Current Topics

Written and presented by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, in which he seeks to expose "those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the nation under their spell", including mediumship, acupuncture and psychokinesis.

'Mormon Lost Boys' Young men have been thrown out of their homes because of an edict allowing polygamist church elders to monopolize young girls. 'The Fat Farms of Mauritania' In the West African country of Mauritania, parents send their daughters to rural fattening camps. 'Mumbai Slumscraper' A visit to Mumbai, where slums sit below billion-dollar, single-family skyscrapers.

Egypt on the Brink: Arab Spring climaxed in the overthrow of President Mubarak in Egypt. But for many Egyptians, the situation has actually gotten worse. China's Ghost Towns: Fifteen years ago, China changed its policy so people could buy their own homes. Real-estate investments boomed, and new cities began popping up. The problem is: people don't live in what have become 'ghost cities.'

In August 2014, ISIS militants raided a Yazidi village in Syria, kidnapping thousands of men, women and children. Hundreds of the kidnapped men were killed or forced to convert to Islam; the women and children were sold as sex slaves or to marry ISIS fighters. Many were raped or became victims of other forms of sexual violence. Escaping ISIS depicts 34 of those captured by militants last year — mostly women and young children — reuniting with their families as they escape to freedom". Some victims were brought to freedom through underground networks, guides inside ISIS and resistance fighters. Women contacted the resistance fighters, begging for rescue; some said the alternative is committing suicide. Many escapees walk for several days with little food and water, often barefoot, risking getting recaptured and killed. One resistance fighter was shot in the back of the head in ISIS territory after they found out that he was working against them. The documentary shows parts of this treacherous journey to freedom.

Professor Brian Cox grapples with science's darker side, asking why, when science has done so much for us, it often gets such a bad press. Starting with the original Frankenstein - the grisly 19th century tale of George Foster's hanging and subsequent 'electrocution', Brian confronts the idea that science can go 'too far'. From the nuclear bomb to genetic modification, British science has always been at the cutting edge of discovery, but are British scientists feckless meddlers, or misunderstood visionaries whose gifts to humanity are corrupted by the unscrupulous?