The outbreak of World War II saw two motion picture experts from Germany and the United States battle each other with as much ferocity as any army or navy. Their respective missions: to ignite a public desire to wage and win a global conflict. This Bill Moyers program contains an interview with Fritz Hippler, chief filmmaker for the Nazi Party. Hippler unrepentantly claims to have spoken to the "soul of the masses" through films like The Eternal Jew,...

Characterized by expressions of individuality, popularismo, criticism, stoicism, humor, piety, and dignity, the literature of Spain spans ten centuries, includes some of history's most significant writers, and contains landmark works of every major literary genre. This program provides an overview of Iberian history as it relates to Spanish literature. The formation of regional tongues and their importance in the cultural life of Spain are discussed,...

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...

This first part of the classic Foundations of Communication Series involves a discussion of the communication discipline with scholars Lois Self, former chair of the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University; Caroll C. Arnold, former professor emeritus of Pennsylvania State University; James McBath, former chairman of communication arts and sciences at University of Southern California; Nicolas Cripe, formerly of Butler University;...

Part one of this program, presented against a backdrop of Gothic architecture and pre-Raphaelite art, asks whether religion and science can coexist in a post-Darwinian world. Are Creation and Evolution mutually exclusive? Part two focuses on the questions raised by the global movement toward social equality. Must Christianity adapt to survive, and if so, do issues like female priests and homosexuality threaten to rob it of its scriptural authority?...

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...

Social media is changing how the world works. Nowhere is that more apparent than in Africa's most populous city, Lagos. In this bustling metropolis of an estimated 23 million people, around 10 million are under the age of 25 and their numbers are rising rapidly. Tech savvy and increasingly well connected, they have embraced social media and, in the process, a new generation of high profile and highly paid personalities have emerged. In this episode...

In 1978 Dámaso Alonso (1998-1990), poet, philologist and academic, has just received the Cervantes Prize and five volumes of his Complete Works have already been published. Describes the first departure to the world of the generation of 27, the origins of philology "Menéndez Pidal was the only philologist in 1905, with eight disciples, and from there multiply like a pyramid." He also talks about the transformation of the Royal Academy. The author...

Promoting growth and protecting the environment is a contradiction, says Chinese ambassador Chen Mingming, insisting that the opulent lifestyle of "people overseas" should figure into any assessment of his country's environmental policies. "Isn't it legitimate for the Chinese to seek the same quality of life? That means economic development." Others who support the government's approach to ecological problems also appear in this film, such as political...

A single issue of The New York Times is said to contain more information than could be learned in a lifetime by a person living in the 15th century. This program traces the development of books, newspapers, and magazines in the Western world, from the invention of the printing press, metal type, paper, and oil-based ink to the present day. Experts from the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University Press, MIT, and The New York Times discuss the effect...