1
00:00:07,163 --> 00:00:10,203
Last time, we saw
how the Renaissance turned Europe
2
00:00:10,283 --> 00:00:15,083
from a load of mud and parsnips
into a posh resort full of paintings,
3
00:00:15,163 --> 00:00:19,603
and how this awakening
led to a string of people-power uprisings
4
00:00:19,683 --> 00:00:22,083
that put the establishment on its arse.
5
00:00:22,803 --> 00:00:24,883
But the revolutions were just beginning.
6
00:00:24,963 --> 00:00:30,363
Humankind was about to leap forward again
by taming metal and electricity.
7
00:00:30,443 --> 00:00:34,443
Progress would usher in a new era
of convenience and entertainment,
8
00:00:34,523 --> 00:00:37,603
but also threaten the existence
of all life on Earth.
9
00:00:37,683 --> 00:00:39,403
So, swings and roundabouts, really.
10
00:00:39,483 --> 00:00:43,843
This week it's the rise
of the machines here, on Earth.
11
00:00:43,923 --> 00:00:47,083
And also here on Cunk on Earth.
12
00:00:47,163 --> 00:00:49,283
[epic music playing]
13
00:01:01,963 --> 00:01:06,283
For centuries, everything in nature,
from people to cows,
14
00:01:06,363 --> 00:01:07,683
ran on this…
15
00:01:08,683 --> 00:01:10,282
fresh air.
16
00:01:10,362 --> 00:01:12,123
If you haven't heard of air,
17
00:01:12,203 --> 00:01:15,403
it's an invisible blend of gases
so addictive,
18
00:01:15,483 --> 00:01:17,603
we suffer fatal withdrawal symptoms
19
00:01:17,683 --> 00:01:20,083
within minutes
of our supply being cut off.
20
00:01:21,603 --> 00:01:25,643
This dependency made air's rival,
water, jealous.
21
00:01:26,203 --> 00:01:27,963
Water needed to up its game.
22
00:01:28,043 --> 00:01:32,443
It needed to become more indispensable
to us, its natural masters.
23
00:01:32,523 --> 00:01:34,083
It was feeling the heat.
24
00:01:34,163 --> 00:01:36,883
Heat that turned it into something useful.
25
00:01:36,963 --> 00:01:37,923
Steam.
26
00:01:38,763 --> 00:01:42,283
Steam could be harnessed
to power all kinds of machines.
27
00:01:42,363 --> 00:01:45,883
And nowhere went steam bonkers
quite like America,
28
00:01:45,963 --> 00:01:49,483
where it would change the shape
of the country's face forever.
29
00:01:49,563 --> 00:01:52,563
To understand why,
I'm afraid we have to look at a map.
30
00:01:52,643 --> 00:01:55,683
At first, settlers
had stuck to the edges of America,
31
00:01:55,763 --> 00:01:59,403
leaving the middle untouched,
like a frozen pie in a microwave.
32
00:01:59,483 --> 00:02:02,523
But Americans back then weren't
the humble, unassuming people
33
00:02:02,603 --> 00:02:04,043
they still aren't today.
34
00:02:04,123 --> 00:02:07,203
They believed in something
called Manifest Destiny,
35
00:02:07,283 --> 00:02:10,043
the belief that all the land
belonged to them
36
00:02:10,123 --> 00:02:12,443
and that God wanted them to go west
37
00:02:12,523 --> 00:02:14,363
and claim it back
from the Native Americans
38
00:02:14,443 --> 00:02:16,363
he'd put there first by mistake.
39
00:02:16,963 --> 00:02:19,723
What is Manifest Destiny?
40
00:02:19,803 --> 00:02:23,163
Manifest Destiny is a ideology
41
00:02:23,243 --> 00:02:26,323
that was in the 1840s and '50s
in the United States,
42
00:02:26,403 --> 00:02:29,763
that America had a God-given right
to take over the rest of the continent
43
00:02:29,843 --> 00:02:33,723
and sort of spread its values
and its virtues from sea to shining sea.
44
00:02:33,803 --> 00:02:36,363
-So it was God's plan?
-That was the idea, yes.
45
00:02:36,443 --> 00:02:39,163
Doesn't this make you God's slaves?
46
00:02:39,243 --> 00:02:41,923
Well, I think what the people
of the time would say
47
00:02:42,003 --> 00:02:44,363
is that they were
God's missionaries on Earth.
48
00:02:44,443 --> 00:02:48,483
And so they felt that they were
willingly enacting his policies
49
00:02:48,563 --> 00:02:50,083
rather than being forced to do so.
50
00:02:50,163 --> 00:02:53,083
But at the very least,
you're God's bitches.
51
00:02:53,163 --> 00:02:56,043
But manifesting
your destiny was dangerous.
52
00:02:56,123 --> 00:02:59,403
You had to trundle across
a perilous landscape in a rickety wagon
53
00:02:59,483 --> 00:03:02,923
on the brink of starvation or shitting
yourself to death with dysentery,
54
00:03:03,003 --> 00:03:05,603
getting bitten by snakes
or butchered by Apaches.
55
00:03:05,683 --> 00:03:08,563
Almost as if God didn't
want them to do this after all.
56
00:03:09,243 --> 00:03:12,443
But the invention of the steam train
changed all that.
57
00:03:12,523 --> 00:03:15,243
The steam train
laughed in the wagon's face.
58
00:03:15,323 --> 00:03:17,443
Not literally.
This isn't a children's book.
59
00:03:18,123 --> 00:03:21,003
The Americans released
steam engines into the wild,
60
00:03:21,803 --> 00:03:25,563
carving routes across the land
and changing the balance of power.
61
00:03:26,403 --> 00:03:30,683
Now, fighting with Native Americans
could be conducted at high speed
62
00:03:30,763 --> 00:03:33,203
and with an accompanying
buffet car service.
63
00:03:33,723 --> 00:03:37,763
Thanks to the railroads,
small towns formed all across the west.
64
00:03:38,403 --> 00:03:40,563
They were tough, lawless places
65
00:03:40,643 --> 00:03:43,683
where summary justice was dispensed
down the barrel of a gun,
66
00:03:43,763 --> 00:03:48,483
as cowboys did whatever it took
to protect their cows, and their boys.
