Humans Need Not Apply

57:25

At the end of the 19th century, a club of millionaires — John D. Rockefeller and his oil monopoly, steel king and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and banker J. P. Morgan, who financed the Industrial Revolution from Wall Street — took over the United States, where immigrants provided a labor force that was ruthlessly exploited.

S1E1 • American Capitalism – The Cult of Wealth • 2023 • Economics

93:31

Controversies, scandals and surprises from the year, with Grange Hill tackling the issue of heroin addiction and EastEnders introducing a gay couple to Albert Square. Screenwriter Dennis Potter's drama The Singing Detective won over the critics, but its sex scenes and nudity upset moral campaigner Mary Whitehouse, while cricketer Ian Botham caused a storm after confessing that he'd smoked marijuana. Narrated by Jan Leeming, with contributions from Mark Little, Nick Ferrari, Cheryl Baker, Nick Hewer, Danny John-Jules and Nina Wadia.

S1E3 • Controversially: That Was the Year that Was • 2023 • Economics

72:05

This documentary travels through a world of joblessness, debt, and economic uncertainty to the sovereign nation of the plutocrats, where each crisis seems to offer a new business opportunity. In America, where the 2008 financial meltdown cost $4 trillion in economic output, fortunes were made by the very people who precipitated the disaster while millions lost their homes and their savings. Austerity in Europe, economic stagnation in Asia, a lost generation of the young and unemployed - signs we are living through a fundamental global reorganization, the result of which no-one can predict. The world of the 1% has arrived, and the wealth gap is now greater in many countries than during the Gilded Age, the era of the Rockefellers, Carnegies and Vanderbilts. Can our stressed democracies deal with the fallout? Or have governments simply become instruments of the new elite?

2017 • Economics

22:06

Over 10% of the world's electricity comes from nuclear power. But with radioactive waste and the threat of nuclear meltdown, are we playing with fire?

S1E8 • History 101 • 2020 • Economics

176:13

The TV series "Mad Men" gave us a glimpse into the world of US advertising. Ch 1. The 1950s Now see how advertisements in the 1950s tantalised Americans with visions of futuristic homes and cars. Ch 2. The 1960s This was the era at the heart of the TV series 'Mad Men' when Madison Avenue tapped into the growing counter-cultural movement, using irreverence and wit, and changed advertising forever. Ch 3. The 1970s A golden age in America's ad world, full of creativity and a love affair with non-conformity. But it was also fraught with new challenges, including a growing mistrust amongst consumers. Ch 4. The 1980s It's the Reagan Era, and American political confidence fuels an era of heavy consumption. The creative geniuses on Madison Avenue find new ways of attracting a booming consumer spend.

2019 • Economics

58:59

Ade Adepitan, Anita Rani, Ant Anstead and Dan Snow take a closer look at one of the most complex and powerful cities in the world, focusing on transport links in the first edition. Anita, Ade and Ant head to Grand Central Terminal, joining the daily commute on the iconic Staten Island ferry as well as the subway, suburban railroad and citibikes. Dan visits Times Square to see how the 230 LED advertising hoardings are maintained, while Ade takes a ride in a yellow cab, discovering that the business model is under threat from newly created taxi apps.

Part 1 • New York: America's Busiest City • 2016 • Economics