Take a closer look at the influence of the occult on modern pop culture, including its presence in art, literature, film, and music.

Cultural theorist superstar Slavoj Zizek re-teams with director Sophie Fiennes (*The Pervert's Guide to Cinema*) for another wildly entertaining romp through the crossroads of cinema and philosophy. With infectious zeal and a voracious appetite for popular culture, Zizek literally goes inside some truly epochal movies, all the better to explore and expose how they reinforce prevailing ideologies. Official Selection at the **Toronto International...

"This study reveals the previously hidden impact of 'Ebony' magazine as a major producer and disseminator of popular black history during the second half of the twentieth century. Far from dismissing 'Ebony' as a consumer magazine with limited political or educational importance, E. James West highlights the value editors, readers, and advertisers placed upon 'Ebony's' role as a 'history book'. Benefitting from unprecedented access to new archives...

This documentary tells the story of black metal. Part music scene and part cultural uprising, black metal rose to worldwide notoriety in the mid-nineties when a rash of suicides, murders, and church burnings accompanied the explosive artistic growth and output of a music scene that would forever redefine what heavy metal is and what it stands for to other musicians, artists and music fans world-wide. UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US goes behind the highly...

Gnosticism, one of the most fascinating phenomena in religious history, sparked ideologies that competed and conversed with other religions of the time, including Christianity. Follow Gnostic ideology and its impact on Western thought through the centuries, from its role in early religions and emergence in medieval spirituality to its remarkable traces in modern popular culture.

Based on the popular and provocative book, Seeing Through Maps, this program provides a fascinating 30-minute exploration into the minds of twelve mapmakers and how their unique backgrounds, philosophies, values, and politics led each to select a particular mathematical formula to create their maps. Learn about the impact those world images have had on us, consciously and unconsciously. An invaluable resource for classes dealing with issues of cultural...

"An engaging exploration of the unique history and biology of fasting--an essential component of many traditional health practices, religions, and philosophies, resurging in popularity today--perfect for readers of Breath by James Nestor and Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. We fast all the time, even when we're not conscious of doing so. A fast manifests the idea of holding back, resisting the animal impulse to charge ahead. Its flip side is similarly...

"How was magic practised in medieval times? How did it relate to the diverse beliefs and practices that characterised this fascinating period? In Magic in the Middle Ages Richard Kieckhefer surveys the growth and development of magic in medieval times. He examines its relation to religion, science, philosophy, art, literature and politics before introducing us to the different types of magic that were used, the kinds of people who practised magic,...

Tyson shares 101 letters from people across the globe who have sought him out in search of scientific answers. A luminous companion to the phenomenal bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world's largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by revealing his...

"An ode to systems engineers--whose invisible work undergirds our life--and an exploration of the wicked problems they tackle. Our world is filled with pernicious problems. How, for example, did novice pilots learn to fly without taking to the air and risking their lives? How should cities process mountains of waste without polluting the environment? Challenges that tangle personal, public, and planetary aspects--often occurring in health care, infrastructure,...