In the wake of World War II, in a move closely related to the beginnings of the Cold War, the United States of America decided to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean, on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall archipelago. After the displacement of the local inhabitants, 67 nuclear tests were carried out from 1946 to 1958, including the explosion of the first H-bomb (1952). Bikini Atoll has conserved direct tangible evidence that is highly significant...

Our present-day civilization is the result of a learning process that has taken thousands of years. Human beings have slowly developed their intelligence and utilized the possibilities offered to mankind by nature. This program covers the major advances of humankind throughout the ages. Beginning more than two million years ago, the program covers how people created the first tools, discovered fire, invented the wheel, created written language, and...

As the 1400s dawned and progressed, the last remnants of military resistance to the Christian reconquista faded from Spain-but the legacy of Islamic culture was ensured. This program explores that climactic stage in medieval Spanish history. Navigating what can still be seen of the urban landscape of the time, the program illuminates the lives of Muslim leader Ibn Zamrak, Castilian constable Alvaro de Luna, and the latter's role in the wider drama...

Gospel is a genre of religious music, which is very much focused on a strong vocal delivery. These amazing harmonies and lyrics, which are celebratory.It’s music of unparalleled spirituality. It’s the music of hope; it’s the music of light, and it’s the music of better times ahead. It’s a combination of African Spirituals from Africans who were brought over to be slaves, and Christianity, but the non-conformist side of Christianity; Methodism,...

After the disappearance of Tartessos, other Iberian locales rose to prominence and flourished-until their successes drew the unwanted attention of rival civilizations. This program tracks the history of Iberia during the era of Carthaginian and Roman expansion. Paintings, dramatizations, and maps reconstruct the course of the Punic Wars. In addition, the characteristics and cultures of these embattled regions are examined through re-creations of everyday...

Dixieland, swing, bebop, modal, free, avant-garde, these were some of the terms critics used during the 1960s to categorize the diverse manifestations of jazz music. As for the artists themselves, many were desperate for work and headed for Europe, including bebop saxophone master Dexter Gordon. At home, jazz sought relevance. During the Civil Rights struggle it became a voice of protest, while avant-garde explorer John Coltrane reached for a higher...

The political and economic turmoil of Europe drove millions to leave their countries of origin and emigrate to the U.S. where a lady held a welcoming lamp "beside the Golden Door." This ABC News program anchored by Peter Jennings tells the dramatic story of the transformation of America into a truly multicultural nation, from the teeming ethnic neighborhoods of New York to the black migration to northern cities during the Great Depression. Also discussed...

The Canadian Air Cadets is born to meet the desperate need for operational pilots in Britain during the Second World War.

The last episode in the series explores the fate of art in the machine and profit-driven world and asks: should art create a realm separate from the modern world, or should it plunge headlong into the chaos while transforming the way we see and live in it? Using the works of artists of the 20th and 21st Century, including Ai Weiwei, Kara Walker, Andy Warhol and Anselm Kiefer, we seek answers to these profound questions. The conclusion is imbued with...

In today's Peru, a country scourged by unemployment, political violence, and drug trafficking, the ability of the women to face the worsening societal and economic crisis is cause for admiration. This program looks at the noble efforts of city women in general, as they prepare community meals, work at menial jobs to support families, run employment workshops, and provide counseling for abused women, pregnant teenagers, and refugees fleeing war in...