67
00:03:48,563 --> 00:03:51,203
So can you talk us through
what this is here?
68
00:03:51,283 --> 00:03:56,003
[man] This is the Colt single action
army revolver, the Colt 45.
69
00:03:56,083 --> 00:03:58,963
And you load it through here,
70
00:03:59,043 --> 00:04:01,603
and you'd have to cock the hammer back
for each shot.
71
00:04:02,363 --> 00:04:05,443
Would this only kill people
during the olden days?
72
00:04:05,523 --> 00:04:07,723
Or could it kill modern people too?
73
00:04:07,803 --> 00:04:10,363
I'm afraid it
definitely could kill modern people.
74
00:04:10,443 --> 00:04:13,443
[Philomena] It's so old.
It sort of looks clockwork, doesn't it?
75
00:04:13,523 --> 00:04:17,603
Do the bullets come out slowly?
Could you sort of outrun the bullet?
76
00:04:17,683 --> 00:04:21,643
You definitely couldn't outrun the bullet.
You're right to say it looks clockwork.
77
00:04:21,723 --> 00:04:25,163
It's very like a clock mechanism,
with a ratchet inside.
78
00:04:25,243 --> 00:04:27,163
-Rat shit?
-A ratchet.
79
00:04:27,243 --> 00:04:30,443
Where do the bullets come out?
Do they come out of that pipe bit?
80
00:04:30,523 --> 00:04:32,403
They do. Yeah, that's the barrel.
81
00:04:32,483 --> 00:04:36,963
Can I hold that up
and look down the end of it?
82
00:04:37,043 --> 00:04:39,163
Or will that shoot me in the eye?
83
00:04:39,243 --> 00:04:40,563
It's generally frowned upon.
84
00:04:40,643 --> 00:04:43,883
So would getting shot in the eye
actually hurt?
85
00:04:43,963 --> 00:04:47,243
Because it's just a sort of water bag,
isn't it, your eye?
86
00:04:47,323 --> 00:04:49,323
I bet it'd just pop and sting a bit,
87
00:04:49,403 --> 00:04:51,803
but you'd basically be able
to go about your business.
88
00:04:51,883 --> 00:04:54,403
I don't know, I don't think
there's any good place to get shot.
89
00:04:54,483 --> 00:04:59,243
Why does humankind feel the need
to invent killing machines like this?
90
00:04:59,763 --> 00:05:03,683
And could you keep your answer
to a sort of soundbite length?
91
00:05:04,443 --> 00:05:06,323
Because we're human I suppose?
92
00:05:06,403 --> 00:05:11,283
It seems to be built into us
to fight for resources,
93
00:05:12,443 --> 00:05:13,803
other humans.
94
00:05:13,883 --> 00:05:15,923
-Yeah.
-Can't seem to get away from it.
95
00:05:16,003 --> 00:05:18,243
I know. I just think we're mental.
96
00:05:18,843 --> 00:05:23,203
Guns played a huge role in shaping
America and also in killing people.
97
00:05:23,843 --> 00:05:25,443
Even now, the use of firearms
98
00:05:25,523 --> 00:05:28,003
is an integral part
of their national identity.
99
00:05:28,723 --> 00:05:32,003
How come Americans have the right
to kill anyone they want with a gun?
100
00:05:32,683 --> 00:05:33,763
Well, they don't.
101
00:05:33,843 --> 00:05:38,163
Murder is illegal in the United States,
but they do have the right to own weapons.
102
00:05:38,243 --> 00:05:40,683
-They have the right to bear arms.
-Correct.
103
00:05:40,763 --> 00:05:43,163
-But bears don't have arms.
-They do, actually.
104
00:05:43,243 --> 00:05:45,283
Do they? I thought they were legs.
105
00:05:45,363 --> 00:05:46,923
Well, I'm not a biologist,
106
00:05:47,003 --> 00:05:50,003
but I suppose that when they stand up,
they're probably arms.
107
00:05:50,083 --> 00:05:52,323
[bird screeches]
108
00:05:52,403 --> 00:05:55,243
With its cowboys and guns
and steam train rides,
109
00:05:55,323 --> 00:05:57,723
America became known
as the land of the free,
110
00:05:58,243 --> 00:06:00,803
which must have come as a surprise
to all the slaves.
111
00:06:00,883 --> 00:06:04,763
The barbaric practice of slavery
was still prevalent in America,
112
00:06:04,843 --> 00:06:07,363
particularly in the southern states.
113
00:06:07,443 --> 00:06:10,203
But by finally thinking hard
about the subject,
114
00:06:10,283 --> 00:06:13,603
the people of the northern states
made a horrifying discovery:
115
00:06:14,163 --> 00:06:17,403
that inside each slave
was an actual human person.
116
00:06:18,123 --> 00:06:21,643
The North asked the South
what kind of America it wanted to live in:
117
00:06:21,723 --> 00:06:24,203
one where white people
leeched off other races
118
00:06:24,283 --> 00:06:26,243
while treating them as inferior
119
00:06:26,323 --> 00:06:28,683
or one where they pretended they didn't?
120
00:06:29,203 --> 00:06:32,243
The argument escalated into a civil war,
121
00:06:32,323 --> 00:06:35,483
a time when America
was almost as polarized as it is today.
122
00:06:36,203 --> 00:06:38,963
The Civil War
tore America apart, didn't it?
123
00:06:39,043 --> 00:06:40,243
Brother turned on brother.
124
00:06:40,323 --> 00:06:44,163
Did anyone get so conflicted
they turned on themselves?
125
00:06:44,243 --> 00:06:45,763
I don't think so.
126
00:06:45,843 --> 00:06:50,563
Uh… There may have been some
very strong debates within individuals
127
00:06:50,643 --> 00:06:54,323
of which side to join, and I think that
could be what you're perhaps referencing.
128
00:06:54,403 --> 00:06:57,643
How come people say
it was the first modern war
129
00:06:57,723 --> 00:07:01,043
when you can see from the photos
it was ages ago?
130
00:07:01,123 --> 00:07:02,843
It's interesting you reference the photos
131
00:07:02,923 --> 00:07:06,083
because it's the first war
that photography really played a part.
