Simon Schama's History of Now

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Simon Schama reflects on a life in culture - and its enduring power in shaping our world.

Simon Schama reflects on a life in culture - and its enduring power in shaping our world. From The Handmaid's Tale to The Thick of It, how has art defined what matters to us all?

Series 1

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BBC History Channel

Simon Schama

Hugo Macgregor

Charlotte Sacher

Nicolas Kent

Oxford Film and Television

Simon Schama's History of Now: Series 1: The Price of Plenty

Episode 3

The Price of Plenty

BBC Two - Simon Schama's History of Now, Series 1, The Price of Plenty

Simon Schama examines how different Americans created visions of the postwar world.

Simon Schama examines how Charlie Chaplin and Ayn Rand created different visions of postwar America, while Rachel Carson drew attention to the destruction of the natural world.

After the Second World War, there were deep divisions in America about how to move forward. Should it be a social democracy, in which a benevolent state would look after its most vulnerable citizens? Or should it put its faith in individual enterprise and the free market to provide plenty for all?

Simon Schama examines how the filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and author Ayn Rand created radically different visions of how this new postwar world should work, and how writers such as Rachel Carson drew attention to the damage being inflicted on the natural world. He talks to author Margaret Atwood about how Carson inspired her own work and to photographer Edward Burtynsky about his photographic projects to document haunting images of the pursuit of consumerism.

Simon Schama's History of Now: Series 1

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

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Simon Schama looks back over his lifetime at the power of culture in shaping the present.

Simon Schama looks back over his lifetime at the vital power of culture in shaping the defining issues of the present: democracy, equality, and the promise of prosperity for all.

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Simon Schama's History of Now

Series 1

The Price of Plenty

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