Documentary / Biography

The British Crown Colony of Hong Kong is living on borrowed time. In 1997, about nine-tenths of this bustling, capitalistic city will be returned to the People's Republic of China. National Geographic travels to this cosmopolitan port for an intimate visit with a boat...

Could LSD be the next drug in your doctor's arsenal? New experiments have a few researchers believing that this "trippy" drug could become a pharmaceutical of the future, thinking it may enhance brain power, expand creativity, and cure disease. Outlawed in 1970, the street...

Join Dr. Zeb Hogan, National Geographic Explorer and aquatic biologist, as he searches the rivers and estuaries of central Thailand to find what could be the world's largest and most deadly freshwater fish -- the giant freshwater stingray. Amazingly, this stingray was only discovered...

Aquatic ecologist Zeb Hogan continues his quest to find and protect the world's largest freshwater fish in the frigid rivers of Mongolia. He travels by plane, truck, and horseback to find the largest trout known as the Hucho taimen. This is not your everyday...

National Geographic has captured hours in-your-face and behind-the-scenes footage of the NFL so close you feel like you're on the field yourself. Learn how players slowly transform into idol makers and players into warriors. Get ready for plenty of pushes and shoves in this...

Follow cult leader and self-proclaimed messiah Wayne Bent, aka Michael Travesser, after he made headlines when police entered the Strong City compound in New Mexico. See inside this religious sect through interviews with former members. National Geographic goes inside to offer an in-depth look...

In the Womb: Extreme Animals explores the extraordinary methods of reproduction and gestation of four different animals: sharks, emperor penguins, red kangaroos and parasitic wasps.

As the saying goes, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. But how well do you really know the agency that collects your federal taxes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)? Most of us only hear from the IRS twice a year when...

Across the United States, some 95,000 people desperately wait for a new organ, and often a second chance at life. But this year, fewer than half of those people will receive an organ, and many will die waiting. The overwhelming desperation and demand have...

For 24 years, Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party executed political rivals, Shias, Kurds and anyone else who dared disagree or even tell a joke about the dictator. A chorus of testimonials, unearthed mass graves and discovered documents now reveal the extent to which...

Explore a strange and mysterious world. Explore India: Land of the Tiger. A rare and fascinating study of the enormous jungle cats, India: Land of the Tiger features spectacular footage of tigers stalking their prey, caring for their young, swimming, playing and fighting as...

Discover startling new revelations about this extraordinary civilization. Inca Mummies: Secrets of a Lost World transports you to remote Peruvian mountaintops with archaeologists as they explore a vast and previously unknown citadel. Venture into ancient dwellings, storehouses, and cemeteries as you investigate the mysteries...

Male or female, boy or girl? Most of us can answer that question without a second thought- but for some people, the answer isn't so simple. This special takes us firsthand into the daily lives of three people who are transgender, revealing a remarkable...

Leonardo da Vinci's "The Battle of Anghiari" vanished 500 years ago, with only copies rendered by other artists left behind to confirm its existence. Scientist and art enthusiast Maurizio Seracini, has dedicated 36 years to tracking down the missing mural, and seems to be...

Colorado is experiencing its second gold rush, only this time around it's being called the "green rush". It's all about medical marijuana, which is fast becoming a very big business. National Geographic goes deep inside this brand-new cannabis culture by following an exceptional group...

Empire tells the fascinating story behind these two steel giants and examines how skyscraper construction has changed in 80 years

Could Jack the Ripper have been the world's first trans-Atlantic serial killer? Can 21st century techniques and CGI 3-D autopsies crack this 19th century crime spree, while reversing decades of investigative assumptions? National Geographic joins retired U.K. murder squad detective Trevor Marriott to finally...

National Geographic joins author and explorer Piers Gibbon as he investigates one of mankind's ultimate taboos: cannibalism. Gibbon treks into the rain forest of Papua New Guinea to find tribe members who ate human flesh. And, meets members of the once-feared Biami tribe to...

Through cutting-edge CGI, National Geographic explores the potential effects of sea level rise on our civilization over the next few centuries. Earth Under Water explains the science behind the prediction of sea level rise and shows what will happen if the levels rise with...

In the late 18th Century, "privateers" were ships commissioned by governments to pillage, steal and burn merchant vessels. But few people know that during the Revolutionary war one band of privateers sailed under the orders of one of our greatest statesmen: Benjamin Franklin. In...

Located between the warrior kingdom of the Hittites and the powerful empire of Egypt, the ancient city of Qatna was wiped off the face of the earth as it grew too powerful its role in the rise of the Egyptian empire lost in the...

National Geographic goes deep inside the complex human drama at the heart of America's war on terror. Follow an elite FBI counter-terror team as they uncover two disturbing terror threats hatched on American soil. The first involves young men in Northern Virginia directed to...

Were you born to rage? Is the need for anger management in your genes? Many, like ex-punk rocker Henry Rollins, have struggled with feelings of aggression their entire lives, and National Geographic is on a mission to figure out why. Scientists are investigating a...

National Geographic recreates the London blitz of World War II with real bombs as high-speed cameras capture the blasts. Then, commemorating its 70th anniversary, intimate testimonies from survivors reveal what it was like to live through the bombings, never knowing whether friends and family...

Based on Richard Muller's book, Physics for Future Presidents, National Geographic investigates the science behind the dangers of a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, or HEMP. Picture an instantaneous deathblow to the vital engines that power our society, delivered by a nuclear weapon designed not to...