132
00:07:06,163 --> 00:07:08,443
Um, it was something where photographs
133
00:07:08,523 --> 00:07:11,563
were part of the conflict
and documenting the violence.
134
00:07:11,643 --> 00:07:14,843
Must have been quite exciting,
going to Snappy Snaps afterwards
135
00:07:14,923 --> 00:07:17,883
and seeing which ones had turned out
and which ones hadn't.
136
00:07:19,083 --> 00:07:21,803
After four long years
of war-related violence,
137
00:07:21,883 --> 00:07:25,523
the North came out on top,
which north is anyway.
138
00:07:25,603 --> 00:07:30,843
It was a victory for the undisputed
king of the North, Abraham Lincoln.
139
00:07:31,563 --> 00:07:33,283
Who was Abraham Lincoln?
140
00:07:33,363 --> 00:07:37,243
And why did he have
all those weird tattoos on his tummy?
141
00:07:37,323 --> 00:07:40,003
I have no idea what
you're referring to with the tattoos,
142
00:07:40,083 --> 00:07:45,163
but he is a US president,
revered as probably the best US president.
143
00:07:45,243 --> 00:07:49,723
Apparently he had, like, a snowman
and a robin tattooed on his tummy
144
00:07:50,283 --> 00:07:52,723
and the robin had a moustache.
145
00:07:54,003 --> 00:07:56,723
I genuinely have no idea
what you're referring to.
146
00:07:57,603 --> 00:08:01,523
Now Lincoln was president,
at long last slavery was abolished
147
00:08:01,603 --> 00:08:04,243
and replaced with simple racial prejudice.
148
00:08:04,803 --> 00:08:08,163
But Abraham Lincoln's story
didn't have a happy ending.
149
00:08:08,243 --> 00:08:12,123
Five days after the North won,
a terrible fate befell him.
150
00:08:12,203 --> 00:08:15,203
He was forced to go to the theater
to watch a play.
151
00:08:15,883 --> 00:08:18,683
He was put out of his misery
by a kindly gunman.
152
00:08:18,763 --> 00:08:21,643
But cruelly, not until the third act.
153
00:08:21,723 --> 00:08:24,403
Abraham Lincoln was shot
in the theater box, wasn't he?
154
00:08:24,483 --> 00:08:26,843
Where is that on the body?
155
00:08:26,923 --> 00:08:30,403
I think you're referring to the physical
location he was in when he was shot,
156
00:08:30,483 --> 00:08:34,203
which was in the presidential box
at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
157
00:08:34,283 --> 00:08:35,603
And why was he shot?
158
00:08:35,683 --> 00:08:37,763
Was it because
he wouldn't take his hat off?
159
00:08:37,842 --> 00:08:41,602
Because that's annoying in the theater,
when someone's in front of you with a hat.
160
00:08:41,683 --> 00:08:43,202
He was in the presidential box,
161
00:08:43,283 --> 00:08:45,523
so there wasn't anyone behind him,
as far as I know.
162
00:08:45,602 --> 00:08:48,003
But he was shot by a man
named John Wilkes Booth,
163
00:08:48,082 --> 00:08:50,563
who was a believer in the Confederacy.
164
00:08:50,643 --> 00:08:55,123
How did being shot in the head
affect Lincoln's ability to lead?
165
00:08:56,043 --> 00:08:59,683
Well, it ended it, because he died
about 12 hours after he was shot.
166
00:08:59,763 --> 00:09:04,043
-So he couldn't carry on.
-No, not as a corpse, unfortunately.
167
00:09:04,123 --> 00:09:06,723
Lincoln's light may have been snuffed out,
168
00:09:06,803 --> 00:09:09,163
but America's was about
to do the opposite.
169
00:09:09,243 --> 00:09:11,723
Americans had been toying with electricity
170
00:09:11,803 --> 00:09:14,563
ever since Benjamin Franklin
put a key on a kite string
171
00:09:14,643 --> 00:09:16,963
to unlock lightning from the sky.
172
00:09:17,043 --> 00:09:22,403
Then, in 1878, Thomas Edison
worked out how to use that power
173
00:09:22,483 --> 00:09:24,523
to make something extraordinary.
174
00:09:25,323 --> 00:09:28,723
It's hard to imagine a world
where Edison didn't invent the light bulb.
175
00:09:28,803 --> 00:09:30,283
And even if you did imagine it,
176
00:09:30,363 --> 00:09:32,403
it would be too dark
to see what was in it.
177
00:09:32,483 --> 00:09:37,403
How did people see during the day
before Edison invented light?
178
00:09:37,483 --> 00:09:42,723
Light comes from the sun so people could
see during the day because of the sun.
179
00:09:42,803 --> 00:09:47,043
What they needed the light bulb for was
during the night when there isn't any sun
180
00:09:47,123 --> 00:09:49,003
and when you can't see.
181
00:09:49,083 --> 00:09:52,443
So what did people use before light bulbs?
182
00:09:52,523 --> 00:09:55,243
Well, they used candles or they used oil.
183
00:09:55,323 --> 00:09:59,723
So we had daylight during the day
and we had candles at night.
184
00:09:59,803 --> 00:10:01,243
Yes.
185
00:10:01,323 --> 00:10:04,963
So we didn't need light bulbs.
His life's work was meaningless.
186
00:10:05,963 --> 00:10:08,243
Another of Edison's incredible inventions
187
00:10:08,323 --> 00:10:09,723
was the phonograph.
188
00:10:10,283 --> 00:10:14,323
[woman, over scratchy background]
♪ I want to spoon ♪
189
00:10:14,403 --> 00:10:15,603
♪ To my honey ♪
190
00:10:15,683 --> 00:10:19,683
♪ I'll croon love's tune ♪
191
00:10:19,763 --> 00:10:22,883
♪ Honeymoon ♪
192
00:10:22,963 --> 00:10:27,243
♪ Keep a-shining in June ♪
193
00:10:27,323 --> 00:10:29,323
♪ Your silvery beams… ♪
194
00:10:29,403 --> 00:10:32,123
-Can you make it stop?
-Yes, of course.
195
00:10:33,883 --> 00:10:36,963
It's incredible, isn't it,
that we're here now,
196
00:10:37,043 --> 00:10:40,163
but that voice came from years ago.
