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...

Under the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah, Iran experiences an oil-driven economic boom, but the government’s excesses and repressive tactics lead to increasing hostility towards the monarch and his closest ally: the United States. As religious cleric Ayatollah Khomeini grows in popularity, the Shah flees and the country becomes engulfed in revolution, endangering the U.S. embassy.

During the Cold War, the power blocs of the East and West vied to control the vast mineral resources of the former Belgian colony, The Congo. The CIA working with the British, French, and Belgian Secret Services feared that this newly independent African country had fallen under Soviet influence. So the Secret Services funded a rebellion in the mineral-rich province of Katanga-and installed a puppet President, Moishe Tchombe, whose first act was to...

What is democracy? Who is free? Does it really matter if American democracy falls? In episode 1, we dive into the history of democracy, its birth and the United States’ unique take on this form of government. The episode looks at some uniquely American challenges that limit American democracy such as hyper-partisanship, negative partisanship, institutional constraints (gerrymandering, the Electoral College, voter registration) public apathy and...

When you think of America's immigration story, you think of Ellis Island New York... right? Think again, because over 2,500 miles away is Angel Island, where immigrants coming into the West Coast were processed for entry to the US, but it was an experience that was anything but welcoming.

This episode of the U.S. Army's The Big Picture television show spotlights the political, economic, and social background that brought about the creation of a military force for the free Bonn Republic of West Germany. The creation of this German Army was an important plank in the founding platform of the NATO nations as the addition of this force unified the stand of these nations against aggression. This video shows the American Army officers training...

This collection of significant speeches given by John F. Kennedy covers his candidacy for president, his inauguration, and the challenges of his administration during the idealistic and turbulent '60s - an era that included both the birth of the Peace Corps and the Cuban missile crisis.

It has shaken conventional media, has had its Italian premiere banned amid huge controversy, has provoked anger and tears among 2 million Italian viewers, has been discussed in more than 50 independently organized debates around the world, and has opened the public’s eyes to the full nature of Italy’s political, economic, and moral malaise. Directed by Italian filmmaker Annalisa Piras and narrated by former Economist chief editor Bill Emmott,...

"Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends-what percentage of the world's population live in poverty; why the world's population is increasing; how many girls finish school -we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates,...

Thousands of people have been caught up in a brutal new ISIS battleground on Australia’s doorstep. One of them was ABC correspondent Adam Harvey, who took a bullet to the neck. This is his story, and theirs.