As Tibetan protesters take to the streets in the biggest and most bloody challenge to Chinese rule in nearly 20 years, Dispatches reports on the hidden reality of life under Chinese occupation after spending three months undercover, deep inside the region. Dozens are feared dead after the recent clashes and crackdown by Chinese troops, but with reporting so rigidly controlled from the region littl
In the first episode of this two-part series, Louis Theroux spends time in one of the most notorious sections of Miami County Jail: the fifth and sixth floor of ‘Main Jail’, where many of the most volatile inmates are incarcerated.Held in large cage-like dwellings for up to 24 men, the inmates have developed a strange and violent jail culture. The men – who remain in the cells almost all the tim
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 h
The medical use of marijuana is examined from every side of a very complex issue with this documentary that charts the suffering of four chronically ill patients whose reliance on the illegal drug as a pain killer is in jeopardy due to federal anti-narcotic legislation. Reform organizations, prohibitionist groups, politicians, drug war critics, scientists, and celebrities all get their say in this
There are 7 billion of us in the world today and we are facing some huge problems, but talk alone doesn't help someone escape from poverty, awareness doesn't reduce pollution, or grow food, or heal the sick, that takes doing and Manoj Bhargava, the billionaire CEO of 5-Hour Energy drinks has decided to put his money towards the cause in order to better the world we live in. Bhargava is investing 9
Ever since he was at school, actor and comedian Alan Davies has hated maths. And like many people, he is not much good at it either. But Alan has always had a sneaking suspicion that he was missing out.So, with the help of top mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy (The Story of Maths and How Long Is A Piece Of String?) Alan is going to embark on a maths odyssey.Together they visit the fourt
A man crouches and pokes at what first appears to be a wad of chewed-up pink bubble gum on the ground. “That’s what a scab will do to ya, by God,” he says, his voice quavering with emotion. The pink wad is brain tissue from a striker shot in the head by a strikebreaker. That’s one of the harsh realities of Harlan County USA. Barbara Kopple’s documentary camera looks at this forgotten corner of 197
Is Yemen a nation under the influence of drugs? Each afternoon the country slows down as both young and old chew Khat leaves for a legal high. Meanwhile farms have stopped growing food and water is running out.On the outskirts of Sana’a a young boy, no more than 5 or 6, sits on a low wall. “Do you chew khat?” He smiles a wide, empty smile, “Yes, every day.”He’s just one pin
Every day in Vienna the amount of unsold bread sent back to be disposed of is enough to supply Austria's second-largest city, Graz. Around 350,000 hectares of agricultural land, above all in Latin America, are dedicated to the cultivation of soybeans to feed Austria's livestock while one quarter of the local population starves. Every European eats ten kilograms a year of artificially irrigated gre