The world is affected by an obesity epidemic, but why is it that not everyone is succumbing?Medical science has been obsessed with this subject and is coming up with some unexpected answers. As it turns out, it is not all about exercise and diet.At the center of this programme is a controversial overeating experiment that aims to identify exactly what it is about some people that makes it hard
Professor Susan Greenfield tackles the big idea of human consciousness and asks the important question - why am I me? In this documentary, Greenfield takes a look at how the human brain generates consciousness and just what consciousness is.Putting a scientific finger on what human consciousness is not at all an easy task as Greenfield points out in her own words..."I think the problem has
Black holes are one of the most destructive forces in the universe, capable of tearing a planet apart and swallowing an entire star. Yet scientists now believe they could hold the key to answering the ultimate question – what was there before the Big Bang? The trouble is that researching them is next to impossible. Black holes are by definition invisible and there’s no scientific theory able to ex
Robert Llewellyn attempts to discover which of the world's top four monotheistic religions has the most money. His journey takes him from Canterbury Cathedral to Vatican City and Israel, as he bids to calculate the income and assets of the Anglican Commune, the Catholic Church, Judaism and Islam.“As an atheist, I’ve always wondered how much money the faiths keep stuffed under the mattress,” sa
Niccolo Machiavelli, 16th century Italian diplomat, political thinker, arch bad guy, his name conjures up everything thats sly about human behavior. It's all because of his book entitled "The Prince", written over 500 years ago. It's about power, how to get it and how to keep it. Machiavelli wrote this book in 1513, it was shocking then and it's shocking now. How useful and relevant is "The P
A two-hour Channel 4 special about the Bible opens with images of George Bush – and Osama Bin Laden. The Bible, holy books and the religious faith they inspire are on the news agenda as they've rarely been before, and the presenter of the programme, Dr Robert Beckford, is looking for good answers to what sounds like a simple question: Who wrote the Bible?It's a question that has preoccupied bi
Over 20 years ago the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries declared an end to the so called war which claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people. Their historic ceasefire's marked the beginning of a road to peace that Northern Ireland enjoys today.Reporter Peter Taylor has been covering this conflict for more than 40 years and in this film he explores the contrast from back then up until now, expl
It is not just the banks that are in danger of going under. It is entire economies. They are the ones in need of emergency cash to stay afloat. For some time we have been saying that Europe's financial 'white knight' may end up wearing Chinese armour or even a South American uniform?Now it looks like all that is starting to come true. It started with a big splash in the Financial Times, saying
A two part documentary published by the BBC, exploring the ancient Greeks and their way of life.Episode 1:Classicist Dr Michael Scott uncovers the strange, alien world of the ancient Greeks, exploring the lives of the people who gave us democracy, architecture, philosophy, language, literature and sport.Travelling across Greece today, Michael visits ancient cities and battlefields, gre