BBC Panorama: From Jail to Jihad

First broadcast May 12, 2014 on BBC One

The Muslim prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the past ten years to nearly one in seven inmates. This rise is five times faster than the increase in the overall jail population.
Evidence shows most Muslims are not radicalised, but the prison system is also home to the UK's greatest concentration of Islamic terrorists and extremists. Many more are converted or radicalised behind bars. 

Reporter Raphael Rowe follows one radical convert as he leaves prison, interviews some convicted terrorists and extremists about their experiences inside and asks if the authorities are doing enough to prevent the increasing threat of radical Islam inside prison.

Origins Of Us | Dr. Alice Roberts | BBC Documentary

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Origins of Us tells the story of our species, homo sapiens. In every one of our bodies is the evidence of how we evolved away from our ape cousins to become the adaptable, successful species we are today.

Anatomist and physical anthropologist Dr Alice Roberts reveals the key adaptations in our body that has contributed to our extra-ordinary success. Far from being inevitable, the evolution of our species is a product of pure chance. And with each anatomical advantage comes a cost, which many of us are still paying today. Bad backs, painful childbirth, impacted wisdom teeth are all a by-product of our evolutionary success.

This is a journey through your own body, 6 million years and 300 000 generations of our family, from a tree dwelling ape in the forests of Africa, to you and the six billion other humans on Earth today.

Are Atheists Smarter Than Religious People? - BBC

August 18, 2013 on BBC One

Sunday Morning Live: Is There Room For Religion in the Classroom? - BBC

July 21, 2013 on BBC One

The Big Questions: Are Religions Unfair to Women?

May 5, 2013 on BBC One

This is a special edition from King Edward VI Handsworth School in Birmingham and Nicky Campbell asks just one Big Question: Are religions unfair to women?

Taking part are: Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Religion at the University of Exeter; Cole Moreton, author of Is God Still an Englishman?; Christina Rees, who sits on The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England; the theologian Vicky Beeching; the feminist Kate Smurthwaite; Liz Weston from Christ Church, Southampton; Sarah de Nordwall from Catholic Voices; Eunice Olumide, a convert to Islam; Rania Hafez from Muslim Women in Education; Rabbi Shmuel Arkush, Director of Lubavitch in the Midlands; and Bharti Tailor, President of the Hindu Forum for Europe.

BBC Panorama: Are Sharia Councils Failing Vulnerable Women?

From BBC News:

BBC Panorama has uncovered fresh evidence of how some Sharia councils in Britain may be putting Muslim women "at risk" by pressuring them to stay in abusive marriages.

In a small terraced house in east London, a woman and her husband argue before an Islamic scholar who sits on a dais above them in a room that looks and feels like a court.

This is Leyton Islamic Sharia Council, and Dr Suhaib Hasan will decide if the woman can have a divorce. Her husband is refusing to grant her one and the couple have been coming here for a year.

She accuses him of refusing to work, ignoring the children and verbally abusing her. He vehemently denies it. When Dr Hasan orders the husband to leave the room, the woman breaks down in tears.

"I hate him, I can't even bear to look at him, he has ruined my life," she sobs.

Dr Hasan sends the couple away for another month to try to save their marriage, with the help of Allah.
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David Attenborough: First Life | BBC

Part 1


Part 2

In more than fifty years of broadcasting, Sir David Attenborough has travelled the globe to document the living world in all its wonder. Now, in the landmark series First Life, he goes back in time in search of the very first animals.

David Attenborough’s First Life is told with stunning photography, state of the art visual effects and the captivating charm of the world’s favourite naturalist. It was first broadcast as a two-part series in the UK on BBC Two in November 2010, and as a two-hour special by Discovery Channel in the US. It is now being shown by broadcasters around the world, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Filmed over the course of a year, the companion film Attenborough’s Journey is a remarkable portrait of the world’s leading natural history broadcaster as completes his latest series. As he faces the challenges of a complicated filming shoot, David Attenborough revisits parts of the world that have had special meaning for him throughout his career.

The Big Questions: Should Britain Become a Secular State? | BBC

March 24, 2013 on BBC One

Nicky Campbell presents a pre-recorded edition of the programme from Manor CoE School in York asking just one question - should Britain become a secular state? Among those taking part are philosopher AC Grayling, former Bishop of Rochester Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Prof the Baroness Afshar from York University, Symon Hill from Ekkelsia, Rabbi Jonathan Romain from Maidenhead Synagogue, Naomi Philips from Labour Humanists, writer and academic Myriam Francois Cerrah, Gita Sahgal from Centre for Secular Space, Pastor Mark Mullins from Strangers' Rest Mission and Dr Audra Mitchell from York University.

