Best and free online documentaries

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

2011-09-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

When the world’s financial bubble blew, the solution was to lower interest rates and pump trillions of dollars into the sick banking system. The solution is the problem, that’s why we had a problem in the first place. For Economics Nobel laureate Vernon Smith, the Catch 22 is self-evident. But interest rates have been at rock bottom for years, and governments are running out of fuel to feed the economy. The governments can save the banks, but who can save the governments? Forecasts predict all countries’ debt will reach 100% of GDP by next year. Greece and Iceland have already crumbled, who will be next?

The storm that would rock the world, began brewing in the US when congress pushed the idea of home ownership for all, propping up those who couldn’t make the down payments. The Market even coined a term, NINA loans: “No Income, No Assets, No Problem!” Enter FannieMae and FreddieMac, privately owned, government sponsored. Want that vacation? Wanna buy some new clothes? Use your house as a piggie bank! Why earn money to pay for your home when you can make money just living in it? With the government covering all losses, you’d have been a fool not to borrow.

The years of growth had been a continuous party. But when the punchbowl ran dry, instead of letting investors go home to nurse their hangovers as usual, the Federal Reserve just filled it up again with phoney money. For analyst Peter Schiff, the consequence of the spending binge was crystal clear: we’re in so much trouble now because we got drunk on all that Fed alcohol. Yet along with other worried experts, he was mocked and derided during the boom.

Have you taken out a mortgage, invested capital or bought shares? If you have, likelihood is you lost out in the latest bust. Governments promised decisive action, the biggest financial stimulus packages in history, gargantuan bailouts: but what crazed logic is this, propping up debt with…more debt? This documentary brings an entirely fresh voice to the hottest topic of today.

Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

2011-04-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Watch the full documentary now (playlist – 13 hours)

With Cosmos, Carl Sagan and his wife and co-writer, Ann Druyan, brilliantly illustrated the underlying science of his same-titled book, placing the human species within a space-and-time context that brought the infinite into stunningly clear view. The series, which originally aired in 1980 on PBS, has been seen by more than 700 million people worldwide and remains a high-water mark in miniseries history.

Sagan lucidly explains such topics as Einstein’s theory of relativity, Darwin’s theory of evolution, and the greenhouse effect, bringing the mysteries of the universe down to a layman’s level of understanding. The footage in these remastered, seven-DVD or seven-VHS sets is as fresh and riveting as it was two decades ago and is certain to fire the imaginations of a whole new generation of viewers. This is THE GREATEST television series ever.

This documentary inspired me to a love of science, learning, and freedom of inquiry that have shaped both my interests and intellectual curiosity. Of the hundreds of high-quality science doc series released in the interim, none approach the majesty and depth of this one. An elegant and artistic enterprise for a well-organized, self-correcting way of reasoning and thinking about the universe/time we occupy. After a quarter of a century, this series is as captivating as it is an education.

BBC Planet Earth: Fresh Water

2011-04-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

There is much of the ocean that has never before been researched or explored, and this episode shows you some of that unexplored terrain, as well as some of the various aquatic life that live there.

BBC Planet Earth: Seasonal Forrests

2011-04-25T08:35:00.000-07:00

This episode takes you to the world of seasonal forests, where it shows you all sorts of different plant and animal species living there, from the enormous sequoia tree, to the nearly extinct Amur leopard. It also shows you that although the seasonal forests of the world may seem familiar to us, there are still many areas of it that are mostly unexplored.

BBC Planet Earth: Shallow Seas

2011-04-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

This episode follows certain creatures such as humpback whales in their journey for food in the shallow seas of the planet. It also takes a look at the teams of other aquatic life that live in these calm waters where sunlight reaches the seabed, including beautiful coral reefs.

BBC Planet Earth: Jungles

2011-04-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

With incredible angles from high-definition cameras, this episode shows us the habitat which may only cover three percent of the planet’s surface, but is home to more than half the species in the world, from how chimpanzees live, to the many different types of rare birds.

BBC Planet Earth: Great Plains

2011-04-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is an episode that introduces you to one of the largest land habitats on the planet which cover over a quarter of it, as well as animals that are some of world’s largest. It also includes massive migrations and huge hunts made by some of the fierce predators that roam there.

BBC Planet Earth: Ice Worls

2011-04-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

BBC Planet Earth: Deserts

2011-04-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

This episode features the unique desert life on the planet, including animals that have to withstand lack of water. It also shows what these hardened creatures do in order to survive in such a barren environment.

BBC Planet Earth: Caves

2011-04-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

This episode introduces you to one of the most mysterious habitats in the world, where not many have ever been: caves. Also the only habitat not directly driven by sunlight, this episode shows you the many different, incredible creatures inhabiting them, including the various species of bats. Also introducing you to the different types of caves, from underground caves, to underwater caves, this episode brings Planet Earth to a fascinating end.

BBC Planet Earth: Fresh Water

2011-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Although only three percent of the Earth is fresh water, there is no lack of animals living in those particular habitats. Fresh water has shaped the Earth while carving gorges, valleys, and great waterfalls, and in this episode, we witness the unique presence of distinct animals such as crocodiles and otters.

BBC Planet Earth: Mountaines

2011-04-17T07:57:00.000-07:00

This episode gives you a tour of some the many vast mountain ranges in the world, including the Andes and the Himalayas. It also shows the different animal species living in these mountainous environments, as well as footage of some of them doing things that have never been seen before.

BBC Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole

2011-04-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

With a production budget of $25 million, the makers of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life crafted this epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, with over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, and shot entirely in high definition, Planet Earth is an unparalleled portrait of the third rock from the sun. This stunning television experience captures rare action in impossible locations and presents intimate moments with our planet’s best-loved, wildest, and most elusive creatures.

First Orbit

2011-04-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

The Guantanamo Guidebook

2011-03-04T13:40:00.000-08:00

British Channel 4 engaged the Team Delta Cadre to recreate the Guantanamo Bay interrogation experience.

At the production company’s request, along with Team Delta’s normal approach to interrogation, the cadre also reenacted several specific events reported to have occurred at Guantanamo.

In most cases these reenacted events were counter productive to the interrogation plan developed by Team Delta – a plan that had learned 80% of the requested intelligence within the first few hours of capture.

Prisoner 73 on his experience: Total deprivation of sleep, food and water, exposure to extreme heat and cold, up to 20 minutes in stress positions, up to 2 hours listening to white noise… plus any other interrogation technique deemed acceptable by the interrogation team’ By any standards the waiver I signed for “Guantanamo Guidebook” was special, and two weeks later when I was lying naked, shaved, shackled in a ball on the floor, alone with a hood over my head, listening to white noise with a cold fan at my back, I realized just how superficial the term ‘informed consent’ can be.

Two weeks earlier I had received an e-mail looking for students who would be willing to participate in a Channel Four documentary investigating US interrogation practices for Terror detainees held in Cuba.

