Gods of the New Age

This unintentionally hilarious 1984 documentary warns Americans of the dangers of Hinduism, and attempts to show how the west has been infiltrated by New Age practices that have Hindu tradition at their core.

It is two hours of laugh-a-minute nonsense, as the Reaganite Christian filmmakers go from silly (suggesting that yoga and meditation fads are corrupting decent American values) to ridiculous (lumping in Dungeons and Dragons and Star Wars as evil and heretical) to outrageously offensive (claiming that Hindu gods are in fact Christian demons).

Thoroughly recommended.

• Watch Gods of the New Age Online
  
• See the Amazon page (for Christ's sake don't buy it!)

Mark Thomas at the 28/03/09 G20 Protest

Visit www.markthomasinfo.com

Or go straight to the goodies on the audio/video page

Howard Goodall: How Music Works

Watch Howard Goodall's 2006 documentary, How Music Works.

• Episode One: Melody
  
• Episode Two: Rhythm
  
• Episode Three: Harmony
  
• Episode Four: Bass
  

I can't find Goodall's other documentaries, so if anyone knows where I can find a link, especially for 20th Century Greats, I would be very grateful.

Conscious Entities

This blog-style website about consciousness is full of sharp, insightful analysis of new ideas in psychology, neuroscience and philosophy.  It is run by a chap called Peter Hankins who is perhaps the smartest and most interesting person I have come across on the web.

This website a must-see for anyone interested in understanding consciousness.  

In addition to Peter's highly readable articles, he has provided many pages of background information about all the leading thinkers in the field, run-downs of all the major schools of thought, and enough introductory information to engage any layperson  in this fascinating and exciting subject.

www.consciousentities.com

Daniel Dennett: Ants, Terrorism, and the Awesome Power of Memes

A fantastic clip of Dennett talking about Meme Theory.

Watch Ants, Terrorism, and the Awesome Power of Memes

Also:

Dennett's 2007 speech for Atheist Alliance International

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Dennett makes some interesting points here, and fans will enjoy seeing him do his usual schtick of bold evolutionary hypothesising and down-to-earth philosophy.  I would have enjoyed this more if the audience in the room weren't clearly a bunch of self-congratulatory intellectual narcissists.
www.sciencestage.com

Visions of the Future

Michio Kaku's cheery and optimistic vision of the future is laid out in his 2007 BBC4 documentary.  It's a brave new world with strong appeal for Star Trek fans and teleologists, with enough disturbing undertones to keep you misery junkies happy.

• Episode One -  The Intelligence Revolution
  
• Episode Two - The Biotech Revolution
  
• Episode Three - The Quantum Revolution

Unfortunately for anyone who has derived some sort of solace from Kaku's bright ideas, he's a total loon.  See for yourself.

Michio Kaku on Future Civilizations

Kaku Interview 1991

Brain Story

Susan Greenfield's eminently watchable introduction to neuroscience.  Full of interesting bits and bobs, if a bit slow and BBCish sometimes.  Enjoy.

• Episode One - All in the Mind
  
• Episode Two - In the Heat of the Moment
  
• Episode Three - The Mind's Eye
  
• Episode Four - First among Equals
  
• Episode Five - Growing the Mind
  
• Episode Six - A Final Mystery