The Space Shuttle: A Horizon Guide

Watch The Space Shuttle: A Horizon Guide

This one is about the space shuttle (there are a few of them). Highlights the history, different missions etc... There were two major disasters in the shuttles as well, which are dissected.

Oh and there's a sick part about the launch of the Hubble telescope, which almost ends in failure. Here is the writeup from the original website:

In 2011, after more than 30 years of service, America’s space shuttle Discovery will take to the skies for the last time. Its story has been characterized by incredible triumphs, but blighted by devastating tragedies – and the BBC and Horizon have chronicled every step of its career.

This unique and poignant Horizon Guide brings together coverage from three decades of programmes to present a biography of the shuttle and to ask what its legacy will be. Will it be remembered as an impressive chapter in human space exploration, or as a fatally flawed white elephant?

7.7/10

Louis Theroux: Miami Mega Jail

Watch Part I
Watch Part II

Here, my boy Louis ventures into a Miami county jail. This is the type of jail that people go to before their court date, aka before they've actually been convicted of crimes. Some of these guys are killers, rapists, burglars, etc...

These guys reside in cells that can have many people living in them at once. Often guys will get the shit kicked out of them because they're from different gangs, or they're saying dumb shit.

This one guy is accused of attempting to murder a chick because she pissed him off... This guy is so small and weak, I almost feel bad for the guy cuz I know he won't make it very far in this jail.

Check it.

8.1/10

Deepwater Disaster: The Untold Story

This is a tight one about the 87 day battle to close the burst BP pipeline at the bottom of the god damn ocean. I never realized how many different things they tried... So many failures. Unfortunately it turned into one of the worst environmental disaster in US history.

It doesn't so much investigate BPs mistakes as it does document the events that unfolded after the pipeline burst. Decent.

7.5/10

Louis Theroux: Black Nationalism

Take a trip with Louis Theroux through New York and meet the religious leaders of 3 groups: Al Sharpton (Christians), Khallid Muhammad (Black Muslims) & the leaders of street preaching Hebrew-Israelites during the times of the murder of Sean Bell.

These guys are seriously pissed off most of the time, although some of them are G's.

8/10

Louis Theroux: The Ultra Zionists

My boy Louis spends time with Ultra Zionists who claim that ownership of the West Bank area in Israel is their divine right.

He also spends time with a few Palestinians who own the land under both Israeli and National law... They see these Jews moving in and are getting pissed. Many of the Palestinians feel that their land is being taken away, with many of the Jews illegally setting up camp in areas of the West Bank.There are skirmishes all the time in these areas, and the Jews are being treated like piss.

My description of this isn't all that great, because the situation is somewhat complicated... But the fact alone that someone views a piece of earth as rightfully theirs under the word of god is somewhat whack.

7/10

Louis Theroux: Law and Disorder in Lagos

Watch Louis Theroux: Law and Disorder in Lagos

On the streets of Lagos, it is not the police who wield power but gangs of fight-hardened young men known as Area Boys. Louis spends time with several outfits, joining them as they patrol their turf, clash with local rivals and keep the peace in a brutal and haphazard fashion. The main income for the Area Boys is an arbitrary and unofficial form of taxation, extracted from local businesses and commercial drivers. Louis gets to know the rich and glamorous Area Boy leader MC, a former street youth himself, who has now become a friend of the most powerful men in the city. Taken under MC’s wing, Louis experiences the top levels of the Area Boys’ world from the inside, complete with a tour of MC’s grand residence and extensive shoe collection, and ending in a chaotic mini-riot with gunshots, blood and mayhem.

On the side of the law, Louis Theroux rides with KAI, the government’s Kick Against Indiscipline paramilitary task force, as they storm different city districts. With bulldozers and arrest warrants, KAI use their own strong-arm tactics, and are in their way as feared as the Area Boys.

In Law and Disorder in Lagos, Louis Theroux wrestles with life in a world in which the forces of law and the forces of disorder are not always readily distinguishable and nothing is quite what it seems. Definitely Louis' most badass one yet, I feel like he's in danger for the vast majority of this film.

7.9/10

Inventions That Changed the World

Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear legend, hosts this BBC series about some of the most important inventions that completely reshaped our world.

The five episodes in this playlist talk about the gun, the computer, the jet engine, the telephone, and the television.

Beginning with the gun, Jeremy reveals that successful attempts to create ever more lethal weapons have not only shaped the world but led directly or indirectly to all of the following: the industrial revolution; the production line; cowboy films; street lighting; the car exhaust pipe and the development of trauma medicine.

Other inventions covered in the series include: The computer, without which we couldn’t fly planes, drive cars or even run our dishwashers;

The jet which plays a key part in our weather, mass tourism and outbreaks like SARS;

The telephone which was invented by mistake by a man trying to make a humming telegraph. The telephone has not only changed the way we do business but also led to the development of the Internet;

The television which was invented by two men with wildly different visions: John Logie Baird, a Scotsman, and a 14-year old American Mormon, Philo T Farnsworth, both died unrewarded but their invention, Jeremy reveals, helped win the Battle of Britain.

Throughout the series Jeremy gives his own passionate and witty take on some of the inventions and inventors that he believes have helped change the course of history.

Lots to watch, but really interesting to think about the effects single inventions have had on our entire planet and way of life.

8.5/10

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