In 2019 the fittest athletes on earth took on the unknown and unknowable during four intense days of competition at the CrossFit Games. "The Fittest " captures all the drama as chiseled athletes descend on Madison, Wisconsin, to face a series of trials. On top of the physical challenges, this year the sport grew from 40 men and women, to over 100 of each. But with this new format came cuts of the field, so for the final half of the weekend, only 10 men and 10 women move on to determine who is the fittest. The best among them enter the pantheon of CrossFit giants and earn the right to call themselves the "Fittest on Earth."
FRONTLINE and NPR investigate the growing inequities in American healthcare exposed by COVID-19. The Healthcare Divide examines how pressure to increase profits and uneven government support are widening the divide between rich and poor hospitals, endangering care for low-income populations.
In Defense of Food tackles a question more and more people around the world have been asking: What should I eat to be healthy? Based on award-winning journalist Michael Pollan's best-selling book, the program explores how the modern diet has been making us sick and what we can do to change it.
Documentary that explores the birth and growth of satellite espionage.
In an era of throw-away ease, convenience has cost us our well-being. Plastics have been found inside our bodies— in our colons, our brains, and even in mothers’ developing wombs. Scientists around the country are sounding the alarm, but without public buy-in, there is little that can be done. How much evidence do we need before we decide to take action?
A heartwarming exploration of a community art project by photographer Tawfik Elgazzar providing free portraits for locals and passers-by in Sydney, Australia's Inner West. The film explores the nature of individuality, cultural diversity and the positive joy for the photographer of seeing his subjects smile.
In Brenda Dickson's self-produced video infomercial, the soap star strikes various poses in various baroque evening gowns whilst standing in various corners of her opulent mansion. Then, “through the magic of Hollywood,” Dickson invites the viewer to “teleport into my closets” for lessons on “style, which is as important in your life as your look.”
A documentary on Al Gore's campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Consisting of a single shot, Spiders on a Web is one of the earliest British examples of close-up natural history photography. Made by one of the pioneers of the British film industry, G.A. Smith, this short film details spiders trapped in an enclosure, and despite the title, does not actually feature a web.
Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.
Richard Feynman is one of the most iconic, influential and inspiring scientists of the 20th century. He helped design the atomic bomb, solved the mystery of the Challenger Shuttle catastrophe and won a Nobel Prize. Now, 25 years after his death - in his own words and those of his friends and family - this is the story of the most captivating communicator in the history of science.
This documentary outlines the unique properties and latest studies of "Physarum Polycephalum", also known as Blob.
For more than twenty years, Hubert Reeves has put science, his media influence, and his energy at the service of a cause: biodiversity.
A documentary about the study of plant sentience with original music by Stevie Wonder. Utilizing time-lapse photography, the film proposes that plants are able to experience emotions and communicate with the world around them.
Morgan Spurlock subjects himself to a diet based only on McDonald's fast food three times a day for thirty days without exercising to try to prove why so many Americans are fat or obese. He submits himself to a complete check-up by three doctors, comparing his weight along the way, resulting in a scary conclusion.
Director Dominique Leclerc spent years depending on medical devices for her survival. Then, looking for alternative solutions, she entered the world of emerging technologies. Posthumans follows her as she meets with cyborgs, biohackers, and transhumanists who are trying to use these technologies to outsmart illness, aging—and even death. The documentary looks at pressing ethical and political questions that are sure to impact the future of our species.
Produced in 1967, this black and white film is an inmate's view of Daytop, a drug treatment centre on Staten Island, New York, where addicts learn to get along without drugs. Uncompromising, often brutal group therapy sessions are designed to shake loose the excuses a victim makes for himself. The people and situations shown are authentic; only one actor was employed. The results obtained at Daytop are regarded by some psychiatrists as a breakthrough.
Coming in all shapes and sizes, bacteria are present in every corner of the Earth. Their purposes and types are even more diverse, with only 1% being truly harmful. Dive into the world of Bacteria to experience the latest discoveries and scientific knowledge surrounding these plentiful and necessary microbes.
This 90-minute documentary brings to life Gavin Pretor-Pinney’s international bestseller, “The Cloudspotter’s Guide”, which draws on science, meteorology and mythology for a magical journey through the world of clouds. It is no dry treatise on the science of nephology but a playful trip through the varied beauty and distinctive personalities of the ten principal cloud types From the ethereal cirrus to the terrifying cumulonimbus, the film tells the story of the short but eventful life of clouds and their importance to our planet. Find out how immense quantities of water can stay up in the sky for so long and how lightning and thunder are created.
The Dream Is Alive takes you into space alongside the astronauts on the space shuttle. Share with them the delights of zero gravity while working, eating and sleeping in orbit around the Earth. Float as never before over the towering Andes, the boot of Italy, Egypt and the Nile. Witness firsthand a tension-filled satellite capture and repair and the historic first spacewalk by an American woman.