I was to be one of seven male volunteers from various backgrounds – three Muslims: a father of two, a youth worker, and a recent graduate; plus Britain’s fittest Fireman, a triathlete, Britain’s Thai Kickboxing Champion and me, a plucky Oxford undergraduate finalist in philosophy and politics.

The test was to see how we fared in a simulation of up to 60 hours under a team of retired US army interrogators, led by a founding member of Delta Force, who used the techniques officially sanctioned for Guantanamo detainees to extract information about us and make us confess to the scenarios we had acted out with the production company the week before. We were to withhold information and endure.

Discordianims And Culture Jamming

2009-08-10T06:04:00.000-07:00

Discordianism is a modern religion centered on the idea that chaos is all that there is, and that disorder and order, the former considered a concept distinct from chaos, are both illusions (referred to, respectively, as the "Eristic" and "Aneristic" illusions) that are imposed on chaos. It was founded circa 1958–1959 by Malaclypse the Younger with the publication of its principal text, the Principia Discordia. There is some division as to whether it should be regarded as a parody religion, and if so to what degree. It has been called "Zen for roundeyes", based on similarities with absurdist interpretations of the Rinzai school. Discordianism recognizes chaos, discord, and dissent as valid and desirable qualities, in contrast with most religions, which idealize harmony and order. Eris, the Greek mythological goddess of discord, has also become the matron deity of the religion Discordianism.

It is difficult to estimate the number of followers and correctly identify Discordian groups. There is an encouragement to form schisms and cabals. Additionally, few adherents hold Discordianism as their only or primary faith.

BBC Horizon - The Truth About Vitamins

2009-08-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

Every day millions of people in Britain take vitamin supplements.
The huge popularity of taking large doses of vitamins can be traced back to one of the greatest scientists of the 20th Century, double Nobel prize winner, Linus Pauling.
He claimed that by taking large doses of Vitamin C, the equivalent of the amount found in hundreds of oranges you could prevent or even cure the common cold.
Many scientists accused him of quackery, but the public loved it.
Professor Pauling even claimed that huge doses of vitamins could help you live longer.
His work inspired a new generation of health advisors, who remain convinced that large doses of vitamins improves your health.
"I believe taking that vitamin supplements, not only adds years to your life, but also adds life to your years," said Patrick Holford of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition.
Vitamin C is the most popular vitamin sold in Britain, but was Linus Pauling right that it helps you fight the common cold?

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Stranger Danger

2009-08-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

What!? You let your 9 year-old ride the subway in New York City? Alone!? Are you crazy!?!? Or maybe you’re just being a good parent? Join us for a look at the “our children are in danger!” hysteria gripping our country. We’ll talk to overprotective moms and street smart kids, and also hear a heartbreaking account from Samantha Runnion’s mom.

We’ll also put some old wive’s tales (or more accurately, old mother’s tales) to the test, like “don’t go swimming after you eat, wear a jacket or you’ll catch a cold, and the ever-popular “five-second rule.” We didn’t include the “don’t put a knife in the toaster” one because it turns out that one’s true.

And don’t miss our Mommy Cage Match between two mothers with polar opposite points of view on 'stranger danger.

Self-Help Is Bullshit

2009-08-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

Penn & Teller: Bullshit! Sensitivity Training

2009-08-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

How to Make Friends and Manipulate Irrational Voters

2009-08-05T05:55:00.000-07:00

Are Americans irrational when it comes to politics -- voting against their own interests? Or is this phenomenon a function of the interaction between mind, politics and society?

The History of McDonald's (MCD) Documentary Big Mac

2009-08-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants, serving nearly 47 million customers daily. McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, and desserts. More recently, it has begun to offer salads, wraps and fruit. Many McDonald's restaurants include a playground and advertising geared towards children, while some restaurants have been redesigned with emphasis on nature and comfort by introducing lounge areas and fireplaces, while eliminating hard plastic chairs and tables. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15, 1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion and the company became listed on the public stock markets in 1965.

Gangland : Machete Slaughter (Trinitario)

2009-08-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

The History Of Opiates

2009-08-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

Arkan - Targeted (History Channel)

2009-08-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Zeljko Ražnatović (Serbian cyrillic: Жељко Ражнатовић, pronounced [ʒêːʎko raʒnâːtovitɕ]), widely known as Arkan (Аркан), (April 17, 1952 - January 15, 2000), was a Serbian career criminal and later a paramilitary leader who was notable for organizing and leading a paramilitary force in the Yugoslav Wars. He was on Interpol's most wanted list in the 1970s and 1980s for robberies and murders committed in a number of European countries and was later indicted by the UN for crimes against humanity. Arkan was assassinated in 2000 before his trial.

Conversations With History: Identity with John Perry

2009-07-31T05:43:00.000-07:00

Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Professor John Perry who discusses the evolution of his thinking on the problem of identity. Topics covered also include: how a philosopher thinks, philosophical thinking and public discourse, and what philosophy and humor have in common. Professor Perry talks about his role as co-host of the radio program, "Philosophy Talk." He also reflects on the utility of procrastination.

Modern Marvels - The Lumberyard

2009-07-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

"Swim" - Iraq War Pararescueman continue to Save Lives

2009-07-29T05:41:00.000-07:00

As a Pararescueman in Iraq, David Broyles's job was to save lives and help those in need, and after leaving the military in 2005, he wanted to continue that mission. He soon found a charity that provided assistance to severely wounded and disabled veterans, the same men and women David had been tasked with rescuing in Iraq. To raise funds and awareness for their needs through the charity, he wanted a tough challenge in their honor, something worthy and symbolic of their struggles and sacrifice. David soon discovered that fewer Americans had swum across the Strait of Gibraltar, from Spain to Africa, than had reached the top of Mount Everest.

Sputnik Moment

2009-07-28T05:38:00.000-07:00

Critics and allies told me that I had to tell the story of what happened to American education during that period, how we changed ourselves so radically in science, engineering, and math -- our complete education system really. With the help of one wonderful collector of old footage, I made this story for schools, teachers, educational leaders. It shows what happens, and the footage proves it.

Fermat's Last Theorem

2009-07-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

Simon Singh and John Lynch's film tells the enthralling and emotional story of Andrew Wiles. A quiet English mathematician, he was drawn into maths by Fermat's puzzle, but at Cambridge in the '70s, FLT was considered a joke, so he set it aside. Then, in 1986, an extraordinary idea linked this irritating problem with one of the most profound ideas of modern mathematics: the Taniyama-Shimura Conjecture, named after a young Japanese mathematician who tragically committed suicide. The link meant that if Taniyama was true then so must be FLT. When he heard, Wiles went after his childhood dream again. "I knew that the course of my life was changing." For seven years, he worked in his attic study at Princeton, telling no one but his family. "My wife has only known me while I was working on Fermat", says Andrew. In June 1993 he reached his goal. At a three-day lecture at Cambridge, he outlined a proof of Taniyama - and with it Fermat's Last Theorem. Wiles' retiring life-style was shattered. Mathematics hit the front pages of the world's press. Then disaster struck. His colleague, Dr Nick Katz, made a tiny request for clarification. It turned into a gaping hole in the proof. As Andrew struggled to repair the damage, pressure mounted for him to release the manuscript - to give up his dream. So Andrew Wiles retired back to his attic. He shut out everything, but Fermat. A year later, at the point of defeat, he had a revelation. "It was the most important moment in my working life. Nothing I ever do again will be the same." The very flaw was the key to a strategy he had abandoned years before. In an instant Fermat was proved; a life's ambition achieved; the greatest puzzle of maths was no more.

