Cryptocurrency • 2018 • episode "S1E5" • Explained

144:03

One hundred and fifty years ago, the corporation was a relatively insignificant entity. Today, it is a vivid, dramatic and pervasive presence in all our lives. Like the Church, the Monarchy and the Communist Party in other times and places, the corporation is today's dominant institution. But history humbles dominant institutions. All have been crushed, belittled or absorbed into some new order. The corporation is unlikely to be the first institution to defy history. Based on Joel Bakan's book, "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power," this documentary is a timely, critical inquiry that examines the very nature of the corporation--its inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. We begin by learning that under the law, corporations have all the rights and yet few of the responsibilities of people. By viewing the behavior of the corporation through the prism of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (or DSM III, the gold standard of psychiatric evaluation) the filmmakers discover that if the corporation were indeed a person, the person would be considered a psychopath. Featuring candid interviews with CEOs, whistle-blowers, brokers, gurus, spies, players, pawns and pundits, the chronicle charts the spectacular rise of an institution aimed at achieving specific economic goals as it also recounts victories against this seemingly invincible force. Once you see it, you may find yourself thinking twice about what you eat, what you wear, what you watch and what you read.

2003 • Economics

81:20

Explores our economic, historical and emotional entanglement with oil, by looking at the conflicting imperatives around North Sea oil. This invisible machine at the core of our economy and society now faces an uncertain future as activists and investors demand change - is this the end of oil? By highlighting the complexities of how oil is embedded in our society - from high finance to cheap consumer goods – this documentary brings together a wide range of voices, from oil company executives and economists, to young activists and pension fund managers, and considers how this machine can be tamed, dismantled or repurposed. We have five to ten years to control our oil addiction, and yet the licensing of new oil fields continues in direct contradiction with the Paris Climate Agreement. This documentary looks at how the drama of global climate action is playing out in the fight over North Sea oil.

2022 • Economics

85:17

FRONTLINE’s three-part series The Power of Big Oil examines the fossil fuel industry’s history of denying climate change by delaying action and casting doubt on scientific research. This first part charts the fossil fuel industry’s early research on climate change and investigates the efforts to sow seeds of doubt about the science.

S1E1 • The Power of Big Oil • 2022 • Economics

60:03

Crash course into the peer-to-peer revolution that is now disrupting banks and Governments. Whatever Bitcoin may be; most people do not yet understand what this controversial and influential innovation is about and how it works. This award-winning documentary answers these questions. Bitcoin: The End Of Money As We Know It traces the history of money from the ancient world to the modern trading floors of Wall St. This film exposes the practices of central banks and other financial actors who brought the world to its knees in the last crisis. It highlights Government influence on the money creation process and how it causes inflation. Moreover, this film explains how most money we use today is created out of thin air by commercial banks when they make loans. Epic in scope, this film examines the patterns of technological innovation and questions everything you thought you knew about money. Is Bitcoin an alternative to national currencies backed by debt? Will Bitcoin and crypto-currencies spark a revolution in how we use money peer to peer?Or is it simply a new tool for criminals and the next bubble waiting to burst? If you trust in your money just as it is, this film has news for you.

2015 • Economics

52:52

Planned Obsolescence is the deliberate shortening of product life spans to guarantee consumer demand. As a magazine for advertisers succinctly puts it: “The article that refuses to wear out is a tragedy of business “ - and a tragedy for the modern growth society which relies on an ever-accelerating cycle of production, consumption and throwing away. THE LIGHT BULB CONSPIRACY combines investigative research and rare archive footage to trace the untold story of Planned Obsolescence, from its beginnings in the 1920s with a secret cartel, set up expressly to limit the life span of light bulbs, to present-day stories involving cutting edge electronics (such as the iPod) and the growing spirit of resistance amongst ordinary consumers. This film travels to France, Germany, Spain and the US to find witnesses of a business practice which has become the basis of the modern economy, and brings back disquieting pictures from Africa where discarded electronics are piling up in huge cemeteries for electronic waste. Economists and environmentalists believe that the growth society as we know it is unsustainable in the long run and that Planned Obsolescence needs to become a thing of the past, as it is impossible to combine the limitless consumption of resources with a finite planet. But what are the alternatives? The film offers thought-provoking analysis by thinkers working on ways of saving both the economy and the environment, and presents hands-on stories showing entrepreneurs putting new business models into practice.

2010 • Economics

51:18

Sheryl WuDunn, a best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, illuminates the economic, financial, political and social issues in East Asia and around the world, and the economic and political uncertainties facing China today.

9/10 • Curiosity Retreats: 2014 Lectures • 2014 • Economics