197
00:10:40,243 --> 00:10:43,243
If I speak into this trumpet bit,
198
00:10:43,323 --> 00:10:48,123
can I ask the person a question
about what it's like where they are?
199
00:10:48,203 --> 00:10:52,323
No, you can't, because the recording
was made over a hundred years ago.
200
00:10:52,403 --> 00:10:55,323
But it's a phonograph.
Doesn't it work like a phone?
201
00:10:55,403 --> 00:11:02,243
Phonograph means "sound writing" in Greek.
202
00:11:02,323 --> 00:11:04,563
So it doesn't mean "telephone."
203
00:11:04,643 --> 00:11:07,123
So they can hear us but they can't reply.
204
00:11:07,203 --> 00:11:09,523
Uh… I wouldn't say…
205
00:11:09,603 --> 00:11:12,603
They can't hear us.
We hear them, we hear their recording.
206
00:11:12,683 --> 00:11:15,323
They can't hear us
and they can't reply to us.
207
00:11:15,403 --> 00:11:18,683
-Uh, I would say they can't, no.
-So what's the point of it?
208
00:11:18,763 --> 00:11:23,203
Well, it's so we can hear music
and voice and sounds.
209
00:11:23,283 --> 00:11:27,283
So can it record sounds
that haven't happened yet?
210
00:11:27,363 --> 00:11:28,283
Um…
211
00:11:29,403 --> 00:11:30,803
No.
212
00:11:30,883 --> 00:11:33,203
What about sounds that happened earlier?
213
00:11:34,043 --> 00:11:37,883
If those sounds were recorded at the time.
214
00:11:37,963 --> 00:11:40,683
It can't capture something
that's been in the past.
215
00:11:40,763 --> 00:11:43,563
It seems quite limited, to be honest.
216
00:11:43,643 --> 00:11:46,323
Thanks to Edison's pornograph,
217
00:11:46,403 --> 00:11:50,403
classical music
could now bore an audience of millions.
218
00:11:51,123 --> 00:11:53,523
You have to play classical music
on an orchestra.
219
00:11:54,123 --> 00:11:55,963
How do you play an orchestra?
220
00:11:56,043 --> 00:11:57,283
Do you blow into it
221
00:11:57,363 --> 00:12:01,083
or is it one of those ones
where you rub a stick on the strings?
222
00:12:01,163 --> 00:12:04,603
Yeah, so, the orchestra
is not one particular instrument.
223
00:12:04,683 --> 00:12:06,083
Yeah.
224
00:12:06,163 --> 00:12:10,243
So an orchestra is the coming together
of lots of different types of instruments.
225
00:12:10,323 --> 00:12:13,243
-Right. More than one instrument.
-More than one instrument.
226
00:12:13,323 --> 00:12:17,403
So you need both hands
and your mouth to play an orchestra.
227
00:12:18,483 --> 00:12:22,963
Well, the conductor would need
all of those things,
228
00:12:23,043 --> 00:12:26,123
but the orchestra itself is an entity
229
00:12:26,203 --> 00:12:29,043
that is made up of
lots of different instruments.
230
00:12:29,123 --> 00:12:31,683
So you couldn't blow a whole orchestra?
231
00:12:34,043 --> 00:12:38,923
Thanks to Edison, the worlds of light
and sound had been beaten into submission,
232
00:12:39,003 --> 00:12:41,883
but another frontier remained
stubbornly unconquered:
233
00:12:41,963 --> 00:12:44,003
the world of sky.
234
00:12:44,083 --> 00:12:47,483
People tried for years
to build flying machines,
235
00:12:47,563 --> 00:12:50,323
but most early pioneers
found it hard to progress
236
00:12:50,403 --> 00:12:53,163
beyond their first
experimental death plunge.
237
00:12:53,923 --> 00:12:56,803
But all that changed
when Orville and Wilbur Wright brothers
238
00:12:56,883 --> 00:12:59,643
mounted the first successful
legal challenge
239
00:12:59,723 --> 00:13:01,203
against the law of gravity.
240
00:13:01,963 --> 00:13:04,643
So how far was the first flight?
241
00:13:04,723 --> 00:13:09,283
Well, on that day when the Wright brothers
carried out several flights,
242
00:13:09,363 --> 00:13:12,723
they were typically of the order
of just a few hundred feet.
243
00:13:12,803 --> 00:13:15,043
They could have walked that.
244
00:13:15,843 --> 00:13:18,763
Well, they could,
but that wasn't the point.
245
00:13:18,843 --> 00:13:22,363
When was the first flight
that was long enough to need a toilet?
246
00:13:22,443 --> 00:13:27,403
Once commercial flights developed,
those flights became longer distance
247
00:13:27,483 --> 00:13:31,003
and the passengers would have
then needed some comforts,
248
00:13:31,083 --> 00:13:32,763
like having a toilet on board.
249
00:13:32,843 --> 00:13:34,603
That must've been a real moment,
250
00:13:34,683 --> 00:13:37,763
the first time someone realized
a plane needed a toilet.
251
00:13:38,403 --> 00:13:40,643
That's more impressive
than the Wright brothers.
252
00:13:42,443 --> 00:13:44,323
I've never thought of that
253
00:13:44,403 --> 00:13:49,363
as a particularly dramatic
or exciting development, I'm afraid.
254
00:13:49,443 --> 00:13:51,763
Why don't bicycles have toilets?
255
00:13:53,203 --> 00:13:55,483
It would save you having to get off.
256
00:13:56,323 --> 00:13:58,483
I might write that down and copyright it.
257
00:13:58,563 --> 00:14:02,083
Even without a toilet,
the Wright Brothers' historic flight
258
00:14:02,163 --> 00:14:04,323
changed transportation forever,
259
00:14:04,403 --> 00:14:06,803
in ways that still
aren't fully understood.
260
00:14:06,883 --> 00:14:11,123
The Wright Brothers did the first
proper flight over a hundred years ago.
261
00:14:11,203 --> 00:14:15,683
How come we're still not any closer to
working out how aeroplanes actually work?
262
00:14:16,723 --> 00:14:19,563
But we are. We know how they work today.
263
00:14:19,643 --> 00:14:22,003
But in reality, how do they work?
