Letters from Baghdad • 2017

114:47

Uniquely adept at art as well as commerce, Walt Disney was a master filmmaker who harnessed the power of technology to tell stories of outsiders struggling for acceptance and belonging, while questioning the conventions of class and authority. As Disney rose to prominence and gained financial security, his work became increasingly celebratory of the American way of life that made his unlikely success possible. A polarizing figure - though true believers vastly outnumber his critics - Disney's achievements are indisputable. In this two-part, four-hour film, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE examines Disney's complex life and continuing legacy, featuring rare archival footage from the Disney vaults, interviews with biographers and historians, as well as the animators and designers who helped turn his dreams into reality. Both an inspiring story and a cautionary tale about the price of ambition, Walt Disney offers an unprecedented look at the man who created a world and built an empire.

S1E1 • American Experience • 2015 • People

11:09

It's perfectly human to grapple with questions, like 'Where do we come from?' and 'How do I live a life of meaning?' These existential questions are central to the five major world religions -- and that's not all that connects these faiths. John Bellaimey explains the intertwined histories and cultures of Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

TED-Ed • People

52:01

A language that can be spoken, hummed, or whistled? A language with no unique words for colour or numbers? Linguistics professor Daniel Everett claims that the unique language of the Piraha people of the Amazon is exactly that. More than 30 years ago, he travelled as a missionary into the Amazon rainforest to teach the tribe, but they ended up teaching him. Their way of life and unique form of communication have profoundly changed Everett, and inspired a theory that could undermine the most powerful theory (or theorist) of linguistics.

2012 • People

59:27

As Rembrandt paints his most iconic work, The Night Watch, his wife Saskia lies dying. Her death begins a ten-year decline in Rembrandt’s output.

S1E2 • Looking for Rembrandt • 2019 • People

43:03

While Al Capone is locked up in prison, the empire he left behind is dealing with a new problem—Prohibition has recently been repealed and one of The Outfit's most important sources of income dries up. With Capone cut off from them, his most-trusted men, Frank Nitti, Tony Accardo, and Paul Ricca must keep his organization afloat, and Nitti takes the reins. With thousands of Americans flocking to the theaters, the film industry is raking in millions of dollars a month. So Nitti wants to hold the movie business hostage. In the 1930s, the Chicago mafia tried to get into the Hollywood film business in order to open up new sources of money. Their local man is Willie Bioff. In 1939, Al Capone was released early from prison. But the once powerful gang boss is seriously ill. Responsibility now lies with Tony Accardo and Paul Ricca. They expand the Chicago mafia to Las Vegas

S1E6 • The Making of the Mob: Chicago • 2016 • 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