Counter Culture

Highlights this week include the welcome return of Babylon Berlin, Edible Insects and Out of Sight Out of Mind showcasing artwork created by people with mental health conditions.

Saturday 8 October 2022

39 Ways to Save the Planet: Better Blocks 2.45pm BBC RADIO 4

Concrete blocks are the foundations of the modern world but they could be greener. Tom Heap meets the team turning waste dust and carbon dioxide into building materials.

The A-Z Of Horror Movies 11pm Sky Showcase

Peter Serafinowicz explores horror films while special guests watch some of the genre’s most terrifying clips. Definitely one to record for Hallowen viewing!

Detroit (2017) BBC1 11.35pm

Fact-based drama set during the 1967 Detroit riots in which a group of rogue police officers respond to a complaint with retribution rather than justice on their minds.

Sunday 9 October 2022

A Point of View: Trickle Down 8.48am BBC RADIO 4

From King Lear and Deuteronomy to bankers’ bonuses and universal credit, Howard extols the concept of sufficiency and concludes that trickle down economics simply doesn’t work.

Hansa Studios: By The Wall 1976-1990 Sky Arts 1.30am

The story of the legendary Hansa studios in Berlin, which used to overlook the Wall and has hosted many well-known acts including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, U2 and Brian Eno.

It’s Black History Month so there is some programming around that theme. See some selections below:

Children Of The Carribean Revolution With Lindsay Johns BBC4 10pm

In this high-concept visual essay, writer and broadcaster Lindsay Johns reframes the history of the Caribbean to tell a new story. Not the traditional narrative of suffering and adversity but a celebratory one of superheroes and epic wars, unceasing resistance and never-ending rebellion, told through the stories of four inspirational leaders and their modern-day spiritual descendants.

Each of the four accounts represents a heroic figure, whose life should, arguably, be more widely known and more comprehensively taught. But it is more often the case that such lessons are only found in the kinds of Saturday or supplementary schools established and maintained by the Black community from the 1970s onwards in order to compensate for the partial history their children are taught in British schools. Stories such as that of the Jamaican rebel heroine, Queen Nanny of the Maroons. Born in Ghana in the 17th century and brought to Jamaica as a slave, she escaped into the Blue Mountains and joined the rebel Maroon community, where she rose to become a feared military leader, eventually beating the British into submission by winning autonomy for the Maroons to govern their own areas.

At the end of the 18th and into the 19th century, in what is now present-day Haiti, we meet Toussaint Louverture, the son of a king captured in the West African kingdom of Doheny. He began life as a slave himself but went on to become one of the most learned, loved and celebrated revolutionary leaders the world has ever known, beating the French, Spanish and British, and helping to found the first and only independent state ever to be born of a slave revolt.

Jumping to the 20th century and the former French Caribbean colony of Martinique, where Frantz Fanon was born. We learn about the man who fought with the Free French against the Nazis before qualifying as a psychiatrist and going to Algeria, where he diagnosed the psychological trauma of colonialism and inspired liberation leaders across the world. He fought with the Algerians against their French masters and wrote two landmark books – Black Skin, White Masks and The Wretched of the Earth – as well as surviving multiple assassination attempts before dying of leukaemia in 1961 at the age of 36.

Finally, we learn about Walter Rodney, the Guyanese academic who showed that African freedom fighters and their Caribbean brothers and sisters were really the same people, united by a common struggle. Rodney became a hero of the Pan-African liberation movement before his early death, killed by a bomb in the Guyanese capital Georgetown in 1980 at the age of 38. In exploring these incredible lives, the film takes us on an odyssey through space and time, connecting these revolutionary giants and often neglected figures with ordinary people living today in Britain, one of the most multicultural nations on earth.

Whoever Heard Of A Black British Artist 11.30pm BBC 4

A look at the work of groundbreaking British artists of Asian and African descent.

Monday 10 October 2022

Britain’s Secret Islands (1/4) 9pm Sky History

Join a voyage to Farne Islands, home to seals and seabirds, early Christian communities and one of the first landing sites for Norse raiders.

Parasite (2019) Film 4 11.15pm

Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Tuesday 11 October 2022

The Life Scientific: Why study sewage? 9am BBC RADIO 4

Leon Barron monitors pollution in our rivers, keeping tabs on chemicals that could be harmful to the environment and to our health. He’s also gathered intelligence on the behaviour of millions of Londoners by studying the water we flush down the loo. His analysis of sewage revealed, for example, just how much cocaine is consumed in London every day. And he’s helped the Metropolitan Police to crack crimes in other ways too, inventing new chemistry tools that can be used by forensic scientists to uncover clues. At school he had no idea he wanted to be an analytical chemist but a short work experience placement at the fertiliser factory convinced him that this kind of detective work was fun.

Wednesday 12 October 2022

The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms 8pm BBC 4

Without us noticing, modern life has been taken over. Algorithms run everything from search engines on the internet to satnavs and credit card data security – they even help us travel the world, find love and save lives.

Mathematician Professor Marcus du Sautoy demystifies the hidden world of algorithms. By showing us some of the algorithms most essential to our lives, he reveals where these 2,000-year-old problem-solvers came from, how they work, what they have achieved and how they are now so advanced they can even programme themselves.

The Elon Musk Show 9pm BBC2

Just how did multibillionaire Elon Musk go from getting bullied as a child to becoming one of the most successful and controversial men in the world? This series from 72 Films – the people behind Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story – tells the story of the Tesla tycoon’s incredible journey.

A United Kingdom (2016) 11.30pm BBC2

The story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil.

Thursday 13 October 2022

T.S. Eliot: Into ‘The Wasteland’ 9pm BBC2

An exploration of TS Eliot’s The Waste Land, in its centenary year, that for the first time uncovers the personal story behind Eliot’s creation of his celebrated poem.

Friday 14 October 20222

Edible Insects 3.10pm PBS America

From crunchy crickets to nutty fly grubs, NOVA takes a tasty look at insect foods and how they could benefit our health and planet. Keep an open-mind! Insects are a common food source in many parts of the world, and they offer a number of benefits. Insects are a rich source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, and they have been eaten by humans for centuries. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in edible insects, as they offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional meat sources. Insects are also high in unsaturated fats and low in cholesterol, making them a heart-healthy option. It’s clear that they have the potential to play a vital role in improving human health as this programme demonstrates.

Babylon Berlin (1/12) Sky Atlantic 9pm

Babylon Berlin is back for a new series, and this time it’s bigger than ever.

The show has become a global sensation, and with good reason – it’s a thrilling look at the underbelly of 1920s and 30s Berlin. The show has been a hit in Germany, drawing an average of five million viewers per episode, and has been sold to over 150 countries.

Babylon Berlin is a historical crime drama which tells the story of Gereon Rath, a young police detective who is transferred from Cologne to Berlin and becomes embroiled in the city’s dark underworld. Vikjer Bruch stars as Rath, and the show has been praised for its lavish sets and stunning cinematography.

The third season of Babylon Berlin has just been released and it has already been hailed as one of the best yet. The season picks up shortly after the end of the second, with Rath struggling to keep his grip on power amid the chaos of the Weimar Republic. He must also contend with new threats both internal and external, as well as his complicated relationship with Charlotte Ritter (played by Liv Lisa Fries).

And at exhibition

Out of Sight Out of Mind to October 30 at Summerhall, Edinburgh

Out of Sight Out of Mind 2022 presents artworks by 200 people who have experience of mental health issues and celebrates its 10th anniversary.

outofsightoutofmind.scot

Picture and selections by Pat Harrington