264
00:14:22,083 --> 00:14:25,963
Well, it's…
we have mathematical equations
265
00:14:26,043 --> 00:14:29,843
that describe the way the air flows
over the wings of the aircraft.
266
00:14:29,923 --> 00:14:33,923
Can you explain how they work
without resorting to science?
267
00:14:36,603 --> 00:14:39,643
It's difficult
not to explain the science behind it,
268
00:14:39,723 --> 00:14:43,883
but because of the shape of its wings,
269
00:14:43,963 --> 00:14:46,523
the force upwards
is bigger than the force downwards.
270
00:14:46,603 --> 00:14:49,043
So that pushes the plane up into the air.
271
00:14:49,123 --> 00:14:52,243
That's your theory.
Do you want to hear my theory?
272
00:14:52,923 --> 00:14:54,763
-Okay.
-I think they run on belief.
273
00:14:55,883 --> 00:14:58,803
It's just because
we believe planes can fly that they do.
274
00:14:58,883 --> 00:15:01,403
So the media has to keep up the pretense
275
00:15:01,483 --> 00:15:03,963
or they're gonna start
dropping out of the sky.
276
00:15:04,043 --> 00:15:06,883
Same with Wi-Fi.
There's no way that's real.
277
00:15:06,963 --> 00:15:09,163
We just have to go along
with this pantomime
278
00:15:09,243 --> 00:15:11,203
or everything grinds to a halt.
279
00:15:12,003 --> 00:15:16,323
The sky had been tamed.
Next it was the road's turn.
280
00:15:17,643 --> 00:15:20,563
It's hard to say
who invented the first automobile.
281
00:15:20,643 --> 00:15:22,243
Because so many people had a go,
282
00:15:22,323 --> 00:15:25,363
the Wikipedia page
is too long to bother reading.
283
00:15:25,443 --> 00:15:27,083
But luckily it doesn't matter
284
00:15:27,163 --> 00:15:30,803
because in the end,
only one man became synonymous with cars,
285
00:15:31,683 --> 00:15:34,843
the man who made the first
blockbuster automobile.
286
00:15:34,923 --> 00:15:37,803
He was named Henry Model-T Ford.
287
00:15:37,883 --> 00:15:40,563
And in a stunning coincidence,
so was his car.
288
00:15:40,643 --> 00:15:41,923
[rock music playing]
289
00:15:42,003 --> 00:15:46,723
With its four-cylinder, 2.9-liter engine
pumping out 20 horsepower
290
00:15:46,803 --> 00:15:49,323
and a top speed of 45 miles per hour,
291
00:15:49,403 --> 00:15:52,483
the Model-T Ford was a truly terrible car,
292
00:15:52,563 --> 00:15:55,483
even worse than
whatever it is your mum drives.
293
00:15:57,003 --> 00:16:01,203
There's nowhere to plug in your phone,
no satnav or music system.
294
00:16:01,883 --> 00:16:04,163
It doesn't even have a cup holder.
295
00:16:05,523 --> 00:16:08,483
Nonetheless,
it was marginally better than a horse
296
00:16:08,563 --> 00:16:11,323
because it didn't kick you in the head
if you went behind it.
297
00:16:11,403 --> 00:16:12,763
And unlike on a train,
298
00:16:12,843 --> 00:16:16,163
you weren't likely to find yourself
seated next to a psychopath.
299
00:16:16,243 --> 00:16:19,963
Unless you stopped to pick up a hitchhiker
with a screwdriver in their pocket.
300
00:16:23,843 --> 00:16:28,003
But Henry Model-T Ford's biggest
masterstroke wasn't his car itself,
301
00:16:28,083 --> 00:16:29,763
but the way it was made.
302
00:16:30,683 --> 00:16:34,883
Instead of employing one person
to slowly make a whole car on their own,
303
00:16:34,963 --> 00:16:39,243
Ford employed lots of people
to do just one tiny bit of the car each
304
00:16:39,323 --> 00:16:40,683
over and over again.
305
00:16:40,763 --> 00:16:44,563
It was a revolution in workplace tedium
and human meaninglessness.
306
00:16:45,123 --> 00:16:48,563
Mass production
needed a mass human workforce.
307
00:16:48,643 --> 00:16:52,323
Millions flocked to the USA
for a go on the American dream.
308
00:16:52,403 --> 00:16:56,523
The need for bigger vessels
led to the invention of the Titan 1C,
309
00:16:56,603 --> 00:16:58,963
the world's first single-use submarine.
310
00:17:00,243 --> 00:17:04,483
For years, man had stared at the ocean,
longing to sink like a stone,
311
00:17:04,563 --> 00:17:07,643
and the Titan 1C
would make that dream come true.
312
00:17:08,923 --> 00:17:11,043
It was a huge success.
313
00:17:11,122 --> 00:17:13,843
On her maiden voyage, the Titan 1C
314
00:17:13,923 --> 00:17:17,083
sailed straight from Southampton
to the bottom of the sea,
315
00:17:17,162 --> 00:17:19,963
where the brave explorers
could live in the lap of luxury
316
00:17:20,043 --> 00:17:22,122
for the few moments
it took for them to discover
317
00:17:22,203 --> 00:17:25,483
that the atmosphere on the ocean floor
was non-breathable.
318
00:17:27,203 --> 00:17:31,843
Having conquered light, sound, the sky,
the road and the bottom of the ocean,
319
00:17:31,923 --> 00:17:36,163
humankind was about to discover
something it hadn't even heard of before,
320
00:17:36,243 --> 00:17:39,883
courtesy of female scientist and woman
"Mary Curry,"
321
00:17:39,963 --> 00:17:42,123
lady father of radiation.
322
00:17:42,723 --> 00:17:45,483
How did Marie Curie realize
323
00:17:45,563 --> 00:17:50,203
that she'd discovered radioactivity
if it's invisible?
324
00:17:50,283 --> 00:17:53,963
Marie Curie invented
the word "radioactivity."
325
00:17:54,043 --> 00:17:59,643
And radioactivity is when a substance,
like radium, polonium, plutonium,
326
00:17:59,723 --> 00:18:02,563
gives off lots of energy
and disintegrate naturally.
327
00:18:02,643 --> 00:18:05,443
So it's a real thing,
even though it's invisible.
