The Big Chill • 2020 • episode "S1E2" • Blue Sky Metropolis

66:10

Atari: Game Over chronicles the fall of the Atari Corporation through the lens of one of the biggest mysteries of all time, dubbed “The Great Video Game Burial of 1983.” As the story goes, the Atari Corporation, faced with an overwhelmingly negative response to “E.T.,” the video game for the Atari 2600, disposed of hundreds of thousands of unsold game cartridges by burying them in the small town of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

2014 • Technology

51:25

This episode will reveal the ways in which our eating habits will be revolutionized: vegetable proteins, urban farming, connected supermarkets, personalized food, new flavour experiences and more.

S1E8 • Dream the Future • 2017 • Technology

50:00

If people are the lifeblood of cities, then transport links are its veins and arteries. If they're cut off, the city will die. Thousands of people work every day at making it possible for city dwellers to be where they need to be, when they need to be there. It's an endless demand of brain and brawn. Without the army of drivers, diggers, and planners, our great cities would come to a halt.

S1E4 • How Cities Work • 2013 • Technology

79:14

Tells the epic story of the first transatlantic communications cable laid between Valentia Island, County Kerry, and Newfoundland, Canada. The first transmission via undersea cable on 16th of August 1858 signalled a new age of modern communication and laid the foundation of modern Ireland's technology industry, with impacts still being felt today. Prior to this technological advancement, messages took at least ten days to travel by ship. Today, 99% of all internet and mobile communications are powered by undersea cable, not by not by satellite. In the digital age, undersea cable remains the cheapest and most efficient communications method, with all major global tech companies utilising and investing in them across the world. The two communities at the centre of this story, Valentia Island and Heart's Content, share a vision of securing UNESCO World Heritage status. It is hoped that the cable houses and communities that helped change the course of communication history and globalisation will be recognised in the coming years.

2024 • Technology

56:12

First-hand accounts of those who made possible mankind's greatest achievement.

S1E3 • Blue Sky Metropolis • 2020 • Technology

58:59

Setting off from a snowy mountain ski resort in Cyprus, Simon finds an island and a capital city still deeply divided between Turkish Cypriots in the north and Greek Cypriots in the south. Simon joins the UN troops who patrol the line that separates the two sides, one of the world's longest-running peacekeeping missions. From Cyprus, Simon heads to the Middle East, a region of the Mediterranean that's also no stranger to conflict and division. In Lebanon, Simon explores a country of breathtaking landscapes, with spectacular coastline, soaring mountains and a sacred valley known as the Qadisha, a holy site for Lebanese Christians. Staying overnight in an abandoned monastery carved into the rock face, Simon learns that in a Muslim-dominated Middle East, Christians are facing persecution and numbers are collapsing. Travelling south, Simon's next stop is Israel, a country that perhaps more than any other depends on the Mediterranean for its survival. With few friends in the region, Israel has to transport most of its goods by sea. Simon joins the Israeli Navy who patrol the coast and protect the country's offshore oil reserves using the latest military weaponry and technology, including unmanned, combat-ready drone boats. From Israel Simon crosses one of the world's most heavily fortified borders to reach the Gaza Strip. Palestinians and Israelis have endured a seemingly endless cycle of violence and in Gaza the result has been devastating destruction. Many building materials are restricted by an Israeli blockade on Gaza, but Simon meets an inspiring young woman who has helped reconstruction efforts by inventing an ingenious method of making bricks from ash. It's a rare ray of hope in one of the most troubled regions of the Mediterranean.

S1E2 • Mediterranean with Simon Reeve • 2018 • Technology