2009-07-26T05:25:00.000-07:00

My Mother's Garden" is the story of 61-year-old Eugenia Lester, whose hoarding disorder pushed her children to leave home when they were quite young. Cynthia Lester was 13 when she left — unable to find a place to sleep in the house amidst all of the garbage. Filmmaking became a way for her to cope with her mother's condition.

Ricky Gervais

2009-07-25T04:55:00.000-07:00

Carts Of Darkness

2009-07-24T05:05:00.000-07:00

Murray Siple's feature-length documentary follows a group of homeless men who have combined bottle picking with the extreme sport of racing shopping carts down the steep hills of North Vancouver. This subculture depicts street life as much more than the stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media. The film takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk. Shot in high-definition and featuring tracks from Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, Vetiver, Bison, and Alan Boyd of Little Sparta.

Laughing With Hitler

2009-07-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

This documentary looks at the clampdown on satire and other undesirable comedians as the Third Reich grew in power. The plight of specific groups (or "art") tends to get lost in the scale of the much bigger human cost of WWII. However here the film looks at how satire and jokes at Hitler's expense were encouraged to some degree as he came into power but gradually anything deemed "subversive" was squeezed out and telling such jokes gradually became more and more dangerous. We hear about German comedians who are sentenced to hard labour in camps or even death as punishment for making jokes. This is recalled with well chosen recollections from a couple of people involved in the period and it serves to only make things worse by not being at all surprising. After this the film explores the general sense of humour on the street as the war started to turn back against German cities and civilians, where understandably there was a certain amount of gallows humour. Throughout the film the jokes are recreated by two German comedians.

The Long Emergency: Surviving Catastophies of the 21st Century

2009-07-22T04:52:00.000-07:00

Darlene Chronicles

2009-07-21T04:54:00.000-07:00

This award-winning documentary chronicles the life of a destitute Appalachian family. Darlene, the housewife, conducts her daily routine: carrying water, fueling a coal stove, disciplining her children, and making ends meet. A personal record of poverty.

Ice Age (Methamphetamine Documentary)

2009-07-20T04:39:00.000-07:00

Its cheap, highly addictive and ultra-powerful. "Ice", or crystal methamphetamine, is now more popular than heroin. It plays havoc with the minds and the bodies of addicts, filling emergency wards with dangerous, psychotic patients. But little is known about the long term effects of the drug or even how to treat the addiction. And health services are not prepared for the chaos ice has just started to unleash. This weeks documentary reports on the hidden epidemic.

Hillside Stranglers

2009-07-19T04:35:00.000-07:00

The Hillside Strangler is the media epithet for two men, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, cousins, who were convicted of kidnapping, raping, torturing, and killing girls and women ranging in age from 12 to 28 years old during a four-month period from late 1977 to early 1978. They committed their crimes in the hills above Los Angeles, California.

The first victim of the Hillside Stranglers was a Hollywood prostitute identified as Yolanda Washington, whose body was found near the Forest Lawn Cemetery on October 18, 1977. The corpse was cleaned and faint marks were visible around the neck, wrists, and ankles where a rope had been used. She had been viciously raped.

On November 1, 1977, police were called to an Eagle Rock neighborhood, north of downtown Los Angeles, where the body of a teenage girl, wrapped in a tarp, had been found on a curb in a residential area. Bruises on her neck indicated strangulation. The body had been dumped, indicating she was killed elsewhere. The girl was eventually identified as Judith Miller, a part time prostitute who was barely 15 years old.

On November 6, 1977, the nude body of another woman was found near the Glendale Country Club. Similar to Judy Miller, she had been strangled with a ligature. The woman was identified as 21 year old Lissa Teresa Kastin, a waitress, and was last seen leaving work the night before she was discovered. While some of the other victims were prostitutes, Lissa Kastin was a "good girl" who had also worked part time for her father's real estate and construction business. A ballet student, she was saving money to continue her training and hoped to become a professional dancer.

On November 13, 1977, two school girls, Dolores Cepeda, 12, and Sonja Johnson, 14, boarded a bus and headed home. They were last seen getting off a bus and approaching a car. Inside the car reportedly were two men. On November 20, a young boy cleaning up a trash-strewn hillside near Dodger Stadium found two bodies. Both girls had been strangled and raped, and were identified as Cepeda and Johnson.

Later that same day, November 20, 1977, hikers found the nude, sexually assaulted body of Kristina Weckler, 20, on a hillside near Glendale. Unlike previous victims, there were signs of torture, indicated by oozing injection marks.

On November 23, 1977, the badly decomposed body of Jane King, 28, an actress, was found near an off ramp of the Golden State freeway. She had gone missing around November 9. With the continued discovery of bodies in hilly areas, a task force was formed to catch the predator, dubbed the "Hillside Strangler."

On November 29, 1977, police found the body of Lauren Wagner, 18. She also had been strangled with a ligature. There were also burn marks on her hands indicating she was tortured. The law enforcement task force — Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and Glendale Police Department — began to assume that more than one person was responsible for the murders, even though the media continued to use the singular, Hillside Strangler.

On December 13, 1977, police found the body of 17-year-old prostitute Kimberly Martin on a hillside.

The final victim in Los Angeles was discovered on February 16, 1978, when a helicopter spotted an orange Datsun abandoned off a cliff in the Angeles Crest area. Police responded to the scene and found the body of the car's owner, 20-year-old Cindy Hudspeth, in the trunk.

Gangland - Gotti Boyz

2009-07-18T04:30:00.000-07:00

Cracker Crazy: The Invisible History of The Sunshine State

2009-07-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

Renegade filmmaker Georg Koszulinski takes on Florida's history from a decidedly different point of view. Blending archival and original footage, he brings to life a cast of historical characters spanning over 12,000 years, from Florida's ancient Indians to the migrant farm workers of the 21st century. Meet Osceola and the Seminoles, who fought alongside escaped slaves in the most costly Indian War in American History. Unmask Florida's Ku Klux Klan and don't forget about Walt Disney and Henry Flagler perhaps the two characters most responsible for the Florida we know today. Think you know Florida? Think again. See Cracker Crazy for an eye-opening experience.