328
00:18:06,243 --> 00:18:09,403
Lots of real things are invisible, yes.
329
00:18:09,483 --> 00:18:13,723
So it's like chakras and energy fields,
330
00:18:13,803 --> 00:18:16,003
you know, like the ones
you get on the inside of your face
331
00:18:16,083 --> 00:18:18,243
that connect to your star signs
332
00:18:18,323 --> 00:18:20,923
and affect the way you digest gluten.
333
00:18:21,003 --> 00:18:22,043
They're real, aren't they?
334
00:18:22,123 --> 00:18:25,163
-Well, I don't think that they are real.
-I think they are real.
335
00:18:25,243 --> 00:18:26,323
Well, lots of people--
336
00:18:26,403 --> 00:18:31,083
My Aunt Carol realigns people's chakras.
She charges 80 quid an hour.
337
00:18:31,163 --> 00:18:33,403
I think if she was earning
that kind of money,
338
00:18:34,483 --> 00:18:36,363
it's not nonsense, is it?
339
00:18:36,443 --> 00:18:40,003
Tragically, Curie's curiosity was fatal.
340
00:18:40,083 --> 00:18:45,003
Long-term exposure to radiation is thought
to have contributed to her death.
341
00:18:45,603 --> 00:18:46,923
It's not fair, is it?
342
00:18:47,003 --> 00:18:52,123
When a male scientist like Bruce Banner
gets exposed to gamma radiation,
343
00:18:52,203 --> 00:18:55,243
he gets to be, like,
a superhero, doesn't he?
344
00:18:55,323 --> 00:18:59,163
He gets his own comic book
and movie franchise.
345
00:18:59,243 --> 00:19:01,163
Marie Curie just gets killed.
346
00:19:01,243 --> 00:19:03,203
You know, he got to be the Hulk.
347
00:19:03,843 --> 00:19:07,603
That's not fair, is it?
Is it the fault of the patriarchy?
348
00:19:07,683 --> 00:19:11,243
Also, what is a patriarchy?
349
00:19:11,323 --> 00:19:16,963
Meanwhile, other less female scientists
were working on theories of their own.
350
00:19:17,043 --> 00:19:20,083
Physicist and professional tongue model
Albert Einstein
351
00:19:20,163 --> 00:19:23,443
came up with his theory of relativity,
E equals McTwo,
352
00:19:23,523 --> 00:19:25,483
which to this day nobody understands.
353
00:19:25,563 --> 00:19:28,763
I'm only mentioning it because
it turns out to be important later.
354
00:19:29,363 --> 00:19:33,523
Einstein reckoned nothing is faster
than the speed of light,
355
00:19:33,603 --> 00:19:35,563
but shadows go faster than light.
356
00:19:35,643 --> 00:19:39,163
Like, if I shine a light from a torch
against that wall
357
00:19:39,243 --> 00:19:41,643
but I hold the torch behind my head,
358
00:19:41,723 --> 00:19:44,363
my shadow gets there
before the light does.
359
00:19:44,443 --> 00:19:46,683
How would Einstein explain that?
360
00:19:46,763 --> 00:19:52,363
I think he'd say that it's all happening
so quickly that you can't see it properly.
361
00:19:52,443 --> 00:19:54,683
He's always got an answer, hasn't he?
362
00:19:54,763 --> 00:19:57,923
The 20th century
got off to a cracking start,
363
00:19:58,003 --> 00:20:00,923
with science shitting out
innovation after innovation,
364
00:20:01,003 --> 00:20:03,763
so quickly we can
barely edit them together.
365
00:20:03,843 --> 00:20:06,443
But some of these new inventions
had a dark side.
366
00:20:06,523 --> 00:20:09,963
They could be used to kill people,
and not in a good way.
367
00:20:10,523 --> 00:20:14,163
The First World War was known
as "the war to end all wars,"
368
00:20:14,243 --> 00:20:16,883
although some historians
now argue it didn't.
369
00:20:17,883 --> 00:20:19,843
But it was the first high-tech war,
370
00:20:19,923 --> 00:20:23,683
with aeroplanes, machine guns and tanks
371
00:20:23,763 --> 00:20:27,083
all rising up to fight
the human beings that made them.
372
00:20:27,163 --> 00:20:30,883
Despite having no beliefs or ideology
or hearts or souls,
373
00:20:30,963 --> 00:20:33,203
the killing machines were victorious.
374
00:20:33,283 --> 00:20:37,963
The final score was
weaponry 20 million, mankind nil.
375
00:20:38,043 --> 00:20:41,883
When humans go to war,
it always looks quite chaotic.
376
00:20:41,963 --> 00:20:44,123
Is there a lot of shouting involved?
377
00:20:44,763 --> 00:20:46,603
There tends to be
an awful lot of shouting.
378
00:20:46,683 --> 00:20:48,723
It can either be commands being shouted.
379
00:20:48,803 --> 00:20:52,123
It could also be, you know,
the screams of people dying.
380
00:20:52,203 --> 00:20:55,923
So probably a risk of tinnitus
for anyone standing nearby.
381
00:20:56,003 --> 00:20:58,763
It's a real pity we keep doing it.
382
00:20:58,843 --> 00:21:01,763
I'm not trying to be controversial,
383
00:21:01,843 --> 00:21:06,283
but generally speaking,
war does seem a bit of a shame.
384
00:21:07,083 --> 00:21:11,203
Well, it does seem to be
a particularly popular human activity.
385
00:21:11,283 --> 00:21:13,083
Maybe it's just in our nature.
386
00:21:13,163 --> 00:21:16,123
What makes us as creatures
turn on each other like that?
387
00:21:16,203 --> 00:21:19,843
And could you keep the answer
to one short sentence?
388
00:21:19,923 --> 00:21:22,923
Because otherwise
they get really pissed off in the edit.
389
00:21:23,003 --> 00:21:25,843
Fear, honor and interest.
390
00:21:25,923 --> 00:21:28,003
Really? Those are the three?
391
00:21:28,083 --> 00:21:29,883
That's it in a nutshell.
392
00:21:33,683 --> 00:21:36,723
I don't know who edits this,
but that's going to have to do.
