Summary: This documentary examines more recent events in the U.S. Navy saga. It begins with a concise recap of the Vietnam War and continues on through the naval threat posed by the Soviet Union, challenges and flare-ups of the Cold War, and the Persian Gulf War’s Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2000
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program traces the history of the U.S. Marine Corps from the Revolutionary War on into World War II. After an overview of the Corps' early years and a look at Marine involvement in the First World War, Born in Blood provides an in-depth examination of Second World War battles in the Pacific theater, beginning with Pearl Harbor and concluding with the retaking of Guam.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2001
View online at AVOD
Summary: A landmark study of the facial expressions of native Papua New Guineans suggests that all human beings share six basic emotions. But what happens in the brain to trigger those emotions, and how do emotional responses differ according to age and experience? In this program, Dr. Susan Greenfield considers past attempts to explain emotions in terms of brain areas-and then asserts that the answers...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: How did a single wayward intellectual become the father of the Soviet Union? This program examines the unlikely alignment of forces that enabled Lenin to return from exile and to take power over a vast nation fully engaged in a world war. With the help of rarely seen archival clips, photographs, and artworks, the film guides viewers through developments that anticipated the October Revolution,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program highlights prevention models that have led to reductions in the incidence of cancer by prompting changes in behaviors and medical procedures. Correlating the discontinuation of tobacco and alcohol use with a lower susceptibility to throat cancer, the program also demonstrates the effectiveness of the PSA test in screening for prostate cancer, and how test results may suggest a...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program illustrates how melody is used to move musical pieces along in one continuous flow. Beginning with a long, slow strain, we see and hear Ravel's melody progress through a series of changes and variations created by the addition of different instruments. The result is a musical piece replete with obvious shade and tone.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: Ten years ago, Merrill Jackson stole Cadillacs and helped his fellow heroin addicts shoot up-behavior that earned him the nicknames "Seville" and "The Doctor." This ABC News program explores the extraordinary transformation that took place in Jackson's life after he met Joann Muller, an activist Christian minister and mother of five from the suburbs of Philadelphia. Through one-on-one...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: As far as Dr. Susan Greenfield is concerned, learning, memory, and even the process of individuation should be understood as a restless brain adapting moment by moment to the environment it encounters. This program charts the changes in the human brain as it develops from infancy to adulthood. The brain's extraordinary adaptability, as demonstrated by its ability to reorganize its neural...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The first episode in the Cancer Story series provides a primer on how cancer begins and grows. Using colorful animation and interviews with medical experts, the program explains normal cell behavior and cancer etiology within a larger, dramatized story of a cancer patient undergoing diagnosis and treatment. With straightforward commentary from Drs. C. Norman Coleman, Christopher Lowrey, and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: What is it about the human brain that has allowed Homo sapiens to take charge of the planet? Is it a question of brain size, cognitive abilities, speech, or perhaps something else? Bringing together diverse elements ranging from the first-ever brain scan of a chimpanzee performing a comprehension test to a case study of a brain injury caused by a hand grenade, this program featuring Dr. Susan...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: One patient cannot recognize a single face, including his own. Another cannot see anything that is moving. And a third can watch and understand a soccer game, but cannot recognize the black-and-white object they are kicking. Drawing on the experiences of people with rare forms of brain damage, this program featuring Dr. Susan Greenfield reveals the tricks and shortcuts used by the brain to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Car thief, heroin addict, drug dealer-how can a person escape a life like that? This ABC News program examines the life-changing friendship between Merrill "The Doctor" Jackson and the Rev. Joann Muller-the first, a criminal from the streets of Philadelphia; the second, a Christian minister determined to change him. Using intimate interviews and footage of crime-infested neighborhoods, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program presents the reality of cancer as experienced by patients. Commentary from Dr. Julia Rowland, director of the NCI's Office of Cancer Survivorship, focuses on a patient's quality of life as cancer treatment proceeds, as well as the impact of the disease on a patient's family. Five patients of varied ages and at different stages of the disease-including a 28-year-old woman with...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, the orchestra uses lighthearted cafe music from the Milhaud ballet set in a Paris nightclub to illustrate how the use of various keys adds color to the musical landscape. Different instruments, performing the pieces in major and minor keys, give listeners a firsthand glimpse into how key changes add interest to music.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This energetic program illustrates how unpredictable rhythms punctuate musical pieces, and how different instruments are used to create the effect. The orchestra dissects the two Stravinsky pieces line-by-line, illustrating the composer's use of stark rhythm changes to achieve wondrous musical special effects.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: How "musical space" is used to create drama in classical pieces is explored by examining this famous work of American composer Aaron Copland. Mixing small musical steps with giant leaps between notes and chords, the orchestra shows how Copland developed a musical piece full of surprises and the dissonant sounds for which he is noted.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Using Mozart's lively operatic piece, this program illustrates how composers weave together musical ideas to bring contrast and texture to their music. Abrupt pizzicatos, resounding fanfares, and languid melodies presented as a series of quick edits illustrate the point, along with an uninterrupted playback of a portion of the Overture.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this program, Dr. Susan Greenfield expresses her belief that all aspects of human experience will eventually be explained in terms of the physical processes of the brain. Cases drawn from the history of brain research-from the earliest and crudest studies of the effects of brain injury to the latest data derived from brain surgery on patients who are awake and alert-offer insights both...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: The human brain is made up of the same biological building blocks as the rest of the body, and yet somehow it manages to generate consciousness. In this program, Dr. Susan Greenfield seeks to understand the human body's most remarkable phenomenon-and explains why the existence of each mind's private world of experiences and feelings is actually more incredible than the fact that life on Earth...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: This program illustrates the excitement and frustration inherent in cancer research, and outlines the steps by which drugs are tested for safety and effectiveness. Dr. Randy Noelle, professor of microbiology and immunology at Dartmouth Medical School, and Dr. Richard Stone of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute focus on the recruitment of patients for clinical trials and the procedures in place to...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Instigated in the name of the Russian people, the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II was actually guided by moderates and aristocrats. What parallels can be drawn between the February and October Revolutions, and in what ways did the two events differ? Did the Tsar's ouster set the stage for Lenin's rise to power, or was it an attempt to stem the tide of true radicalism? This program provides...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: From his childhood on a kibbutz through his contentious military career, this program presents a biographical sketch of Moshe Dayan. Complex and charismatic, Dayan became a hero and international icon with his aggressive approach to the issue of Palestine - but fell from grace after the Yom Kippur War. Archival footage gives viewers a vivid look at the Middle Eastern conflict in the early 20th...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2003
View online at AVOD
Summary: During Europe’s Middle Ages, mathematics flourished primarily on other shores. This program follows Professor Marcus du Sautoy as he discusses mathematical achievements of Asia, the Islamic world, and early-Renaissance Europe. Topics include China’s invention of a decimal place number system and the development of an early version of sudoku; India’s contribution to trigonometry and creation of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire-but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007