Science communicator Carl Sagan believed science and religion could be compatible. But does Contact, the film based on his novel, prove his point or undermine it? Probe the many ways humans use personal experience to justify belief and whether or not such experiences can justify belief in the face of contrary scientific evidence.

Refuting any connection with overt political goals, Turkish novelist and Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk aims to create stories "as a child, not knowing where I am going next." Yet few writers in the Islamic world are more closely associated with political strife or have sparked as much street-level anger. This program features an interview with the world-renowned author in his Istanbul office, bringing to light his insights into art, oppression, and the...

Isaac Asimov's works cover an enormous spectrum: from science fiction and science fact, to children's books. Hailed by some as "the greatest explainer of our age," Asimov discusses evolution and the correlation between science and religion, in the first part of this program. In the second part, he addresses the future of education itself. Asimov was famous for thinking globally and rationally. In this program with Bill Moyers, he explains why we all...

Daniel Foe was born in Cripplegate, London in 1660; the son of a tallow chandler. His father was a dissenter in religion with strong puritan views. Defoe attended a dissenters' academy in Newington and began working as a journalist; he also became a secret agent for the government. Defoe travelled widely and in his later years successfully published many works of fiction. He died in poverty in 1731.

This film presents the premiere of the stage adaption of the award winning film, The Play Within, an emotional and issue-focused fictional drama based on the lives of two real people—Matthew Shepard and Tyler Clementi—and their tragic, untimely deaths. After the play, an audience talkback allows for an exploration of this experience. This is followed by a wide-ranging discussion by psychiatrists, social service providers, clergy, and others who...

Iranian TV is officially known as the "Voice and Vision of the Islamic Republic," but with the majority of air-time dedicated to religion, people have their own name for it-"glass wool," a wry reference to the great number of clerics' beards seen through the screen. This film examines television in Iran, with observations from journalists and activists on the divide between government-sanctioned broadcasts and what viewers really want to watch. Satellite...

It's a scenario from science fiction: police, predicting the future, arrest citizens before they commit crimes. But the scenario has real-world parallels in psychology. This film examines the PCL-R, or Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, a classification tool used to profile criminals and predict whether or not they will re-offend. In addition to forensic applications, the film shows how the checklist has been modified for use in the corporate world. Interview...

When Dutch sailors landed on Easter Island, they found a warlike people recovering from anarchy and cannibalism. What had gone wrong with a civilization that had lived in peace for nearly a thousand years? In this program, Claudio Cristino, the island's resident archaeologist; William Liller, of the Easter Island Foundation; Patricia Vargas Casanova, of the Easter Island Studies Institute at the University of Chile; and others offer their views on...

This program uses footage of the caverns beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other sacred sites, artwork, and expert commentary to analyze the historicity of Jesus' last days, the political context of 1st-century Jerusalem, and the emergence of Christianity as an institution. Jesus' execution, burial of the dead in Jewish tradition, the significance of Jesus' tomb, and two millennia of Jerusalem's history are addressed by N. T. Wright, canon...

Director Nabil Ayouch (Razzia, Horses of God) drew on his own experience opening a youth cultural center in Casablanca for this story of a former rapper named Anas who takes a job teaching hip hop in an underprivileged neighborhood. Despite differences in identity, religion, and politics, Anas encourages his students to bond together and break free from the weight of restrictive traditions in order to follow their passion and express themselves through...