Episode 1 • 2016 • episode "S1E1" • The 101 People who Made the 20th Century

58:56

Andy Warhol created some of the most instantly recognisable art of the 20th century. But perhaps his greatest work of art was himself - the cool, enigmatic pop art superstar. Stephen Smith sets out to discover the real Andy Warhol - in the hour-by-hour detail of his daily life.

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

47:58

The second episode delves into the moral framework that religions are often cited as providing and argues against the indoctrination of children. Dawkins compares religious faith to a virus, being passed from parents to offspring and teachers to pupils. He visits a London Hasidic Jewish school, where students are largely isolated from outside ideas, and Phoenix Academy, a semi-independent city academy following the American Accelerated Christian Learning curriculum. Dawkins interviews the headteacher about the integration of biblical stories into various academic subjects and explores the differences between secular ethics and morality based on religious law. He also discusses concepts from evolutionary biology, such as reciprocal altruism and kin selection, as explanations for morality.

S1E2 • The Root of All Evil • 2006 • People

104:57

Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy in October 1922, after his March on Rome. He would hold it in his grasp until his death in 1945, establishing a dictatorship that lasted more than two decades. Long considered a buffoon and a second-rate dictator, Il Duce invented fascism that was imitated by Adolf Hitler, who viewed the Italian as his political master. Mussolini wanted to transform his country into a warrior nation and promised Italians a return to the grandeur of the Roman Empire. He governed by violence and trickery and was one of the first populist leaders of modern times, leading his country into the catastrophe of the Second World War. But who was Benito Mussolini, this former teacher who came from the extreme left to become a newspaper editor and creator of the Italian Fascist Party? Why did he ally himself with Adolf Hitler? Were the Italian people really behind him? With rare archives, some of which have been colorized, and interviews with the last-surviving witnesses of the era, along with perspectives from historian Marie-Anne Matard-Bonucci, this portrait takes a look back at one of the most notorious dictators of the 20th century.

2022 • People

43:03

On January 1947, Al Capone, the most notorious gangster in America is dead at the age of 48. After serving ten years prison sentence Paul Ricca takes his place alongside Tony Accardo as co-head of The Outfit, which is making more money than before thanks to the numbers racket. In order to hide their profits, the answer is a growing city in the middle of the Mojave Desert where gambling is legal—Las Vegas, Nevada. But for the mafia from Chicago it is difficult to get into the gambling paradise of Las Vegas, because the New York mafia is already there. But it turns out to be a well-organized partnership. The leadership around Tony Accardo expands rapidly and finances the construction of new casinos in the city. The money for this is provided, among others, by the boss of one of the country's largest unions, Jimmy Hoffa. But the connection flies.

S1E7 • The Making of the Mob: Chicago • 2016 • People

52:09

You may think you know who wrote the Declaration of Independence and what it says -- but do you really? Political theorist Danielle Allen looks at the document's origin and originators to give us a picture of the men and the moment in time that shaped the United States of today.

S1E2 • Curiosity Retreats: 2015 Lectures • 2015 • People