Gangland - Maniac Latin Disciples

2009-07-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

Rent a Rasta

2009-06-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

When white women flock to Jamaica for a little fun in the sun, the R&R they're often looking for is not "Rest and Relaxation" but to "Rent a Rasta" according to director J. Michael Seyfert. His eye-opening expose' of the same name sheds light on a barely acknowledged form of sex tourism, namely, white women who visit the Caribbean Islands to get their groove back with the help of black locals. This documentary claims that, each year, as many as 80,000 females from a variety of relatively-wealthy Western nations descend on Jamaica alone.

Modern Marvels - Computer Creation

2009-06-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

A computer is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed throughout history, the first resembling a modern computer were developed in the mid-20th century (1940–1945). The first electronic computers were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several hundred modern personal computers (PC). Modern computers based on tiny integrated circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into a wristwatch, and can be powered by a watch battery. Personal computers in their various forms are icons of the Information Age, what most people think of as a "computer", but the embedded computers found in devices ranging from fighter aircraft to industrial robots, digital cameras, and toys are the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a personal digital assistant to a supercomputer are all able to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

Modern Marvels - Failed Inventions

2009-06-28T07:44:00.000-07:00

Robert Heller: Restoring Confidence In Financial Markets

2009-06-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Forclosed - American Dream

2009-06-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

Michigan has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. Thousands of people in the state have had their homes foreclosed on.

Michigan Radio takes an in-depth look at what this means for our state, our communities, and all of us. Why has Michigan been hit so hard? What is this doing to our neighborhoods? What are the solutions? Michigan Radio's reporters and hosts explored these questions through in-depth reports and interviews during Morning Edition and All Things Considered during the week of July 21st.

At the end of the week our documentary, "Foreclosing on the American Dream" explored how home foreclosures affect people, neighborhoods, and even art.

BBC's Desperately Hungry Housewives

2009-06-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

This film claws back eating disorders from teenagers with its stories of women who have it all including an unhealthy relationship with food...

Bill Hicks - Shock & Awe

2009-06-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Finding moderate mainstream success in the late 1980s and early '90s, Hicks tended to balance heady discussion of religion, politics and personal issues with more ribald material; he characterized his own performances as "Chomsky with dick jokes."

Lefties: A Lot Of Balls

2009-06-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

News on Sunday was a left-wing tabloid that launched to great fanfare in 1987 and went bankrupt just eight weeks later. It was one of the boldest business ventures ever attempted by the far left and it was a disaster.

A group who met through a tiny left-wing faction called Big Flame were convinced it was possible to market a left-wing mass-circulation newspaper. They were led by ex-Ford worker Alan Hayling (now head of BBC Documentaries) under the editorial leadership of John Pilger, who walked out before the paper had even launched.

The News on Sunday share issue raised an impressive £6.5 million from Labour local authority pension funds and trade unions. Keith Sutton, who had formerly edited The Wapping Post, became the editor. In the first of a series of ill-fated decisions, the paper based itself not in Fleet Street but in Manchester. News on Sunday also gave a controlling interest to a collective of workers - including some of Hayling's colleagues from the shop floor at Ford.

Lefties: Property Is Theft

2009-06-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

In this three-part series, Vanessa Engle revisits the turbulent era when the extreme Left was a serious and significant political force that believed it could change the world for the better.

Weaving together interviews and archive footage, each film relives a different aspect of the Left in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s.

Part one: The fascinating story of a squatted street in the 1970s, where the residents lived by the nonconformist ideals of the time.

Angry Wimmin

2009-06-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

In the late 1970s in Leeds, a group of women called the Revolutionary Feminists splintered away from mainstream feminism. Unlike the socialists, who pictured a revolution where the ruling class and the working class would be on opposite sides, Revolutionary Feminists declared war on men.

The Revolutionary Feminists' first move was to publish an inflammatory document called 'Political Lesbianism - the Case Against Heterosexuality'. It stated that in order to achieve liberation, women should stop having sexual relations with men. They rejected beauty practices, turning their backs on high-heeled shoes, make-up and uncomfortable clothes. They strove to eliminate men from their language, inventing new ways to spell 'wimmin'. They espoused separatism as a way of life and some even abandoned their sons.

The Revs were deeply affected by the Yorkshire Ripper, who for them represented the threat of male violence.

In response, they set up WAVAW - Women Against Violence Against Women - and instigated 'Reclaim the Night' marches, campaigning vociferously against pornography. An extremist wing of WAVAW calling itself 'Angry Women' even went as far as burning down sex shops.

In the early 1980s, feminism entered a second phase and increasingly turned inwards on itself. As black, working-class and disabled women focused on their differences, and the creation of the GLC's women's committee incorporated females into mainstream government, the Revolutionary Feminists' simplistic men-versus-women analysis began to lose its currency.

Authors@Google - Peter Schiff

2009-06-20T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Authors@Google program welcomed Peter Schiff to Google's NY office to discuss his book, "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse".

"Peter Schiff is an American economic commentator, author and licensed stock broker who currently serves as president of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a fully accredited brokerage firm based in Darien, Connecticut."

Amityville Horror - The True Story

2009-06-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

An account of the tragic murders of the DeFeo family before 112 Ocean Avenue in Amityville became the most famous haunted house in history.
Thousands of sightseers flock to the small, quiet town of Amityville, Long Island each year in search of demons and ghosts. Its rich history and beauty are overshadowed by the story of George and Kathy Lutz, the previous residents of 112 Ocean Avenue, who claimed that shortly after moving into the house they fled in terror, driven out by paranormal activity. The best selling novel and popular movie have marked the town as the site of the most famous haunted house in history, yet many are unaware that the true history of this house is much darker than The Amityville Horrors icy drafts and bleeding walls. Six members of the DeFeo family were murdered at 112 Ocean Avenue one year before the Lutz family moved in.

Gangland: Dead Man Inc.

2009-06-19T06:38:00.000-07:00

Slava Polunin - SnowShow

2009-06-18T06:37:00.000-07:00

They call him "the best clown in the world". His Snow Show is celebrated as "a theatre classic of the 20th century" (The Times, London). Recognition came unusually early for Slava Polunin, and from that moment on, his fame was unstoppable. This is probably because Slava doesn't do things "just like that". Everything in his life is very well considered, very finely weighed - even the most crazy, the most incredible, the most adventurous of feats. In achieving his aims, he is concrete, collected and imperturbable.

Gangland: The Hoover Criminals - Everybody Killers

2009-06-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

What's Life In Buddist Monastery Like?

2009-06-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

Morton Stith, a Marine Corp veteran of World War II enters a Zen Monastery in 1946.

Gangland: Mongol MC

2009-06-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

The Diary of Anne Frank

2009-06-14T06:26:00.000-07:00

Explore the every day life of Holocaust victim Anne Frank, with this series. Anne Frank wrote in a diary that was later published in to a book, that has been translated in to many languages, and is estimated to sell around 22 million copies around the world.

Gangland - Blood Oath

2009-06-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs. The Bloods are made up of various sub-groups known as "sets" between which significant differences exist such as colors, clothing, and operations, and political ideas which may be in open conflict with each other. Since their creation, the Blood gangs have branched out throughout the United States. Bloods have been documented in the US military, found in both US and overseas bases.

