City of the Future • 2016 • episode "S1E3" • The Age of Robots

21:25

We share the planet with an estimated 9 million robots, from self-driving cars to surgical arms. Could they one day completely replace humans?

S1E6 • History 101 • 2020 • Technology

55:41

Steven Johnson relates the story of people who take us out of the dark and into the light. Hear about Edison’s light bulb, which he didn’t actually invent, and learn how an 18th-century shipping community discovered a source of illumination by putting a kid inside a whale’s head. See how a French scientist accidentally discovered how to create neon light, leading to a revolution in advertising. Dispelling the myth of the individual “eureka” moment, Johnson reveals that teamwork and collaboration led the way to the most transformative ideas. Whether, altering the world’s sleeping patterns, giving rise to mass spectator sports, revolutionizing how global business is done or triggering one of the great social reforms in American history, the pioneers of light have made themselves indispensable throughout human history.

S1E4 • How We Got to Now • 2014 • Technology

12:35

Fifty meters beneath the teeming mega-city of Tokyo is an underworld river system - 6.4km of tunnels, colossal water tanks, massive pillars, giant pumps that remove 200 tons of floodwater every second. It’s an engineering marvel built to protect Tokyo against the increasing threat of flooding.

8/10 • Catalyst: Season 1 • 2015 • Technology

114:12

Explore how a data company named Cambridge Analytica came to symbolize the dark side of social media in the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

2019 • Technology

54:06

One of the ancient world's most iconic buildings, 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 gladiators and people condemned to death. Then, just as quickly, the Colosseum could be flooded with so much water that ships could engage in sea battles to the delight of the crowd.

S1E1 • Building Wonders • 2020 • Technology

47:43

Daniel Henry dives into the new world of algorithms and computer-automated hiring, with the help of an animated co-presenter to explain how the technology works. Daniel's journey begins at the first stage of a job application - writing a CV. At the University of Liverpool, he is given tips from their student career advisers about how best to tailor his CV so it isn't rejected by software used to select applicants to progress to the next stage. But he discovers there may be ways to play this system.

2022 • Technology