393
00:21:38,043 --> 00:21:40,243
The barbarism of World War I
394
00:21:40,323 --> 00:21:45,003
inspired a wide range of harrowing
war poems and pacifist literature,
395
00:21:45,083 --> 00:21:49,003
published decades before the release
of unrelated Belgian techno anthem
396
00:21:49,083 --> 00:21:50,403
"Pump Up the Jam."
397
00:21:50,483 --> 00:21:52,483
[techno music playing]
398
00:22:05,643 --> 00:22:08,083
♪ Pump up the jam, pump it up ♪
399
00:22:08,163 --> 00:22:10,043
♪ While your feet are stomping ♪
400
00:22:10,123 --> 00:22:11,563
♪ And the jam is pumping ♪
401
00:22:11,643 --> 00:22:13,843
♪ Look ahead, the crowd is jumping ♪
402
00:22:13,923 --> 00:22:15,483
♪ Pump it up a little more ♪
403
00:22:15,563 --> 00:22:17,323
♪ Get the party going
On the dance floor ♪
404
00:22:17,403 --> 00:22:19,243
♪ See, 'cause that's
Where the party's at ♪
405
00:22:19,323 --> 00:22:22,003
♪ And you'll find out if you do that ♪
406
00:22:22,083 --> 00:22:25,283
♪ I want a place to stay ♪
407
00:22:25,363 --> 00:22:27,923
♪ Get your booty
On the floor tonight ♪
408
00:22:28,003 --> 00:22:29,643
♪ Make my day ♪
409
00:22:29,723 --> 00:22:32,883
♪ I want a place to stay ♪
410
00:22:32,963 --> 00:22:35,603
♪ Get your booty
On the floor tonight ♪
411
00:22:35,683 --> 00:22:36,723
♪ Make my day ♪
412
00:22:36,803 --> 00:22:39,003
Millions of young men died during the war,
413
00:22:39,083 --> 00:22:42,563
but fortunately, humankind
had discovered a new kind of man:
414
00:22:42,643 --> 00:22:43,843
the woman.
415
00:22:43,923 --> 00:22:47,003
Women had always existed
in the background of history,
416
00:22:47,083 --> 00:22:49,883
largely being used as human pets for men,
417
00:22:49,963 --> 00:22:53,403
tolerated for their magical ability
to excrete fresh humans
418
00:22:53,483 --> 00:22:54,923
through their front holes.
419
00:22:55,563 --> 00:22:57,523
But in the early 20th century,
420
00:22:57,603 --> 00:23:00,483
social scientists
discovered something incredible:
421
00:23:00,563 --> 00:23:03,123
that a woman could do
anything a man could do,
422
00:23:03,203 --> 00:23:05,083
without the need to talk about it.
423
00:23:06,123 --> 00:23:07,763
They also got the vote.
424
00:23:07,843 --> 00:23:11,803
Finally, women could choose
which man would tell them what to do.
425
00:23:11,883 --> 00:23:14,963
Women began
to escape their traditional uniforms,
426
00:23:15,043 --> 00:23:19,283
dressing less like haunted furniture
and more like camp young boys.
427
00:23:19,923 --> 00:23:22,723
They drank, smoked
and danced at high speed,
428
00:23:22,803 --> 00:23:24,443
at an appalling frame rate.
429
00:23:25,203 --> 00:23:26,563
Meanwhile, in Hollywood,
430
00:23:26,643 --> 00:23:30,923
a whole new kind of entertainment
was being invented: movies.
431
00:23:31,563 --> 00:23:32,883
Unlike with a book,
432
00:23:32,963 --> 00:23:37,163
you didn't have to concentrate
or use your imagination to enjoy a movie.
433
00:23:37,243 --> 00:23:41,403
Anyone, even very lazy or stupid people,
could enjoy themselves
434
00:23:41,483 --> 00:23:46,123
by simply sitting down and staring
at a screen, like you're doing now.
435
00:23:46,203 --> 00:23:49,843
Nonetheless, early movies
were completely shit, as you can see.
436
00:23:50,363 --> 00:23:52,483
But it's thanks to early films like this
437
00:23:52,563 --> 00:23:55,363
that we can see what life was really like
in the olden days.
438
00:23:55,443 --> 00:23:58,283
Everyone moved very quickly
and fell over a lot.
439
00:23:59,003 --> 00:24:01,603
Why do people in old films move so fast?
440
00:24:01,683 --> 00:24:04,883
Is it because it was their first time
on camera so they were nervous,
441
00:24:04,963 --> 00:24:06,883
or because it was a silent film
442
00:24:06,963 --> 00:24:10,003
so they couldn't hear the director
yelling at them to slow down?
443
00:24:10,523 --> 00:24:13,123
It's to do with the frame rate
of the cameras
444
00:24:13,203 --> 00:24:15,243
was different then to what it is now.
445
00:24:15,323 --> 00:24:16,603
So it's our fault.
446
00:24:16,683 --> 00:24:19,643
We're playing it back too fast
and the actors are having to speed up
447
00:24:19,723 --> 00:24:23,123
to make sure they can get
all the story in before the end credits.
448
00:24:23,203 --> 00:24:26,563
They must be panicking.
What happens if they can't keep up?
449
00:24:26,643 --> 00:24:29,563
Would the film cut to a room
the actors aren't in yet?
450
00:24:29,643 --> 00:24:31,683
Just footage of an empty room?
451
00:24:31,763 --> 00:24:34,483
The actors are going at a regular speed.
452
00:24:34,563 --> 00:24:37,243
It's just the speed of the playback
453
00:24:37,323 --> 00:24:39,763
that makes them look like
they're moving very quickly.
454
00:24:39,843 --> 00:24:42,123
Could we communicate
with the actors in the film
455
00:24:42,203 --> 00:24:45,523
and tell them that it's all right,
that they can calm down?
456
00:24:45,603 --> 00:24:47,963
No. They'd all be dead by now.
457
00:24:48,043 --> 00:24:49,243
Oh.
458
00:24:49,323 --> 00:24:51,203
Early films had subtitles
459
00:24:51,283 --> 00:24:54,483
so people could still watch them
on their phones with the sound off.
460
00:24:54,563 --> 00:24:58,083
But before too long,
they figured out how to do sounds too.
461
00:24:58,163 --> 00:25:01,563
What was more satisfactory to you?
