The Greatest Speech Ever Made • 2011

204:11

Documentary about the 15th-century polymath, exploring one of history's most curious and innovative minds though his paintings, drawings and writing. Chapter 1: The Disciple of Experience Takes a look at Leonardo's journey to becoming an artist and craftsman, while the bustling streets of Florence provide a rich backdrop. Viewers are also taken to Milan, where Leonardo embarked on a monumental project - painting the iconic fresco of the Last Supper. Chapter 2: Painter God Looks at how Leonardo worked as a military engineer, designed fanciful flying machines, studied light and shadow, investigated gravity and more. Plus, examining the polymath's time in Florence, Milan, Rome and France, as he poured the sum of his scientific and artistic knowledge into a portrait that would become the most famous painting on earth.

2024 • People

46:07

The early years of Bin Laden, from timid Saudi schoolboy to revered freedom fighter. The first episode begins with Osama Bin Laden's schooldays in Saudi Arabia. He grew up in a wealthy family, loved westerns and soccer, and avoided fights in the schoolyard. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980, like many Arab men, he joined the resistance to liberate the country from the occupying forces. In Peshawar, Pakistan, just across the Afghan border, he sets up a "service bureau" and uses his connections to organize money for the fight. He keeps promising his mother not to go into battle himself, but then joins the mujahideen commander Sayed Wahidyar, who is only called "Fearless". According to Wahidyar, bin Laden is initially a burden because he has no idea about fighting. The wealth he inherited and the family's connections to the construction industry come in handy when he begins to build much-needed infrastructure such as roads, warehouses and clinics on his own. In the Battle of Jaji, the Soviet troops were finally repulsed with the help of the experienced Afghan mujahideen - a decisive victory for bin Laden, which resulted in the superpower's final withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1988. It is the beginning of a myth fueled in part by Bin Laden himself. His supposed military success gives him enormous prestige. In the same year, Bin Laden founded Al-Qaeda. The die is cast.

S1E1 • Bin Laden: The Road to 9.11 • 2021 • People

23:44

Feminism has ushered in sweeping changes to society, securing rights for women around the world. How much further do we have to go?

S1E7 • History 101 • 2020 • People

63:21

In 1955, the great scientist Albert Einstein died in Princeton - his express wish was that his body be cremated, so as to leave no earthly remains. But, on the day of his death, his brain was secretly removed by doctors at Princeton Hospital - supposedly for “scientific study.” Nearly 40 years later, no study is complete, and there are only rumors as to whereabouts of the missing brain. This film follows the quest of an Einstein expert, Professor Sugimoto Kenji, who travelled from his home in Japan to the USA to try and find the greatest relic of 20th century science.

1994 • People

44:10

Bill Gates talks to Amol Rajan about wealth, conspiracy theories and recent controversies. They visit a remote region outside Nairobi in Kenya, where Gates supports local farms and hospitals through his charitable foundation, for a rare, in-depth interview with the tech entrepreneur. Gates has spent much of his life being the richest man on earth. He excelled at school, founded Microsoft and helped to realise his vision of having a computer on every desk in every home. His public image has changed over the years, from geek to business titan and philanthropist. In recent years, he has become the subject of endless conspiracy theories and has attracted unfavourable headlines on the subject of his divorce and his association with Jeffrey Epstein. In this challenging and personal interview, Rajan tackles these issues head-on, talking to Gates about his early success, his wealth, how he uses it now, and the controversies that have arisen over the years. In this unusually candid interview, Gates is often revealing in his responses.

2023 • People

44:59

The Birds do it. The bees do it. It seems we all do it. But we like to think we are different from other animals. So are we? Decoding Desire unravels the mysteries of sex and desire and explores how sexual diversity and the experience of pleasure itself may be the key to species survival. Traditionally, the common assumption has been that men are sexually dominant with strong desires, while females are more interested in security and monogamy. But is this really true? Scientists are increasingly looking at animals to reveal more about our own sexual behaviour.

S54E05 • The Nature of Things • 2014 • People