Oliver Sacks: His Own Life • 2021 • American Masters

58:40

In a series about scientists with brilliant minds, James Lovelock explains how his maverick way of thinking led him not only to technical breakthroughs in atmospheric detection systems on Earth and Mars, but also to Gaia - a new way of thinking about the Earth as a holistic, self-regulating system. He tells of his struggle against the scientific consensus of the day, the ridicule of his peers and his belief that the mainstream scientific establishment stifles intellectual creativity.

S1E2 • Beautiful Minds • 2010 • People

4:53

Richard is the fascinating story of a travelling piano tuner who chooses to live outdoors. Shot in London, the film takes an alternative look at someone who treats the entire city as a home.

People

46:48

Bin Laden's on the run and plotting an audacious plan to strike at the US. Bin Laden returns to Saudi Arabia from Afghanistan, where he is hailed as a war hero after the Soviets left because he believes he made a significant contribution to the military victory. 18 months later, Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait, prompting worried Saudi authorities to turn to the US for protection. Horrified by what he perceives as an invasion of the holy places by the American army, bin Laden publicly opposes the Saudi royal family declaring Jihad against the US and is eventually forced to flee to Sudan. There he reinvents himself as a major agricultural producer of sunflowers and watermelons, while expanding al-Qaeda's work and setting up training camps that attract recruits from across the region. Under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United States, bin Laden finally has to give up his refuge in Sudan. Stateless and without much prospect of alternative quarters, he returns to Afghanistan in 1996. Just a few months later, he issued a 30-page fatwa declaring holy war against the Americans who occupied the Arabian Peninsula. He surrounded himself with increasingly radical extremists, and in the summer of 1996 finally suggested piloting planes to American targets. The plan to attack the Twin Towers is born. This compelling history documentary looks at the factors that transformed Bin Laden from a renowned freedom fighter to a devoted enemy of America and the West. What drove him to plot his most audacious attack?

S1E2 • Bin Laden: The Road to 9.11 • 2021 • People

88:02

He Named Me Malala is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old (she turns 18 this July) was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman) shows us how Malala, her father Zia and her family are committed to fighting for education for all girls worldwide. The film gives us an inside glimpse into this extraordinary young girl’s life – from her close relationship with her father who inspired her love for education, to her impassioned speeches at the UN, to her everyday life with her parents and brothers. - “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world." – Malala

2015 • People

29:29

In May 2016, BBC reporter Rupert Wingfield-Hayes was expelled from North Korea for showing disrespect and 'distorting facts'. He now tells the full story of his visit to the country and explores what his detention and interrogation by senior Korean officials say about this secretive state. He investigates the apparent upturn in the North Korean economy and asks if the signs of improvement in the capital Pyongyang are real. He also examines whether the people there are genuinely loyal to their young leader or whether Kim Jong Un is ruling by reign of terror.

2016 • People

49:59

Starting with some of the most infamous faces of the twentieth century, Marilyn Monroe features alongside Margaret Thatcher and more, as we countdown from 101 to 89 in what is sure to be a controversial start to the series.

1/8 • The 101 People who Made the 20th Century • 2016 • People