Organized religion may be influenced by culture as much as by divine inspiration, and yet there are many similarities among the mainstream faiths. This program compares the defining features of the seven largest religions and finds common threads among Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, and the Baha'i Faith. Using detailed examples, the video looks at structural similarities-a persecuted prophet, the importance of scriptures...

In this episode, chef Melvyn Lee explores Taiwan's central mountains, where he meets an aboriginal woman, discovers some unique local produce, and learns how to prepare a dish that dates back to the hunting days of the Atayal men. He then heads for Taiwan's dramatic coastline, where he befriends a Han Chinese fisherman. Melvyn finds out how to prepare fresher-than-fresh seafood the traditional Fujianese way. Taking what he's learned from both, he...

Since the beginning of civilization, humans have paid homage to the spiritual realm by erecting beautiful structures on Earth. In this program, Dan Cruickshank visits Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai desert, built where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments; China's Hanging Temple, a Taoist monastery that clings precariously to the sheer face of a cliff; two 16th-century wooden churches in the Russian wilderness that still serve...

As globalization gains momentum, industrialized and developing countries are, to a greater or lesser extent, becoming increasingly similar, with middle-class luxury and abject poverty coexisting side by side. This program explores the repercussions of globalization as well as a growing resentment toward the G8 countries and nongovernmental organizations. Concerns over third-world debt, environmental degradation, biodiversity, the concentration of...

Water may be the world's hardest-working religious symbol, representing life, death, purification, destruction, and countless other ideas. This program studies the spiritual properties of water and the myriad ways in which humanity has regarded the precious substance over the millennia. Establishing a link between climate and the evolution of god-images, the video explores the notion of the angry deity who punishes with water-a concept prevailing...

Every day our cities are swamped with a logjam of cars, trucks, and buses. Behind this chaos, though, lies a master plan which struggles to keep the modern city on the move. This program explores the age-old battle between the city and its traffic as we follow a colorful London cabby on his journeys throughout the city. The program explains the origin of traffic signals, examines the American grid plan, speaks to the man responsible for all traffic...

Historically, the arts in Africa were largely communal and unrecorded. But much has changed over the past century, and this program takes a look at art in sub-Saharan Africa as it exists today through profiles of Senegalese rap groups Alif and Wageble and the rap collective Fight and Forget, who use their music as a form of political activism; Senegalese sculptor Babacar Niang, whose workshop has trained artists who have found success in both the...

Birth rates in the industrialized world are lower than ever, and many people are concerned. This program, hosted by Ben Wattenberg, explores the phenomenon, and what it may mean in social and human terms. Wattenberg and a panel of population experts are fearful that programs such as Social Security, which rely on taxes paid into the system by younger workers, may be jeopardized. On location in France and Italy-two countries with the lowest birth rates-experts...

We've heard the warning in dozens of horror flicks, "don't go in the basement," but the ghastly has become the grand. Today, computer-aided design and robotic layout are creating a playboy's paradise. The basement is a recipe for in-home pleasure. It's the nerve center for climate control, fire suppression, and it's the room most likely to save your life.

After Kazakhstan gained independence in 1991 its seat of government was moved north and renamed Astana, meaning "sublime gateway." Old Soviet-era buildings were torn down and internationally acclaimed architects hired to design a model city that might become the hub not just of Kazakhstan, but of all of Central Asia. A decade after its conception, has Astana lived up to its promise? In this program, citizens who are preparing to celebrate Astana's...