Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery • 2024

59:03

Facebook is a company that has grown from nothing to be worth half a trillion dollars in just 15 years. Today nearly a third of all humans are using it, and yet we rarely get to see the people actually in charge of the biggest social network in the world. The company has suffered a series of deepening scandals and intense media scrutiny. In 2018, their mission - to connect everyone on the planet - seemed to be going dramatically wrong. Data leaks, fake news and hacks on user security were threatening to destroy everything Mark Zuckerberg had built. Yet throughout this difficult time, the company allowed the BBC’s flagship science strand Horizon to follow key members of the team trying to fix the problems and secure the platform. This film goes behind the scenes and follows the teams inside Facebook. It tackles difficult questions, like how our data is used and what content should and shouldn’t be on the site, but also shows how Facebook works, what the teams are doing to secure it, and reveals a hidden technological playground, where some of the smartest engineers in the world are being hired to build systems and technology no one has built before.

Horizon • 2019 • Economics

118:48

The people with power in Britain reveal how their decisions shook our politics, transformed our economy and reshaped society in the decade following the 2008 financial crisis. Chapter 1: The Government and the Bank of England took drastic action to save the UK economy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Insiders from the world of finance reveal how decisions made to solve the crisis allowed them to 'make out like bandits". From bailing out the banks to pursuing a faster, deeper austerity than any other country, Britain's policymakers shatter the status quo in a desperate bid to save the economy. This first of two programmes features first-hand accounts from key players, reliving the moments when the big decisions were taken. Chapter 2: The government and the Bank of England are forced to react to the economic shocks brought on by Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Theresa May enters office in the aftermath of Brexit, setting her sights on tax-dodgers, bloated executive pay and unethical multi-national companies. But as May struggles to implement Brexit, wealth inequality and executive pay are increasing while average wages are barley growing, sparking anger and protests. After May fails to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, Boris Johnson enters office promising to "level up" the UK economy but his plan is derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

2022 • Economics

59:01

Wayne Pacelle, President of the Humane Society of the United States, draws a practical roadmap for how we can use the marketplace to promote the welfare of all living creatures, and how industries, innovators and consumers are coming together in this powerful social movement.

S1E6 • Curiosity Retreats: 2016 Lectures • 2016 • 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

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

22:34

Higher education helps society. But paying for it can be ruinous. What led to the U.S. student debt crisis, and is there a way to fix it?

S1E3 • Money Explained • 2011 • Economics