You climb into bed, turn off the light, and close your eyes, but you can't fall asleep. For most of us, it's just one annoying night, but for people with fatal familial insomnia, or FFI, it's the beginning of the end. An extremely rare...

Deep beneath the legendary Easter Island, National Geographic undertakes a groundbreaking expedition to map a vast cave system utilized by the people who carved these iconic statues. Protected by sheer cliffs, narrow labyrinths and underwater entrances, many of the caves have not been explored...

For more than 100 years, National Geographic explorers have defined the spirit of adventure. Now, provocative interviews and spectacular footage introduce you to a new generation of explorers who take you on an unforgettable journey, that give you a glimpse of where adventure will...

National Geographic cameras travel to Iceland, Africa, Japan, California, and Greece to record how the huge plates of the earth's crust crash together and spread apart causing ground-shattering earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Follow scientists around the world as they search for clues to the...

Imagine living hundreds of miles from your nearest neighbor or grocery store and having mail delivered by airplane a few times each year, and battling the long, harsh winters with temperatures that plummet to -51 degrees Celsius. Such are the living conditions chosen by...

Discover how William Beebe extended the boundaries of deep-sea exploration between 1930 and 1934 by submerging himself in an over-sized giant steel ball with its designer Otis Barton.

Every day in the United States, 12,000 Special Agents spread out from 56 field offices to investigate a myriad of cases, but few have witnessed their efforts in the field up close and personal, until now. With extraordinary access to teams of FBI agents,...

In West Bengal, villagers are waging war with marauding elephants that destroy their homes without warning. Elephants are gigantic and usually docile herbivores, but authorities say that wild elephant attacks are increasing. Why? National Geographic turns to Pittsburgh Zoo elephant manager Willie Theison, also...

Discover the last descendants of America's first mustangs, isolated for centuries in the rural Southwest. Hit the trail with famed "horse whisperer" Pat Parelli, scientists and wranglers as they round up these living pieces of history with the hope of breeding them back from...

Can a picture save a species? Photographers Susan Middleton and David Liittschwager are in a race against the clock to capture powerful portraits of America's most threatened creatures. Join them on this unforgettable adventure that takes them from the California Sierra to the deep...

Zoologist Lucy Cooke loves the animals that the rest of us don't think twice about. The ugly underdogs who don't receive as much love and adoration as the more cute and cuddly ones do. Shunned for their appearance, unfriendly demeanor or unsanitary reputations, Lucy...

Auto theft, drug overdoses and even trespassing grizzly bears are all in a day's work when it comes to the calls Montana police respond to in the rugged land known as America's Final Frontier.

The discovery of a human skull in the depths of Lake Superior begins a story that will take historian and author Brendon Baillod across two Great Lakes and a century of history. It takes him and a team of elite technical divers more than...

A sea monster cemetery lies at the top of the world - an incredible grave site containing countless fossilized remains of huge marine predators from the Jurassic era. National Geographic joins an expedition to this remote burial ground where archaeologists contend with powerful polar...

Up to one million gladiators are thought to have died in arenas across the Roman Empire. And, although fascination with gladiators has been high, the details of their lives and deaths remain fragmentary. Now, with the discovery of an ancient Roman burial site containing...

From the bizarre to the elusive to the downright deadly, throughout his career herpetologist Dr. Brady Barr has risked life and limb to study some of the fiercest creatures on the planet but never with technology like this. Brady is back with a new...

Fuzzy babies. Stay-at-home dads. Flamboyant feathers. Exactly what you think when you hear the words T-Rex, right? If not, then think again. For hundreds of years, we thought dinosaurs ruled the planet as scaly, reptilian beasts that terrorized early earth. But new scientific advances...

Featuring the very best footage and spectacular orchestral score of National Geographic's Great Migrations event, this film brings together images from around the world filmed over 3 years resulting in a completely unique, narration-free, musical journey around the world. Great Migrations: Rhythm of Life...

On Sept. 11, 2001, New York City's mayor led a city struck by tragedy back from the brink -- from the moment the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history began. Intimately involved and personally vulnerable, Rudy Giuliani revisits the day he was confronted by...

National Geographic follows the quirky team at the eco-friendly company TerraCycle as they ingeniously transform materials headed for the landfill into clever products that generate cash. Pet Project: The team has just two weeks to pull together an entire line of pet products made...

The Gulf of Mexico is home to thousands of gas and oil platforms, in addition to some of the planet's most severe storms. So who do you call when a well or platform stops producing, or is toppled by a massive storm? Meet the...

It resembles a terrifying Stephen King novel, but it's all too real. In a lakeside village in Cameroon, West Africa, 2,000 people mysteriously die in one night. Witnesses claim their neighbors were suffocated by a white fog as they slept. Without any other clues,...

Go inside the one-of-a-kind party thrown each year for Brutus, naturalist Casey Anderson's grizzly companion, as they celebrate their unique relationship and reflect on the bond they have formed over the years. Trace Brutus's growth from a cub with no home to a true...

In 1869, John Wesley Powell set out with a crew of nine down the uncharted Green and Colorado Rivers. The men struggled for survival throughout their adventure. Featuring spectacular footage of the Grand Canyon, the film uses the journals of Powell and two of...

Garbage Moguls takes a look inside one of the world's most eco-friendly manufacturers: TerraCycle. These young eco-capitalists make really clever products that turn trash into cash. Follow the team's unorthodox creative process as they successfully develop, create, test and sell two unique products composed...