documentaries-i-like

Watch: Stanley Kubrick's Boxes

"It's like the '2001' of boxes." -Jon Ronson, commenting on one of Kubrick's custom-made boxes

Tuesday on American Experience: Tesla

All about the "patron saint of geeks."

Traceroute, A Documentary about Nerds and Annihilation

"Maybe the physically impossible promise of 'unlimited breadsticks' haunts my skeptical mind." -Johannes Grenzfurthner

Monday on PBS: James Randi in An Honest Liar

"No matter how smart or well-educated you are, you can be deceived." -James Randi

Monday on HBO: Becoming Mike Nichols

"There are only three types of scenes: negotiations, seductions, and fights." -Mike Nichols

Watch the History of the Apollo Program

To the moon!

Watch This: Powers of Ten

A zoom through the universe...and inside ourselves.

The Time Australia Accidentally Overran Itself With Toads

Humans have a long history of clever ideas that go horribly wrong.

Video Premiere: Richard Feynman on Understanding

"My father, you see, interested me in patterns at the very beginning, and then later in things, like we would turn over stones and watch the ants carry the little white babies down deeper into the holes. We would look at worms. We’d go for walks and we’d

Tonight on HBO: The Jinx

Tonight on American Experience: Edison

Tonight, a PBS documentary explaining much more than Edison's lightbulb.

The Start of Summer in Antarctica

A series of ordinary days near the South Pole, setting up camp for the "summer."

How Andy Warhol's Amiga Art Was Recovered

Tonight: All About Ann (Richards), on HBO

Watch Corals Move in Timelapse Video

You need this.

Tonight on Vice: Greenland is Melting

Cosmos: A Triumphant Reboot

There are so many ways a reboot of Cosmos could have gone wrong.

Tonight: Don't Stop Believin' on PBS

Happy Birthday, Ken Burns!

Cory Calhoun, Master Anagrammist

Paul Erd?s, the Amphetamine-Popping Genius

Paul Erd?s was a mathematician. In addition to authoring significant papers himself, he created a series of Erd?s problems in which he offered (often small) cash prizes for solutions to difficult and/or significant mathematical challenges. He also had a

Survivorman Returns

Image courtesy of Discovery Channel. I'm a big fan of Les Stroud, better known as Survivorman. When his survival show first appeared on Discovery seven years ago, it was a breath of fresh air -- by shooting everything himself (he lugs all the gear with

The Autofrisk: All the Groping Action, Just 40 Pence

Cheeky engineer Tim Hunkin (of Secret Life of Machines fame) invented the Autofrisk, a device that gently gropes the user in exchange for a few coins. (In the U.K. apparently one cannot get this experience for free at local airports.) The Autofrisk is o

"Simpsons" Creator Matt Groening's Dad Was Named Homer, and He Made Movies

Matt Groening created "The Simpsons," and as we all know, Homer Simpson is the patriarch of the family. Well, Homer was the name of Matt's dad too...but he wasn't a doofus. The late Homer Groening was a documentary filmmaker, a WWII pilot, and a writer,