Houdini - Unlocking the Mystery

2009-06-12T05:49:00.000-07:00

Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926, born Ehrich Weiss) was a Jewish Hungarian-American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer, as well as a skeptic and investigator of spiritualists.

Gangland - The Texas Syndicate

2009-06-11T05:14:00.000-07:00

The Texas Syndicate or Syndicato tejano is a mostly Texas-based prison gang that includes mostly Hispanic and White members. The Texas Syndicate, more than La Eme or Nuestra Familia, has been more associated or allied with Mexican immigrant prisoners, such as the "Border Brothers", while La Eme and the NF tend to be more composed of US-born/raised Hispanics.

It was established in direct response to the other California prison gangs (notably the Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia), which were attempting to prey on native Texas inmates.

As of 2000, the Texas Syndicate had about 1,000 members in prisons and jails state-wide, with many more on the outside. 826 Hispanic members operate across Texas, including specific reportings in the Coffield Unit, about 60 miles southwest of Tyler, and at the Allred prison unit outside of Wichita Falls. However, they still maintain their headquarters in California, where their national president resides, and their numbers continue to reach into state and federal prisons across the US. They have been reported in the Federal Correctional Institute at Oakdale, Louisiana, and in San Quentin, California, with frequency. As a street gang, heavy activity has been reported in Austin, Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Rio Grande Valley.

Six Degrees Of Separation

2009-06-10T05:10:00.000-07:00

Documentary unfolding the science behind the idea of six degrees of separation. Originally thought to be an urban myth, it now appears that anyone on the planet can be connected in just a few steps of association. Six degrees of separation is also at the heart of a major scientific breakthrough; that there might be a law which nature uses to organize itself and that now promises to solve some of its deepest mysteries.

Kublai Khan's Lost Fleet

2009-06-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

Seven hundred years ago the world was dominated by one superpower, the Mongol Empire. Only one conquest still eluded their leader, Khublai Khan - the mystical islands of Japan. To seal his place in history, he constructed the biggest invasion force the world has ever seen, a fleet of more than 4,400 ships. But at this pivotal moment in world-history the fleet vanished without a trace. What force destroyed the Mongol armada? Was it the legendary Japanese samurai? Human error? Or a natural disaster of catastrophic proportions? Now a Japanese marine archaeologist believes he has found the Mongol fleet. With an array of the latest marine forensic technology, he is revealing chilling new insights into the events of that fateful day. Can science finally solve the mystery of Khublai Khan's Lost Fleet?

Ethnogens

2009-06-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

Help Me To Speak

2009-06-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

This film follows the extraordinary story of stuttering children struggling to break out of their isolation and learn to speak. Stuttering, also known as stammering in the United Kingdom, is a speech disorder in which the flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases; and involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the stutterer is unable to produce sounds. The term stuttering is most commonly associated with involuntary sound repetition, but it also encompasses the abnormal hesitation or pausing before speech, referred to by stutterers as blocks, and the prolongation of certain sounds, usually vowels. Much of what constitutes "stuttering" cannot be observed by the listener; this includes such things as sound and word fears, situational fears, anxiety, tension, self-pity, stress, shame, and a feeling of "loss of control" during speech. The emotional state of the individual who stutters in response to the stuttering often constitutes the most difficult aspect of the disorder. No single, exclusive cause of stuttering is known.

Gangland - Black P Stones 'Stone To The Bone'

2009-06-06T05:05:00.000-07:00

The Black P. Stones, originally Black Stone Rangers, are a gang that formed in the area of Blackstone Avenue and Sixty-sixth Place in the Woodlawn area of the South Side of Chicago. In later years, a quasi-Islamic faction of the gang emerged, naming themselves the El Rukn tribe of the Moorish Science Temple in America (or simply El Rukns), under their 'religious leader' and Blackstone Rangers founder Abdullah-Malik (born Jeff Fort). The BPSN has managed to finance itself through a wide array of criminal activities and are also part of the large Chicago-based gang alliance known as the People Nation.

The Black P. Stones' main rivals are the Gangster Disciples, and to a lesser degree, the Black Disciples. They are rivals to all Folk Nation gangs. Their allies are the Vice Lords, Latin Kings and other People Nation Gangs, Black Separatist Groups, Zulu Nation, Five Percenters, the Bloods, the Chicago Outfit. There are 9 BPS branches in Chicago: Gangster Stones, King Stones, Jet Black Stones, Rubinite Stones, Familia Stones, Puerto Rican Stones, Corner Stones, and Black P. Stones. Each branch has many factions.

Pitchmen

2009-06-05T04:52:00.000-07:00

Pitchmen is a docudrama television program produced for the Discovery Channel in the United States. The show follows infomercial producers and talent Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan as they attempt to sell various inventions through direct response marketing. Each episode focuses on two different products.

Each episode typically begins with different inventors pitching products to the hosts. Two products are then selected and are field tested with peoples' opinions gathered on the products. If successful in the field test, an infomercial is then produced and played in test markets after which the inventors are notified of the amount of success that the commercial generated. For products whose commercials generated a successful level of consumer interest, high praise is given by Billy and "Sully". For products that did not fare as well, the inventor is notified, and the future of the product is discussed briefly including the possibility of collaboration on tweaking the commercial for a later airing date.

The Story of Marjoe

2009-06-04T04:49:00.000-07:00

A riviting true story of the child known as Marjoe. From his days as a child to his days as an adult. Hugh Marjoe Ross Gortner, generally known as Marjoe Gortner (born January 14, 1944 (1944-01-14) (age 65) in Long Beach, California), is a former revivalist who first gained a certain fame in the late 1940s and early to mid 1950s when he became the youngest ordained preacher at the age of four, and then outright notoriety in the 1970s when he starred in an Oscar-winning, behind-the-scenes documentary about the lucrative business of Pentecostal preaching. The name "Marjoe" is a portmanteau of the names "Mary" and "Joseph".

When Marjoe was three, his father, a third generation minister, noticed his son's talent for mimicry and overall fearlessness of strangers and public settings. His parents claimed Marjoe had received a vision from God during a bath and began training him to deliver sermons, complete with dramatic gestures and emphatic lunges. By the time Marjoe was four, his parents arranged for him to perform a marriage ceremony for a film crew from Paramount studios, referring to him as "the youngest ordained minister in history." Like much in Marjoe's early life it is hard to say for sure who exactly ordained him, if his father ordained him, or if he was even ordained at all.

Until the time he was a teenager, Marjoe and his parents traveled the United States, holding revival meetings. As well as teaching him scriptural passages, Marjoe's parents also taught him several money-making tactics, involving the sale of supposedly "holy" articles at revivals which promised to heal the sick and dying. By the time Marjoe was sixteen, he later estimated, his family had amassed maybe three million dollars; shortly after his sixteenth birthday, Marjoe's father absconded with the money, and a disillusioned Marjoe left his mother for San Francisco, where he was taken in by and became the lover of an older woman. Marjoe spent the remainder of his teenage years as an itinerant hippie until his early twenties, when, hard pressed for money, he decided to put his old skills to work and re-emerged on the circuit with a charismatic stage-show modeled after those of contemporary rockers, most notably Mick Jagger. Marjoe made enough to take six months off every year, during which he returned to California, surviving on the previous six months' earnings.

