The World According to Monsanto

French documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin has thoroughly researched her subject, through a three-year investigation in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Robin briefly explores Monsanto’s long history of producing toxic chemicals, such as PCBs and dioxin-laced Agent Orange, and interviews victims of the company’s chemical operations. However, the rest of the film devotes more attention to Monsanto’s 20-year old genetically engineered seed empire.

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King Corn

Behind America’s dollar hamburgers and 72-ounce sodas is a key ingredient that quietly fuels our fast-food nation: corn. In KING CORN , recent college graduates Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis leave the east coast for rural Iowa, where they decide to grow an acre of the nation’s most powerful crop, and learn where their food comes from.

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Secrets of the Mind (NOVA - PBS)

In "Secrets of the Mind" we gain insights through various tragedies that have affected others, thanks to the logic and insights of Professor Ramachandran regarding what he calls the most complex organized matter in the universe.

The programme begins with "phantom limb syndrome" - pain and sensation in missing body areas. Ramachandran's reasoning, confirmed through a CAT-scan, is that the brain has a map of various body areas, and that eg. the right arm and right face areas of the brain are adjacent. Thus, missing body areas can lead to interference by those associated brain areas trying to cope with stimulus deprivation - eg. "cross-wiring."

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My Big Breasts and Me (Body Image - BBC)

Britain is weighed down by the biggest breasts in Europe. The average chest size of a British teenager has grown dramatically over the past 10 years and is now a whopping 36D. Breast enlargement surgery in the UK is also on the up with an estimated 26,000 women going under the knife every year. But what is it really like to live with naturally large breasts? For some young women this is a cause for celebration, for others it can lead to a life of misery as they face bullying and physical pain. Thousands of teenagers - some as young as 13 - are now going under the knife in order to reduce their bust size and "fit" in.

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Living With ADHD (Horizon - BBC)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most feared and misunderstood of all medical conditions. Despite over 200 scientific papers being published on this neurological condition every year, it remains stigmatised and controversial. Some doctors don't even believe it exists.

Yet it is estimated that as many as 3-5% of the childhood population, and over one million adults in the UK are affected by ADHD. These people are often described as stupid, lazy, disorganised, wild, out of control or woozy on drugs. But the reality is altogether more complex, and deeply moving.

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