Eugenics: Science's Greatest Scandal - Season 1
Season 1
Episodes
Episode 1
Science journalist Angela Saini and disability rights activist Adam Pearson, reveal that eugenics - the controversial idea that was a driving force behind the Nazi death camps - originated in the upper echelons of the British scientific community.
The presenters uncover how shocking eugenic beliefs permeated the British establishment and intelligentsia; supporters included figures such as Winston Churchill and Marie Stopes. They see how eugenics influenced the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913, which resulted in thousands of disabled people being locked up for decades. Eugenics shaped immigration law, education policy and even town planning. The documentary uncovers disturbing links between British universities and German race scientists in the first half of the 20th century, and investigates how eugenics fed into the racist ideologies of Nazi Germany.
Episode 2
Science journalist Angela Saini and disability rights activist Adam Pearson uncover the shocking story of eugenics, the controversial idea that the human race can be improved by selective breeding. It is commonly thought that eugenics disappeared after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust, but the presenters discover how eugenic practices, such as the sterilisation of the poor, continued on a global scale for many more years. The presenters meet the victims of this ideology, including a woman who was sterilised.
The presenters ask if eugenic-style attitudes towards the poor and disabled continue to shape today's society, and explore if breakthroughs in medicine, such as screening and gene editing, will combine with prejudice against the disabled to bring a form of eugenics back. They weigh the undoubted benefits of modern medicine with the possibility of their misuse in the name of human enhancement. They look into the story of the first attempts to edit the genomes of humans in China and explore the latest science on the issue of what's more important—nature or nurture.
Recently Updated Shows
Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat
The Vampire Lestat goes on tour while being haunted by "muses" from his past. As the band's popularity grows, so does Lestat's influence over vampires & humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat's power in the face of the Great Conversion.
World War II with Tom Hanks
For eighty years, the Second World War has remained the most devastating and defining conflict in human history. World War II with Tom Hanks is a landmark documentary event that reexamines the war through the lens of a new century. Told over twenty hours and guided by Tom Hanks, whose lifelong passion for this history has shaped some of the most profound screen portrayals of the era, the series captures the full arc of the war — from the rise of fascism in Europe to the fall of Berlin, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, and the uneasy peace that follows. Each episode uncovers new dimensions of the conflict: the decisions that shaped the battlefield, the unseen networks that sustained the war effort, and the aftershocks that still shape our world today. "World War II with Tom Hanks" is the definitive retelling of that story for a new generation: a sweeping, deeply human portrait of how the modern world was forged in the fires of global war.
The Agency
The Agency follows Martian, a covert CIA agent ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London Station. When the love he left behind reappears, romance reignites. His career, his real identity and his mission are pitted against his heart; hurling them both into a deadly game of international intrigue and espionage.
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
On Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, John Oliver presents a satirical look at the week in news, politics and current events.