In the late 1960s, Marjoe suffered a crisis of conscience — in particular about the threats of damnation he felt compelled to weave into his sermons — and resolved to make one final tour, this time on film. Under the pretense of making a documentary detailing a viable ministry, Marjoe assembled a documentary film crew to follow him around revival meetings in California, Texas, and Michigan during 1971. Unbeknownst to everyone else involved — including, at one point, his father — Marjoe gave "backstage" interviews to the filmmakers in between sermons and revivals, explaining intimate details of how he and other ministers operated. After sermons, the filmmakers were invited back to Marjoe's hotel room to tape him counting the money he collected during the day. The resulting film, Marjoe, won the 1972 Academy Award for best documentary.

Hell's Angels

2009-06-03T04:47:00.000-07:00

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is a worldwide "one-percenter" motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation.

Both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada classify the Angels as one of the "big four" outlaw motorcycle clubs, contending that members carry out widespread violence, drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, and extortion. Members of the organization itself assert that this is a mischaracterization, and state that they are a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies.

The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith

2009-06-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

The Fall are an English post-punk band, formed in Prestwich, Greater Manchester in 1976. The band has existed in some form ever since, and is essentially built around its founder and only constant member Mark E. Smith.

Initially associated with the punk movement of the late 1970s, the group's music has gone through several stylistic changes over the years. However, The Fall's music is often characterised by repetition, an abrasive guitar-driven sound, and is always underpinned by Smith's vocals and often cryptic lyrics, described by critic Steve Huey as "abstract poetry filled with complicated wordplay, bone-dry wit, cutting social observations, and general misanthropy (sometimes more implied than clearly stated, but apparent nonetheless)."

The band's output is prolific—as of April 2008 they have released 27 studio albums, and more than triple that counting live albums and other releases. They have never achieved widespread public success beyond a handful of minor hit singles in the late 1980s, but have maintained a strong cult following. The band were long associated with BBC disc jockey John Peel, who championed them from early on in their career and cited The Fall as his favourite band, famously explaining, "They are always different; they are always the same."

10 MPH

2009-06-01T04:40:00.000-07:00

10 MPH is a comical documentary that follows Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell as they quit soul-numbing jobs and turn a friend's ludicrous idea into a movie. The impulsive purchase of a two-wheeled Segway scooter sets this story in motion when the two friends decide to travel from Seattle to Boston at 10 MPH in an attempt to change their lives forever.

What ensues is a road trip like none other with a haphazard cast of characters you could only find on an enlightening 100 day trek through America's back roads.

When production began in 2004 on the "America at 10 mph" Segway trip across the country, Yahoo! featured our website as the site of the day. This began a watershed of press activities, including a 3-part series with Liane Hansen on NPR Weekend Edition. This press activity spread around the world culminating in 100's of feature profiles on America at 10 mph and continued into post production. Feature highlights include: New York Times, CNN, FOX News, Maxim, FHM, NPR, Boston Globe, C|NET, Japan Times, Globe & Mail; Total impressions for this press coverage are in the 10's of millions.

Single Mother, Working Mother

2009-05-31T04:38:00.000-07:00

A divorced mother of two returns to her home and children in Bolivia after 15 years of struggling for a better life in Israel, only to find her family members have become strangers. A WORKING MOM is a story that demonstrates the extremes that individuals will go to in order to save their families--sometimes saving and losing them in the same act.

The Russian Godfathers - The Fugitive

2009-05-30T04:34:00.000-07:00

Broadcast a year before the Litvinenko murder, this fascinating BBC series lifts the lid on the struggle that still continues between Putin, and his advesaries, the Russian Oligarchs.

The first part follows exile and Litvenenko associate Boris Berezovsky as he campaigns to fight Putin in the Media and along Russia's borders.

Under threat of arrest, Berezovsky travels to revolutionary Ukraine for the campaign to elect Yuschenko.

An excellent series which gives great insight into an increasingly powerful but secretive Russia.

Blinders

2009-05-29T04:32:00.000-07:00

Throughout the year, tourists from around the world travel to Central Park to ride in one of New Yorks legendary horse-drawn carriages. Yet the future of this industry is the subject of a highly charged debate being aired on the streets, in the press and at City Hall. As a result of three dramatic and fatal accidents since 2006 that received international media attention, the plight of the NYC carriage horses is now in the public eye more than ever before. Through original footage taken with hidden cameras and interviews with carriage drivers, veterinarians, accident witnesses, animal rights activists, politicians, tourists, residents who live near the horses and people who have rescued NYC carriage horses from slaughter, BLINDERS takes viewers behind the scenes to expose the truth behind the tradition.

9/11 And "War On Terror" Questioned In Japan`s Parliament Landmark Speech By Congressman Yukihisa Fujita

2009-02-28T01:54:00.000-08:00

On October 22, 2008, Yukihisa Fujita, Congressman for the Democratic Party of Japan made a 20 minute speech on the floor of the Japanese Diet or House of Representatives. For the third time this year he directly questioned the official version of 9/11

Scratch

2009-02-27T01:45:00.000-08:00

A documentary movie examining the birth and evolution of hip-hop DJs, scratching and turntablism. Contains interviews with some of hip-hop's most famous and respected DJs including Grand Wizard Theodore, Q-bert, Mix Master Mike, Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow

A Brief History of Time

2009-02-26T01:42:00.000-08:00

This 1991 documentary movie directed by Errol Morris is a biographical study of Stephen Hawking rather than a film version of the book by the same name. Tells the story of how Hawking has become one of the great minds of all time despite his near total paralysis with clips of his lectures, interviews with friends and a little physics thrown in for good measure.

Big Sugar

2009-02-25T01:44:00.000-08:00

Big Sugar explores the dark history and modern power of the world's reigning sugar cartels. Using dramatic reenactments, it reveals how sugar was at the heart of slavery in the West Indies in the 18th century, while showing how present-day consumers are slaves to a sugar-based diet.

The Road to Guantanamo

2009-02-24T01:41:00.000-08:00

The first documentary movie/dramatization to take a look inside the notorious Guantanamo detention camp. The Road to Guantanamo is a terrifying first hand look at the life of three British citizens who were held for over two years before eventually being released without any charges being brought against them. This film is highly critical of both the American and British government and sparked a fair amount of controversy when it was first released.

The Vanishing Tattoo Documentary

2009-02-23T01:36:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to document the ancient tattoo practices before they vanish forever, renowned Canadian tattoo artist Tom Lockhart, and writer and historian of tattoo lore Vince Hemingson venture on a grueling journey deep into the heart of Borneos jungle to meet the last remaining Iban tattoo artists...

