening today. Thanks to the National Geographic Channel for sponsoring this video!

AsapSCIENCE • 2015 • People

63:00

It is hard to imagine a sky without an airplane in it. But David McCullough takes us back to the first days of aviation. We learn about the Wright Brothers, not only through their achievements, but by discovering who they were as people and the early family influences that shaped their characters.

S1E3 • Curiosity Retreats: 2015 Lectures • 2015 • People

88:53

A series of interviews featuring linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky done in hand-drawn animation. From Michel Gondry, the innovative director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep, comes this unique animated documentary on the life of controversial MIT professor, philosopher, linguist, anti-war activist and political firebrand Noam Chomsky. Through complex, lively conversations with Chomsky and brilliant illustrations by Gondry himself, the film reveals the life and work of the father of modern linguistics while also exploring his theories on the emergence of language. The result is not only a dazzling, vital portrait of one of the foremost thinkers of modern times, but also a beautifully animated work of art.

2013 • People

10:17

Hank Green talks about the issues of rising global population.

2012 • People