How to Get to Heaven with the Hutterites - BBC

Aired March 7, 2013 on BBC Two

An intimate insight into the world of the Hutterites, a Christian community who believe living communally and separate from what they call 'the world' is the route to heaven. But living like this is not easy. With exclusive access, the film follows one young man secretly running away from his community.

The Big Questions: Does Hell Exist? - BBC

February 24, 2013 on BBC One

BBC: Religious TV Show Miracle Hour 'Risking Lives'

From BBC News:

TV shows made in London that encourage viewers to believe they are cured of life-threatening illnesses by prayer have been condemned by charities.

Charities criticised an episode of the Miracle Hour show, on Faith World TV, during which a diabetic caller was told he was "set free" from the disease.

"It is particularly dangerous and puts his life at risk," said African Health Policy Network head Francis Kaikumba.

UKWET, which produces the show, said it was "reviewing" its "new programmes".

The organisation, whose full name is the UK World Evangelical Trust, said: "We are now reviewing our new programmes to make sure our standards meet good practice."
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Horrible Histories - Charles Darwin Evolution Song - BBC

Is Faith Compatible With Reason? - The Big Questions - BBC

February 10, 2013 on BBC One

The Big Questions: Is It Time For All Religions To Accept Evolution? - BBC

January 13, 2013 on BBC One

Nicky Campbell presides over a special debate recorded at the Harris Academy in Peckham, asking just one Big Question: Is it time for all religions to accept evolution as fact?

Amongst those taking part are: Matt Ridley, author of Genome; the geneticist, Professor Steve Jones; Rev Greg Haslam, senior pastor at Westminster Chapel; Dr Steve Lloyd from Biblical Creation Ministries; Inayat Bunglawala, chair of Muslims4UK; Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, director of mission and public affairs of the Church of England; Dr Robert J Asher, a paleontoloist from Cambridge University; the sociologist Professor Linda Woodhead from Lancaster University; Imam Abdullah Hasan from Neeli Mosque and Islamic Centre; Professor Steve Fuller, sociologist, Warwick University; Mohamed Ali Harrath, founder of The Islam Channel; Pastor Marjorie Esomowie, Triumphant Church International; and Adam Deen, executive director of the Deen Institute.

Top Videos of 2012

Here are the top 12 most viewed posts of the year on AMB:

12 - The Best of the Hitchslap (Part Two)

11 - Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Most Astounding Fact About The Universe

10 - FOX News Host Jokes About the Murder of Madalyn Murray O'Hair

Wonders of Life Trailer - BBC Two

Professor Brian Cox examines the story of life through physics in a major new series for BBC Two - Wonders of Life.

BBC Newsnight: Possession, Jinn and Britain's Backstreet Exorcists

November 19, 2012 on BBC Two

UK health and social workers and those in the criminal justice system are increasingly having to understand belief in spiritual possession among ethnic minorities, with new research highlighting a particular issue with some sections of the British Asian community blaming mental health problems on the supernatural.
Read more

Inheritance: A short history of sex, genes and DNA - Dara O Briain's Science Club - BBC Two

Why is it that we often look like our parents, or even our grandparents? From Aristotle to Watson and Crick, this beautiful animation explains how we arrived at our current understanding of inheritance.

This exclusive preview is from Dara O Briain's Science Club, a brand new six-part series starting on Tuesday 6 November at 9pm on BBC Two. Find out more at bbc.co.uk/scienceclub

Conspiracy Road Trip: UFOs | BBC

October 15, 2012 on BBC Three

Are we alone in the universe or have we been visited by aliens? If the answer to the last question is yes, have the world's governments been covering up this incredible 'truth'?

Comedian Andrew Maxwell is a logical guy and he is going to tackle these big questions on an American road trip from Los Angeles to Area 51. He is taking five UFO believers who claim to have witnessed spacecraft from other galaxies, been attacked by UFOs, had close encounters with ETs and believe an alien attack is imminent for a close encounter of the rational kind. Andrew takes them to meet experts, eyewitnesses and journalists to see if he can dispel the myths around UFO sightings.

Includes contributions by Seth Shostak of The SETI Institute, PZ Myers and Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine.

Conspiracy Road Trip: Creationism | BBC

October 8, 2012 on BBC Three

Comedian Andrew Maxwell takes five British creationists to the west coast of America to try to convince them that evolution rather than creationism explains how we all got here. Stuck on a bus across 2,000 miles of dustbowl roads with these passionate believers, Maxwell tackles some firmly held beliefs - could the Earth be only 6,000 years old, and did humans and T-Rex really live side by side? It's a bumpy ride as he's confronted with some lively debates along the way, but by the end could he possibly win over any of these believers with what he regards as hard scientific fact?