Paris. Blood and Chocolate.

2009-02-22T01:34:00.000-08:00

Documentary series exploring the history of Paris, from its origins as a small island in the River Seine to its emergence as a centre of cultural richness.

Behind elegant squares and romantic bridges lurk rough back streets and a heritage of bloody revolution. Art historian Sandrine Voillet meets the current trend-setters including fashion designer Christian Lacroix, leading porn star Ovidie, and rebel rap band Sniper.

The Conspiracy Files - The Truth Behind The Third Tower.

2009-02-21T01:31:00.000-08:00

The documentary updates an edition of The Conspiracy Files shown earlier this year. It features new interviews with the lead official investigator and an important new eyewitness together with architects, scientists and others who think there was a sinister plot to destroy the building. World Trade Centre Building 7 has become the subject of heated speculation and a host conspiracy theories suggesting it was brought down by a controlled demolition. There is little photographic evidence of the building on 9/11.

Yet seven hours after the Twin Towers collapsed, this third huge tower at the World Trade Centre collapsed in a matter of seconds. Afterwards, the thousands of tonnes of steel from the building were taken away to be melted down in the Far East. From the outside it was an anonymous building, but it housed some unusual tenants: the CIA, the Secret Service, the Pentagon and the very agency meant to combat terrorist attacks in New York, the Office of Emergency Management.

Some people think WTC 7 had to be demolished because it is where plans were hatched for a massive conspiracy on 9/11. Official investigators concluded that fire caused the collapse of this third tower at the World Trade Centre. But that makes this the first and only skyscraper in the world to collapse because of fire. The Conspiracy Files explores the questions that continue to be raised and tries to find out what really happened. Produced and Directed by Mike Rudin Assistant Producer: James Giles

Maybe Logic

2009-02-20T01:27:00.000-08:00

Maybe Logic "is" a hilarious and mind-bending journey into the multi-dimensional life of Robert Anton Wilson, author of the Illuminatus! Trilogy. Featuring video spanning 25 years and the best of 100 hours of footage thoroughly tweaked, transmuted and regenerated, Maybe Logic follows the ever-open eye of Pope Bob as he penetrates human illusions exposing the mathematical probabilities and spooky synchronicities of the 8 dimensions of his Universe.

The feature-length documentary features Tom Robbins, RU Sirius, Ivan Stang, Paul Krassner, Valerie Corral and Douglas Rushkoff.

Guerrilla ontologist. Psychedelic magician. Outer head of the Illuminati. Quantum psychologist. Sit-down comic/philosopher. Discordian Pope. Whatever the label and rank, Robert Anton Wilson is undeniably one of the foundations of 21th Century Western counterculture. Maybe Logic - The Lives and Ideas of Robert Anton Wilson is a cinematic alchemy that conjures it all together in a hilarious and mind-bending journey guaranteed to increase your brain size 2 - 3 inches! From the water coolers and staff meetings of Playboy and the earth-shattering transmission of the Illuminatus! Trilogy, to fire-breathing senior citizen and Taoist sage, Robert Anton Wilson is a man who has passed through the trials of chapel perilous and found himself on wondrous ground where nothing is for certain, even the treasured companionship of a six-foot-tall white rabbit. Featuring RAW video spanning 25 years and the best of over 100 hours of footage thoroughly tweaked, transmuted and regenerated, Maybe Logic follows a reality labyrinth which leads through the hollows of human perception to the vast star fields of Sirius where we find one man alone, joyfully accepting his status as Damned Old Crank and Cosmic Schmuck. Beaming with insight, frustration, compassion, and unshakable optimism, the ever-open eye of Robert Anton Wilson penetrates human illusions exposing the mathematical probabilities and spooky synchronicities of the 8 dimensions of his Universe.

The Oracle January 30 2009 Max Keiser 's BBC Show

2009-02-19T01:24:00.000-08:00

Authors@Google: John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton

2009-02-18T01:23:00.000-08:00

Noted peddler of fake facts and minor television personality John Hodgman talks about his newest book, More Information Than You Require.

Like its predecessor, More Information Than You Require compiles incredibly handy made up facts into brief articles, overlong lists, frighteningly complex charts, and beguiling narratives on new and familiar themes such as:

THE PAST (because there is always more)
THE FUTURE (because they say there is still some left to discuss)
THE METHOD BY WHICH WE ELECT OUR PRESIDENTS (as this will be happening soon)
THE STRANGE OKAPI (an actual animal) GAMBLING: THE SPORT OF THE ASTHMATIC MAN (includes hermit crab racing)
HOW TO BE A FAMOUS MINOR TELEVISION PERSONALITY (hint: go on television)

He is joined by Jonathan William Coulton, The Colchester Kid, on guitar and vocals.

Bill Hicks

2009-02-17T01:21:00.000-08:00

Clerks Documentary - Snowballing

2009-02-16T01:18:00.000-08:00

Clerks is a 1994 American comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film in a minor role. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances. Clerks was the first of Smith's "View Askewniverse" films. It introduces several characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob, who reappear in his later works.

Clerks, which had been shot for US$27,575 in the convenience store where director Kevin Smith worked, grossed over US$3 million in theaters, launching Smith's career and reinvigorating the field of independent films.

The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It

2009-02-15T01:17:00.000-08:00

Robert Shiller visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book "The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do About It." This event took place on October 30, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series.

The subprime mortgage crisis has already wreaked havoc on the lives of millions of people and now it threatens to derail the U.S. economy and economies around the world. In The Subprime Solution, best-selling economist Robert Shiller reveals the origins of this crisis and puts forward bold measures to solve it. He calls for an aggressive response--a restructuring of the institutional foundations of the financial system that will not only allow people once again to buy and sell homes with confidence, but will create the conditions for greater prosperity in America and throughout the deeply interconnected world economy.

Robert J. Shiller is the best-selling author of "Irrational Exuberance" and "The New Financial Order" (both Princeton), among other books. He is the Arthur M. Okun Professor of Economics at Yale University.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

2009-02-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

The Liberation Through Hearing During the Intermediate State (Tibetan: bardo "liminality"; thodol as "liberation"), sometimes translated as Liberation Through Hearing or Bardo Thodol is a funerary text. It is often referred to in the West by the more casual title, "Tibetan Book of the Dead", a name which draws a parallel with the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, another funerary text.

The Tibetan text describes, and is intended to guide one through, the experiences that the consciousness has after death, during the interval between death and the next rebirth. This interval is known in Tibetan as the bardo. The text also includes chapters on the signs of death, and rituals to undertake when death is closing in, or has taken place. It is the most internationally famous and widespread work of Tibetan Nyingma literature.

A&E Biography - Aileen Wuornos

2009-02-13T01:11:00.000-08:00

Aileen Carol Wuornos (born Aileen Carol Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer who killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990, later claiming they raped or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute. She was convicted and sentenced to death for six of the murders, and executed via lethal injection on October 9, 2002.