462
00:25:02,363 --> 00:25:04,283
Reading was redundant at last.
463
00:25:04,363 --> 00:25:08,443
The written word's centuries-long era
of tyranny was finally at an end.
464
00:25:09,603 --> 00:25:13,443
But any sense humankind
was embarking on a hopeful new era
465
00:25:13,523 --> 00:25:15,843
was about to be shat through a bin bag.
466
00:25:15,923 --> 00:25:18,483
Dark clouds were gathering over Europe
467
00:25:18,563 --> 00:25:22,483
with a reboot of the World War franchise
about to be unleashed.
468
00:25:23,603 --> 00:25:26,563
Soon, the world was plunged
into another global war,
469
00:25:27,603 --> 00:25:31,243
and since this war run on even more
terrible machinery than the previous one,
470
00:25:31,323 --> 00:25:33,723
it seemed
there would be no end to the carnage.
471
00:25:34,843 --> 00:25:37,603
Then the Americans had an idea.
472
00:25:37,683 --> 00:25:40,403
Instead of dropping thousands
of little bombs on Japan
473
00:25:40,483 --> 00:25:42,003
like they did to Germany,
474
00:25:42,083 --> 00:25:44,283
what if they dropped just one big one?
475
00:25:44,923 --> 00:25:48,563
Using Einstein's theories,
which I cleverly mentioned earlier,
476
00:25:48,643 --> 00:25:52,003
they began the Manhattan Project,
run by men with hats on,
477
00:25:52,083 --> 00:25:54,043
who came up with something fearsome:
478
00:25:54,123 --> 00:25:56,763
an atomic bomb called Little Boy,
479
00:25:56,843 --> 00:26:01,003
the most powerful and inaccurately named
weapon ever used.
480
00:26:01,083 --> 00:26:03,203
How powerful was Little Boy?
481
00:26:03,283 --> 00:26:04,683
Put it this way:
482
00:26:04,763 --> 00:26:06,003
if that bomb had been dropped
483
00:26:06,083 --> 00:26:08,803
on my ex-boyfriend Sean's house
in Westhoughton,
484
00:26:08,883 --> 00:26:12,243
everything, from the Chequerbent
roundabout on the A58
485
00:26:12,323 --> 00:26:14,963
to the florist
next to the Hart Common Golf Club,
486
00:26:15,043 --> 00:26:16,643
would have been totally destroyed.
487
00:26:17,163 --> 00:26:19,843
The initial blast
would have vaporized Sean,
488
00:26:19,923 --> 00:26:22,003
while the vintage Pac-Man arcade cabinet
489
00:26:22,083 --> 00:26:25,043
he once spent my entire
birthday weekend restoring
490
00:26:25,123 --> 00:26:27,563
would have almost certainly
been rendered unplayable
491
00:26:27,643 --> 00:26:29,763
by the raging firestorm that followed.
492
00:26:30,483 --> 00:26:33,483
Everything from Wigan to Bolton
would be burnt to a crisp.
493
00:26:33,563 --> 00:26:36,923
I'm talking Middlebrook, gone.
Bickershaw, gone.
494
00:26:37,003 --> 00:26:39,483
Hindley Green, forget it.
495
00:26:39,563 --> 00:26:41,243
The unspeakable horror
496
00:26:41,323 --> 00:26:43,683
of the atomic bomb ended World War II.
497
00:26:43,763 --> 00:26:45,163
Everyone had had enough
498
00:26:45,243 --> 00:26:49,123
and the world agreed for the second time
in this episode to never have a war again,
499
00:26:49,723 --> 00:26:55,163
a promise it wouldn't break
for a full 52 seconds into episode five.
500
00:26:55,243 --> 00:27:00,443
It's comforting, isn't it, to realize
we don't have nuclear weapons these days?
501
00:27:00,523 --> 00:27:03,243
Well, it depends who you mean by "we."
502
00:27:03,323 --> 00:27:05,163
The British have got nuclear weapons
503
00:27:05,243 --> 00:27:08,803
and have recently indeed
decided to increase
504
00:27:08,883 --> 00:27:11,523
the number of warheads that they possess.
505
00:27:11,603 --> 00:27:15,123
Yeah, but they're blanks, aren't they?
They're full of blanks.
506
00:27:15,203 --> 00:27:16,443
No, not at all.
507
00:27:16,523 --> 00:27:20,683
No, no, these are fully capable
missile systems with nuclear warheads.
508
00:27:20,763 --> 00:27:22,563
Many other states have them.
509
00:27:23,323 --> 00:27:26,203
I'm afraid that nuclear war
and the threat of nuclear destruction
510
00:27:26,283 --> 00:27:28,083
remains very much with us.
511
00:27:37,523 --> 00:27:40,283
Right, can we talk about something
a bit more cheerful?
512
00:27:40,363 --> 00:27:41,923
Anything you like.
513
00:27:45,483 --> 00:27:47,963
-Do you like ABBA?
-I love ABBA.
514
00:27:48,043 --> 00:27:49,763
-Yeah?
-Yeah.
515
00:27:49,843 --> 00:27:52,803
-What's your favorite ABBA song?
-"Dancing Queen."
516
00:27:52,883 --> 00:27:55,163
"Dancing Queen," yeah.
517
00:27:55,243 --> 00:27:57,003
Yeah, it's great, isn't it?
518
00:27:58,043 --> 00:28:01,723
Next time we see how a cold war
between East and West
519
00:28:01,803 --> 00:28:03,923
paved the way for rock and roll,
520
00:28:04,003 --> 00:28:05,843
which paved the way
for countercultural hippies,
521
00:28:05,923 --> 00:28:09,803
who paved the way for Steve Jobs to pave
the way for computers and smartphones,
522
00:28:09,883 --> 00:28:11,923
which paved the way for social media,
523
00:28:12,003 --> 00:28:13,643
which would pave the way for undoing
524
00:28:13,723 --> 00:28:17,323
all the progress
humankind had made so far.
525
00:28:18,043 --> 00:28:20,923
Social media has been polarizing
people, hasn't it?
526
00:28:21,003 --> 00:28:23,083
Like what's already happened to the bears.
527
00:28:23,163 --> 00:28:25,843
-What bears?
-Polar bears.