The Spider’s Web: Britain’s Second Empire
Michael Oswald’s film The Spider’s Web reveals how at the demise of empire, City of London financial interests created a web of secrecy jurisdictions that captured wealth from across the globe and hid it in a web of offshore islands. Today, up to half of global offshore wealth is hidden in British jurisdictions.
How A Farmer Turned 90 Acres Of Wasteland Into A Lush Green Forest
In 1988, Sabarmatee and her father Radhamohan bought an acre of degraded land in Nayagarh district of Odisha. They wanted to set up an experiment to see if a forest using organic techniques. Organic farming was not widespread in India at that time, therefore they had to rely on trial and error.
How Big Oil And Big Soda Kept A Global Environmental Calamity A Secret For Decades
With new legislation, Sen. Tom Udall is attempting to marshal Washington into a confrontation with the plastics industry, and to force companies that profit from plastics to take accountability for the waste they create. Big Plastic isn’t a single entity. It’s more like a corporate supergroup: Big Oil meets Big Soda.
“The Fence”, Award-Winning Short Film About Britain In The 80s
Set on the rough and ready streets of 1980’s Bristol, United Kingdom. This short film follows a council estate boy and his scoundrel friends as they rip through the estates. Motorcycles, cars and punch ups to be expected!
When Artists, Engineers, And Pepsico Collaborated, Then Clashed At The 1970 World’s Fair
A year and a half in the making, the Pepsi Pavilion drew eager crowds and elicited effusive reviews. Just a month after the opening, the partnership with Experiments in Art and Technology—E.A.T.—collapsed amidst a flurry of recriminating letters and legal threats.
Minimum Wage: A Life Full Of Difficult Choices
Despite Ontario’s recent minimum wage increase, workers are still struggling to make ends meet. Even for those who have full-time jobs, earning minimum wage means they have to make a lot of difficult choices.
How The 0.001% Invest
Global finance is being transformed as billionaires get richer and cut out the middlemen by creating their own “family offices”, personal investment firms that roam global markets looking for opportunities.
How Global Trade Runs On U.S. Dollars
Nearly 90% of international transactions in 2019 were in U.S. dollars, giving the U.S. extraordinary power over nearly every entity that imports or exports anything anywhere. Here’s how the global economy runs on the U.S. dollar — and why some countries are trying to chip away at its dominance.
Former FBI Agent Explains How To Detect Lying & Deception
There are a number of myths about detecting deception. Fidgeting, looking away, touching your mouth, all of these things are commonly thought to be practices that indicate deception. Jim Clemente, former Supervisory Special Agent for the FBI, explains why that isn’t always the case and how people like him can decipher what these indicators really mean.
“The Jigsaw”, Award-Winning Horror Short Film
The purchase of a mystery Jigsaw Puzzle from a strange and unsettling vendor leads a man to an evening of frightening consequences. “The Jigsaw” is a short horror film that won over 30 awards worldwide.
How Chronic Renters Are Reshaping The Homeware Industry
It is clear that millennials and Gen Z are now renting at record rates, yet the appetite to make a house a home remains equally high. Young people are increasingly finding more temporary solutions to the challenge of making a rental home Instagram worthy without falling foul of their landlords.
“Bloom”, A Darkly Comedic Look Into The Bad Side Of Relationships
Andrew comes home from a trip, finds a rose petal in his bed and becomes immediately convinced that his girlfriend is cheating on him. The confrontation that ensues ranges from blackly comic to something decidedly darker as words escalate into distinctly visceral consequences.
How To Optimize Your Life
You’ve only got — on average — 78.53 years on this planet, total. And you’re likely already spending a precious 5 hours each day on email, not to mention the time spent waiting in line or stuck in transit. But what if there were ways to make more time out of time?
The Love Story That Shocked The World
When Seretse Khama, an African prince, and Ruth Williams, a white middle-class clerk from Lloyd’s underwriters, got married in 1948, it provoked shock in Britain and Africa. Khama was exiled from Great Britain and later became the first president of Botswana when it became an independent country.
Repopulating A Japanese town
As the Japanese populace shrinks and ages, and young people leave the suburbs and rural areas for cities, more and more communities are becoming ghost towns. The municipality of Okutama, on the outskirts of Tokyo, has come up with a novel solution: Give away houses to young families for free.
Rubber Tires — A Dirty Business
The booming global tire market is worth billions – but this comes at a high price, both to humans and the environment. Over 50 million car tires are sold each year in Germany alone. But where does the natural rubber for them come from?
These Death-Defying Human Towers Build On Catalan Tradition
Catalonia is ruled by the Spanish government, but its people have been constructing independent kingdoms for centuries. By climbing up backs and balancing on shoulders, Catalonians of all ages stack their bodies on-top each other to build castells, or human towers.
“Vert”, Short Film About Unearthing A Husband’s Secret Through VR
Emelia and Jeff are an open-minded couple celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary by venturing into the virtual reality world of ‘Vert’ together. Vert presents them with a character that is their ‘ideal self’ and what is supposed to be re-awakening for them as a couple becomes the unearthing of Jeff’s secret.
Young Girls Force-Fed For Marriage In Mauritania
Some Mauritanian communities believe that the fatter girls look the wealthier and more attractive they appear to men. Sahar Zand meets the families force feeding their young girls a 9,000 calorie-a-day diet during a brutal “feeding season” in Mauritania.
Charity: How Effective Is Giving?
Philanthropists are putting record sums into tackling the world’s most pressing problems. And unlike the mega-donors of the past today’s philanthropists want to see the results in their lifetimes. But how altruistic is this new golden age of giving? Have these mega-donors become too powerful?
Sitzfleisch: The German Concept To Get More Work Done
To have sitzfleisch means the ability to sit still for the long periods of time required to be truly productive; it means the stamina to work through a difficult situation and see a project through to the end. Angela Merkel has it in abundance – how do you cultivate this crucial skill?