Concrete: Foundation of the modern world

How concrete underpins the modern world

• 40 mins

Do we Need Artificial Intelligence?

How the relentless advance of computer logic is changing our world and the way we think

• 40 mins

The new curators: Who decides what’s culturally important?

How the idea of curation has radically changed

• 40 mins

DNA: The code for making life

A close look at the remarkable set of building blocks which all cellular life shares

• 40 mins

Drones and their Impact on the World

The history, present and future of drones.

• 40 mins

Unpicking the UN

The history and current challenges facing the UN

• 40 mins

Korea: Two Countries, One Past

Why and how the Korean Peninsula came to be divided into North and South Korea

• 40 mins

The Iliad: Beauty, brutes and battles

Why is Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem still so important?

• 40 mins

Winner or Cheat? Doping in Sport

The inside story; swapped samples, state-sponsored doping and the battle for world sport

• 40 mins

Thomas More's Utopia

Celebrating More's radical book and its political influence in the past and present

• 40 mins

Cali-topia: a New Vision of Thomas More's Utopia?

Is Silicon Valley a template for our utopian future?

• 40 mins

Fela Kuti: King of Afrobeat

The life and legacy of Fela Kuti, Nigeria’s maverick musical pioneer

• 40 mins

The Powers of the American President

What does it take to do one of the most powerful jobs in the world?

• 40 mins

The Silicon Chip: A Tech Revolution

The story of the development of the silicon chip

• 40 mins

Goethe: The story of colour

How colour affects our mood and thoughts

• 40 mins

Seven Samurai: A Japanese masterpiece

The global impact of Akira Kurosawa’s 1954 groundbreaking action film

• 40 mins

The birth of hip hop

The early years of rap and breakdancing in New York

• 40 mins

The real story of Frankenstein

The origins, themes and continuing legacy of Mary Shelley’s gothic tale Frankenstein

• 40 mins

Yellow fever: Man against mosquito

How we tamed one of the world's deadliest diseases, and why it's coming back

• 40 mins

Beethoven: The genius rule breaker

Why Beethoven is so universally popular

• 40 mins

Marie Curie: A pioneering life

The extraordinary life of the Polish scientist who changed the course of physics

• 39 mins

The Magic of Bronze

Discover the amazing stories behind some of the world's greatest masterpieces in bronze

• 44 mins

The KGB: Secrets and Spies

The story of the KGB

• 40 mins

Haile Selassie: The last Emperor of Ethiopia

The life and legacy of the man who became ‘the Father of Africa’

• 40 mins

Machiavelli - Master of Power

The life and reputation of Niccolò Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’

• 40 mins

The Belle Epoque: A Golden Age?

Paris in the 19th Century when permissiveness mixed with political and creative optimism

• 40 mins

Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland

The story behind this weird and wonderful literary classic

• 40 mins

How the metre changed the world

The universal unit of length that joined up the globe

• 39 mins

Amelia Earhart: Trailblazer in the skies

The inspirational life of the celebrated American aviator

• 39 mins

Taiwan: An Island History

An exploration of the island of Taiwan

• 40 mins