TEDTalks, Helen Fisher - Why we love... and why we cheat. The science.

"Anthropologist Helen Fisher explains the bio-chemical foundations of love (and lust), explaining why we commit and why we cheat. She also delivers a grave warning about anti-depressants and the way they tamper with the natural course of love. Fisher is an anthropologist with Rutgers University, specializing in gender differences and the evolution of human emotions. Her most recent book is "Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love." (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 24:13)"

The Human Sexes - Part Six - The Gender Wars

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). Do you know what side of the Battle Of The Sexes you're on? You might be stunned by this eye-opening look at the recent struggle for equality between the sexes. Originally, there was a primitive balance between the sexes, but when people left the village for the city, the natural balance disappeared. Find out the origins of honeymoons and other tools of male dominance like wedding rings and female circumcision. Travel to Finland for the annual wife-carrying contest celebrating the capture of women from other villages. follow the rise of feminism, from turn-of-the-century suffragettes to the National Organization for Women. Visit the front lines of the gender wars with female stock traders and female firefighters who parachute into blazing California forests. Pay attention: what you learn here may just help you survive The Gender Wars."

The Republican War on Science

Happily, not all Americans are stupid and gullible, by any means... thank goodness!

"Renowned science scholar Naomi Oreskes hosts Chris Mooney, author of the bestselling book "The Republican War on Science", a "well-researched, closely argued and amply referenced indictment of the right wing's assault on science and scientists" (Scientific American) Series: "UCSD Guestbook" [Science]"

A War On Science

In the USA today, the right-wing, which is largely Christian Fundamentalist, is literally waging a war on science. It tries to redefine school curriruli, to exclude the teaching of the theory of evolution and replace it with, at best, the theory of Intelligent Design, and it generally attempts to dumb-down the population and plunge it back into an age of ignorance and superstition.

Joseph Campbell And The Power Of Myth - 2

Is Torture A Good Idea?

"Clive Stafford Smith is a British lawyer who has represented American prisoners on Death Row and, more recently, detainees in Guantanamo Bay. In this programme, he reveals the abuses suffered by Guantanamo detainees and talks to experts in the field of torture, including CIA and US Army veterans. The programme examines cases of false confessions extracted under torture, suggesting that torture is useless as well as being repugnant and illegal."

Mindshock - Feral Children

"Imagine you were brought up by animals or without any contact with humans. What would you be like? Would you be wild forever or would you have any chance of readjusting and once again entering the human world? In 2001 the world was stunned by the film of an Ukrainian girl who had been brought up by dogs.

"Oxana lived from the age of three to eight with a pack of dogs that protected and cared for her. The remarkable footage showed her crawling on all fours, eating, drinking and even barking like a dog. Mindshock has followed her progress since then, as she struggles with the complexity of language and has slowly moved from the community of dogs back towards human society. This film tells her story and shows her first meeting with her father since he abandoned her to live with the animals."

The Human Sexes - Part Five - The Maternal Dilemma

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). In today's world' is it tougher to be a mother... or a father? Will it ever be possible to balance work and motherhood? No matter what you currently believe, The Maternal Dilemma will surprise you with new insight. See working mothers in Japan and England who leave their children in day-care centers. Discover the 'granny solution' in Greece. Explore the 'paternal solution' with stay-at-home fathers in America. Have dinner with a man from Utah who has several wives: some have children while others pursue careers. Compare women who work in fields with babies at their side, to Western women trying to balance kids with a career. It'll soon become clear that The Maternal Dilemma is something everybody shares."

Joseph Campbell And The Power Of Myth - 1

Joseph Campbell - The Hero's Journey

What Makes Us Human? - 2 - Copycats

"While our closest animal relatives have been swinging from the trees, humans have built a world that is vastly more complex. What are the defining features that have allowed us to do this? Are we special, and separate from all other animals, or are we just an especially successful mammal?"

The Human Sexes - Part Four - Passages Of Life

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). Does society treat men and women differently? You may not like the unsettling answers you'll find in Passages Of Life. Compare the way different cultures deal with boys and girls as they grow up. Some believe male circumcision began as an ancient Egyptian snake worship ritual to ensure immortality. In the Middle East, puberty brings a girl her first veil; in Yemen, a boy his first grown-up dagger. Watch young women turned into ladies at an etiquette school in England, and young men turned into killers by the US Marine Corps. Witness a marriage celebration in a small Greek village - where a dowry still makes a difference. Passages Of Life might make you feel better about growing up... or worse."

Quantum Factor featuring Dr. Joe Dispenza, D.C. (What The Bleep Do We Know!?)