The Global Hunt for Mr. Swirl

2009-02-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Featuring unique and exclusive access to investigators, victims, family and friends, this is the international story of one of the most remarkable police investigations of recent years, and the Canadian who became its target.
the swirled photo found on the internet

In 2004 officers at Interpol began investigating a series of shocking images that were posted on the Internet - more than 200 pictures of a man abusing young Asian boys.

It wasn't just the scale of the abuse that made the images immediately distinctive. In an attempt to conceal his identity the man, later identified as Canadian teacher Christopher Neil, had swirled his face using photographic software.

This is the story of how police and investigators across the world identified "Mr. Swirl" and tracked him down.

Last October, Christopher Neil became the 'World's Most Wanted', when for the first time in their history Interpol made a global public appeal for information publishing the image of the then unknown man on the Web. It was a significant move because when Interpol went public with the man's image there was no arrest warrant for him and he wasn't wanted in any country for any crime.

The documentary will retell the story of Neil's last days on the run before he was arrested in a small village in northern Thailand - the clues that police followed how he managed to slip the net on several occasions and the decisive information that finally led to his arrest.

The film travels to Canada, where Neil grew up, to Interpol Headquarters in Lyon where investigators co-ordinated the global hunt for him and to Thailand the scene of some of his crimes.

Police and investigators will tell for the first time the full story of how they captured Neil and the methods they used to bring him to justice - a combination of old-fashioned policing and modern methods of surveillance.

Charles Manson Interview With BBC

2009-02-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

Oil Apocalypse Now?

2009-02-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Shot in 13 countries over a four-year period, Oil Apocalypse Now? reveals the myths and conspiracy theories surrounding the future of our world's oil supplies. It includes interviews with over 30 of the most influential people on both sides of the argument to examine if the oil age is coming to an end.
signs

Is there a conspiracy of silence to keep the truth from us? In the last four years world oil prices have tripled. Why? One school of thought blames the weak U.S. dollar. Others say commodity speculators are behind the rocketing oil prices. There is a third voice growing in strength that points to another reason - supply and demand are driving prices up. As supplies diminish and production becomes more expensive, the world faces even higher prices and perhaps the collapse of global production. Then there's talk of missing OPEC barrels. Oil Apocalypse Now? tries to separate the facts from fiction.
workers

Everyone agrees that if oil production is going to increase it will have to come from the group of 13 oil producing countries known as OPEC. But can OPEC really do it? We meet the men in power and find out that all may not be as it seems. Travelling to Kuwait the documentary team uncovers exclusive evidence that world oil reserves may be exaggerated by up to 50%.
president of Kuwait

But fears about our oil supplies aren't limited to missing OPEC barrels. Travelling to the U.S. Oil Apocalypse Now? examines arguments from The Association for the Study of Peak Oil, a group of industry insiders who've been warning of a coming Oil apocalypse for over 30 years. Through fascinating archives, viewers are able to look back at the oil shocks from the 1970's, when prices shot up but then fell back again. Is this time any different? What are the implications if oil prices continue to increase? What are we doing about it and what are the alternatives to our heavy dependence on oil?

How To Make Better Decisions

2009-02-07T04:50:00.000-08:00

We are bad at making decisions. According to science, our decisions are based on oversimplification, laziness and prejudice. And that's assuming that we haven't already been hijacked by our surroundings or led astray by our subconscious!

Featuring exclusive footage of experiments that show how our choices can be confounded by temperature, warped by post-rationalisation and even manipulated by the future, Horizon presents a guide to better decision making, and introduces you to Mathematician Garth Sundem, who is convinced that conclusions can best be reached using simple maths and a pencil!

Halloween: 25 Years of Terror Documentary

2009-02-06T04:45:00.000-08:00

Certainly John Carpenter had no idea what sort of an impact he would be making when he created his masterpiece, "Halloween" in 1978. Not only did the movie go on to be the most successful independent feature of it's time, but it spawned seven sequels, which in turn gave birth to a large and loyal fanbase. "Halloween: 25 Years Of Terror," a two-disc DVD set, centered around an in-depth documentary, celebrates that. Captured at a 2003 convention to mark the 25th anniversary (hence the title), this set beautifully covers nearly every angle of all eight "Halloween" films, their effect on the industry, their successes, their failures, and so on and so forth.

The documentary itself, clocking it at the length of the average "Halloween" film, traces the history of the franchise, from the baby stages of the original film, to the ridiculous nature of the most recent installment, "Halloween: Resurrection." Nothing is really held back here. The producers, directors and castmembers are not shy about revealing certain problems encountered during production (especially on parts 2 and 6) but also don't treat the films as complete failures, or as cinematic scum, as some critics might label it. If you own access to the internet and have done enough research on the films, this information may not be any news to you, but it's nice to have all the wrinkles ironed out and to hear it straight from the source. We get interviews from the legends, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, John Carpenter and Danielle Harris, to the lesser-knowns like Sasha Jenson, Marianne Hagan and Pamela Susan Shoop, and are even treated to input from everyone from internet critic John Fallon (Arrow In The Head) to future "Halloween" director/reinventor himself, Rob Zombie. I was intrigued by the documentary, and was only disappointed when it ended.

Now, for Special Features, we have more than enough to overlap the feature presentation. Most of the footage you will see is from the previously mentioned convention. We are treated to loads of panel discussions, centering around the first film, part 2 and part 6, and also featuring a wealth of cast and crew. Probably one of the best and most nostalgic features would be the on-set footage of "Halloween 5," while "Horror's Hallowed Grounds" is a well done tour of Haddonfield (Pasadena, CA) as it appears today. I was very satisfied with this release, but it also left me a little depressed. Afterall, with the announcement of the upcoming remake/reinvention/reimagining/ -- whatever you wanna call it -- of the original film, it is officially clear that all these storylines are dead. I guess we all knew it. It was essentially over when "H20" came on the scene and tried to end the series definitively, and then "Halloween: Resurrection" came out and dragged the series through the mud and put the nail in the coffin. It's sad to see such great characters and, for better of for worse, great stories reach a dead-end. As a hardcore "Halloween" fan who also loved parts 4-6, it was a vindicating feeling to see that virtually no one from "H20" or "Resurrection" bothered to show up and discuss the films. It was all people from the older films. After witnessing the older, mid-section films being treated as dirt over the years, it was nice to see it gets it's respect here. If you are a "Halloween" fan, regardless of what your opinion of the rest of the franchise is/was, this set is worth every penny. With so many "Halloween" DVD's and so little features, it's nice to have a place that holds just about everything you could ever want.

The Subprime Solution: How Today's Global Financial Crisis Happened, and What to Do about It

2009-02-04T04:41:00.000-08:00

The Vanishing Tattoo Documentary

2009-02-03T04:39:00.000-08:00

Paris. Blood and Chocolate

2009-02-02T04:38:00.000-08:00

Maybe Logic

2009-02-01T04:34:00.000-08:00