Connections with James Burke
Historian James Burke continues his journey through random historical connections that together have shaped our world and provide important clues to our future.
- 2023-2023
- 1 season
- Documentary
Historian James Burke continues his journey through random historical connections that together have shaped our world and provide important clues to our future.
Season 1 Episode Guide
6 Episodes 2023
Episode 1
Seeing the Future
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
James connects the dots between Napoleon's toothpick and the Nielsen TV ratings to see how scientists have built the quantum computer - a data-processing machine so powerful that it can predict the future.
Episode 2
The End of Scarcity
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
James jumps in the sensory deprivation tank with a man who took LSD with dolphins to discover how syphilis in the French aristocracy kicked off a journey to the nanofabricator; a machine that can build anything.
Episode 3
In the Net
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
James opens a cabinet of curiosities to discover how the French Revolution, wallpaper, and NORAD brought about the rise of big data - and a world where humans finally merge with the internet.
Episode 4
None of This is Real
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
Dog pee, the Polaroid camera, and rocket fuel lead us to a future where AI is indistinguishable from human intelligence. If we can't tell machines and people apart, what will that mean for humanity?
Episode 5
Designer Genes
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
A cup of coffee in the 18th century takes James to the pioneering woman who discovered the structure of DNA, and a future with genetically engineered people. Will we want to be Super-Human?
Episode 6
Limitless Energy
Thu, Nov 9, 2023
How did a journey that began thousands of years ago with the Inca and the potato, connect to a mad scientist in a castle, and German beer, then bring us to the brink of a future with limitless energy? And what will that mean for humanity?