"Quantum Factor is the PBS television interview show that explores the nature of reality and the mysteries of the mind! This show features Dr. Joe Dispenza, a research scientist, author, lecturer and practicing chiropractor whose ideas have been prominently featured in the movie, "What The Bleep Do We Know!?" In this Quantum Factor episode, Dr. Dispenza discusses how the brain functions, the mind/body connection, and how our thought-patterns and emotional addictions form our reality. He tells us that we can rewire our brains to create new possibilities and realities! Lost Arts Productions (2006)"

What Makes Us Human? - 1 - Big Heads

2While our closest animal relatives have been swinging from the trees, humans have built a world that is vastly more complex. What are the defining features that have allowed us to do this? Are we special, and separate from all other animals, or are we just an especially successful mammal?"

The Human Sexes - Part Three - Patterns Of Love

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). How far would you go for love? Get ready to be amazed as you see people go further than you ever thought possible. Patterns Of Love will take you to a brothel in Nevada, love hotels for married adults in Japan and a bachelor auction in Alaska. You'll meet pop star Mongo Faya of Cameroon... and his 58 wives. Visit Istanbul's Topkapi Palace where the Sultans keep harems of hundreds of wives. Fly to Moscow with a group of American men hoping to bring home just one wife. And check out technology's answer to a troubled marriage: an automatic divorce machine that accepts all major credit cards. Patterns Of Love may change your definition of love."

Mindshock - Sleepwalk Terrors

"32-year-old Jules Lowe woke up one morning in October 2003 to find his 83-year-old father Edward had been beaten to death. The last thing Jules remembered was drinking with his dad in the kitchen after a night out in the pub. But with no forced entry, Jules was the only suspect.

"He was arrested and brought to trial, but when he revealed that he was a sleepwalker, experts concluded that it was an extreme case of 'parasomnia', a disorder in which sleepers are not responsible for their actions. But could they convince the jury?

"Lowe's experience is one of several high-profile cases in recent years where people claim to have committed crimes, including murder and rape, in their sleep."

The Human Sexes - Part Two - The Language Of The Sexes

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). How does boy meet girl? Is finding a mate ever easy? How do you send out a signal that you're available? There are as many ways to speak the Language Of The Sexes as there are cultures. The Japanese build shrines to the male phallus. Many Muslim women live behind veils. Ethiopian tribeswomen enlarge their lips with ceramic plates, and some Chinese used to crush women's feet to keep them tiny and delicate. Compare all this to America, where women practice gender amplification with silicone breast implants, collagen lip injections and tight high heels. It's easy to see why the Language Of The Sexes is so hard to understand."

The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow

"Dr Temple Grandin has a legendary ability to read the animal mind and understand animal behaviour when no one else can. But this is no feat of telepathy; her explanation is simple. She's convinced she experiences the world much as an animal does and that it's all down to her autistic brain."

The Human Sexes - Part One - Different But Equal

"Written and presented by Desmond Morris (1997). Will boys always be boys and girls always be girls? Will we ever really understand each other? You may be shocked by your conclusions. Prepare yourself for an intimate, erotic examination of physical differences between the sexes, from body fat to brain power. See Turkish men demonstrate their suitability as mates by wrestling in olive oil. Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where women bare their breasts to entice men to reward them with strings of beads. Observe women who flaunt their femininity as exotic dancers, and female body builders who develop their muscles to the point of masculinity. Examine brain scans that show that men and women even think differently about the same problems. 'Different But Equal' explores whether the amazing differences between men and women are based on biology or history."

Everyman: 'The End of the World'

"Everyman: 'The End of the World' looks at various groups who believe the end of the world is coming as the 20th century draws to a close (the programme was shown in 1996).

"It's an interesting documentary examining what and why they believe. Contained within the 'end of the world' myth are the 'damned' and the 'saved' - those who are 'chosen' and those who are not. At the end of the world is a decisive and dramatic confrontation where good faces evil. In this understanding of time, believers find a world that finally makes sense to them and vindicates their belief. Some groups prepare for conflict and create safe houses preparing for 'show time' while for others the end is merely a period of transition where there is a 'new age' after the appearance of a 'powerful being' or a 'second coming'.

"The people who believe in the end of the world are both Christian and Non-Christian, some are US Militias who think the UN wants to form a world government (news stories on such groups appears to have faded since Sept 11 2001) and others believe in extra terrestrial entities coming to the Earth in UFOs. It's interesting to note the defensive psychology of these groups and the dominant ideologies of our current age of anxiety.

"Notable contributions include Noam Chomsky."

It should be noted that such beliefs are systematically rife at the end of every century and millenium.